Crowdfunder launched to rewild 1,000 acres in Wales

Stephen Price

An environmental group supported by Iolo Williams has launched a crowdfunder to rewild 1,000 in acres in Wales – a campaign they call ‘Wales’ largest ecosystem restoration project.

Tir Natur has identified a ‘huge opportunity’ to establish the largest rewilding site in Wales, and the charity is calling on members of the public to donate to their early crowdfunder, launched on 25 November.

Funds raised will contribute towards the deposit and associated costs, due in Spring 2025. The location of the land will be revealed after this point.

Besides rewilding with native broadleef trees and other native fauna, they hope to introduce ancient breeds of grazing animals to the land to roam and shape the landscape, allowing wildlife to flourish alongside thriving communities, while informing and inspiring further nature-led restoration.

More than anything, they say, “it would offer hope for nature – gobaith i natur”.

Natural grazing

Tir Nature hope that the land will showcase ‘natural grazing’, with ancient, cultural breeds of cattle, ponies and pigs allowed to roam free, as their wild ancestors (the Auroch, Tarpan and Wild Boar) once did. These ‘ecosystem architects’ will drive the recovery of a diverse and dynamic landscape that sees wildlife and people flourishing alongside each other.

Crucially, nature will lead the way in a model of nature recovery that they say can be scaled up, and that confronts the scale of the nature and climate emergencies.

It also lays a platform for animal husbandry and food production, demonstrating the natural overlaps between rewilding and more traditional farm systems. ‘Wild range’ meat will serve local communities and contribute to the local economy.

With its vast provision of public goods, Tir Natur expects this approach to score highly with the new Sustainable Farming Scheme, due to be implemented from 2026. They hope to inspire conservationists and farmers alike to adopt the same principles of nature-led restoration.

Concern

Tir Natur was established in 2022 by a group of Welsh individuals deeply concerned about the state of nature in Wales, with the strong belief that a new way forward is possible.

They came together with a shared understanding of the scale of the problem that faces us and a determination to act.

 

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Tir Natur is the only charity in Wales solely focused on rewilding and is the country’s leading voice for the movement.

Their mission is to rewild and regenerate Welsh landscapes, “providing hope and momentum for wildlife to flourish alongside thriving local communities” at a time of unprecedented biodiversity loss and the impact of climate change exacerbated by our misuse of the environment, as seen with the devastating floods in Wales this month.

Showcasing the key role that grazers play in regenerating our landscapes, and therefore the important part that farming has to play, is an important part of their work, as is advocating for nature recovery and climate mitigation in Welsh policy.

Solutions

According to the group, Wales is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world.

They say that, despite ambitious governmental targets, the response is still far from what is needed to deal with the scale and pace of nature’s decline with one in six species now at risk of extinction from Wales.

They write: “On top of loss of habitat, unpredictable and severe weather events caused by the climate crisis pose an additional threat to our wildlife, while making life harder for our agricultural communities, who play a vital role in sustaining Welsh language, culture and heritage, and whose livelihoods are already being affected by rising input costs and marketplace volatility.

“Rewilding methods offers solutions to both these challenges.”

The flagship site’s potential for large-scale rewilding is unmatched, according to Tir Natur.

It has many natural features including, rivers, peat bogs and scarce ancient trees (many of which are in poor condition).

The land will bridge existing isolated nature reserves providing wildlife corridors fundamental to restoring and preserving biodiversity.

“Nature needs this”

According to the group, rewilding could also improve the health of multiple rivers which run through the land, while mitigating the flooding increasingly suffered by downstream communities and land owners.

TV Presenter and Naturalist, Iolo Williams shared: “As ambassador for Tir Natur, I am hugely excited by their efforts to purchase land and showcase the benefits of rewilding, not only to wildlife and the physical environment, but to farming, Welsh communities and culture.

“Nature needs this.”

Find out more about the Crowdfunder and its aims here.