Wilding

Based on the best seller The Book of Wilding, this is the story of Knepp Castle’s 400 year old estate in the south-east of England, which sees a farming family seek an unprecedented departure from its agricultural and dairy tradition to a rewilding project of the land never seen before in the UK. Available on Blu-ray and DVD, Wilding was the highest grossing documentary of 2024.

Charlie Burrell and Isabella Tree were brought up on the farmland of Knepp Castle and understand the significance and pride of its farming history but as Charlie inherits the estate he knows there are major problems working the land. Notoriously difficult to farm, the land is drenched in fertilising fungicides and herbicides, which have all but destroyed the soil, but instead of ploughing on with things, Charlie decides to listen to some of the expert advice he has sort and do something about it.

He spoke with experts like Tom Green, an oak tree specialist and an advocate for mycorrhiza’s – the symbiotic relationship between fungus and plants in the soil. Charlie knew he needed to do something to give nature a helping hand and his questions led him to Dr Frans Vera, whose nature reserve project in the Dutch polder lands of Oostvaardersplassen, had used the rewilding of animals to return nature back to its most primitive and effective state. Rather than battle against nature, Charlie needed to use the natural force of the animals’ footprints and behaviour to bring the fields back to life, in what had become an all but barren landscape. So, the farm equipment went up for sale, the fences came down and in their place came the wild horses, cattle, deer and pigs to run free on the land.

Isabella and Charlie recount the incredible transformations they witnessed, which wasn’t without struggle and opposition. Some highlights include the wild ponies taking on the thoroughbred horses at polo and the Tamworth pigs helping themselves in the marquee dining tent. It was interesting to see Charlie’s new role evolve from farmer to Darwinesque entomological classifier of species as they discovered the arrival of almost extinct animals and insects like the turtle dove and the rare Purple Emperor butterfly. The scale of the project, over 5 square miles, included the river, which they wanted to bring back to its natural meandering best too. Using machinery it would be 10 years in the making with the conservationist planning permission necessary. Expert Derek Bow said a beaver could do it in 6 months. In the end the beaver licence took 8 years, but by the emotion on Isabella’s face it was worth the wait.

The project wasn’t without opposition with people calling it pointless, it didn’t feed any mouths, they’d be wild boars running on the M25 or it spoilt the well groomed landscape of the British countryside. It did capture a corner of the nation’s heart though. This reconnection with nature, as seen during the pandemic, is something everyone benefits from but just how important the arrival of 19 new species of earthworms is likely never to be known.

The documentary is nostalgically put together with interviews over a period of time from Isabella and Charlie looking back at the journey they’ve been on. Reenactments are slotted in to fill in any gaps and aerial shots and time lapse filming show the transformation of the land.

There’s nothing wild about this documentary, but just a gentle reminder of the incredible capability of nature’s natural inter connectivity and our need to manage it as effectively as possible.

Julian Gaskell @ thelanguageoffilm.com

Blu-ray: https://bit.ly/3YXVMfW

DVD: https://bit.ly/48Vc7Gy