Rebirding: Winner of the Wainwright Prize for Writing on Global Conservation: Restoring Britain's Wildlife

by Benedict Macdonald

Rebirding takes the long view of bird and wildlife decline in the UK, from the early taming of the British landscape, fenland drainage and removal of its cornerstone species, such as wild grazers, beavers and boar, to intensification of our modern landscapes, and our vanishing cuckoos. It looks at key reasons why birds are vanishing around us today, as the insect food-chain collapses and many birds are trapped in tiny pockets too small to survive. We explore how Britain has, uniquely, relied on modifying farmland, rather than restoring ecosystems, in a failing attempt to halt bird decline. Rebirding maps out how we might finally turn things around, rewilding our national parks, restoring natural ecosystems and allowing our birds, and wildlife, a return to the wild. In doing so, an entire new sector of rural jobs would also be created, finally bringing Britain's dying rural landscapes back to life - for wildlife and people alike. We are undergoing a mass extinction in our birds and wildlife after over two centuries of intensification. Many books lament the decline of British wildlife - this is the first to map out how this could be entirely turned around, economically and in the national interest. Benedict Macdonald puts forward economic solutions to rewilding our landscapes, creating a future where large, wild areas look after their wildlife. This book advocates for the restoration of true ecosystems, with their original animal stewards, that many other countries, from the USA to Germany and Sweden, already enjoy.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Birds, Science, Ecology, Environment, Natural History

336 pages, Paperback

First published April 18, 2019

About the author

I'm a conservation writer, producer in wildlife television, and naturalist, passionate about restoring Britain's wildlife, pelicans very much included, in my lifetime. In television I have worked on projects for the BBC, ITV, Netflix and Apple. Sir David Attenborough's Our Planet (Netflix), a series I worked on for three years, was awarded two Emmy's in 2019. As a writer I am the author of Rebirding and co-author of Orchard. My third book, Cornerstones, was released in July 2022.

Reviews

[Michelle Styles · Rating 5 out of 5]

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the vitriolic words and the violent actions of the bad people but the appalling silence and indifference of the good. Our generation will have to repent not only for the words and actions of the children of darkness but also for the fears and apathy of the children of light.
--Martin Luther King Jr
I number myself among those who were complacently smug about their approach to the environment, particularly with gardening, but then I read Benedict MacDonald's book and realized that I must radically rethink my approach. Among other things, I suffer from that all too familiar syndrome of Ecological Tidiness Disorder. MacDonald made me see how rather than simply gardening with wildlife as an afterthought, I really ought to be doing ecosystem gardening. Caring for birds in one's garden is about more than putting out a bird table, not using pesticides or ensuring paradise isn't paved over, but also about ensuring an adequate food supply through the use of various native fauna in the garden including simply not tidying up hedges or the ivy or pulling nettles. It is also about choosing the correct flora to go in one's garden to encourage the island effect and create larger natural havens for our birds. My defense is that I had not truly appreciated how dire the situation was until I read his book. I had suffered from accepting the new normal without realising how devoid of life that normal had become. I was all too willing to believe that most of the decline in the bird population was down to things beyond my control and to not even consider post-fledgling starvation and how that might effect migration. This book changed that view. If we know a certain percentage of birds will not make it back from Africa every year, then we had best do all in our power to ensure the absolute numbers leaving these shores after the breeding season are as strong as possible and that includes increasing food sources around the country through a more wild or ecosystem based approach if you will.
His book is a compelling read filled with hard facts and figures but also a great deal of optimism. Pelicans flying again in the Somerset Levels, or even people in towns and villages starting once again to hear the cuckoo calling on the spring breeze -- these are things that MacDonald makes you believe could happen. His thought-provoking arguments for controlled deer culling and re-purposing grouse moors are excellent and well-argued but it was the chapters on gardening which really engaged me.
A clarion call to arms and a game changer for me in every sense of the word. A book everyone with even a passing interest in British nature should read.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nature as a whole is in decline. We are part of the natural world have taken it upon ourselves to make sure that we live in the most unsustainable and destructive way possible. The collapse of invertebrates has rippled all the way up the food chain as each species reaches their specific tipping point and are suddenly gone from our landscapes. In the UK there are almost no areas of the land that haven’t been touched or manipulated in some way by mankind.

Even though the decline has been happening for a long time, it is only in the past few decades that the dramatic drop in numbers of all species has become very evident. The act of strimming, weed killing and obliterating anything that looks slightly scruffy form our urban and rural landscapes has been the final death knell. The memory of the way that the landscape and natural world used to be, has almost faded from our collective memories.

But some people have had enough, there is a growing backlash against the vested interests and status quo; Benedict MacDonald is amongst that number. In this book Rebirding, he is looking at the ways that we can bring the life back into our skies in practical and profitable ways. There are various ways of doing this and reintroduction have been successful, in particular with kites and the great bustard. But more is needed urgently.

He looks at the various national parks that we have and the current state of the SSSIs and nature reserves and how they are doing. One of the criticisms that he has about them is that they are managing their particular area in a way that is detrimental to the long term health of the site. The key to bringing back wildlife of all shapes and sizes is to bring back the large mammals and predators to our landscapes and just let them get on with it.

One place that this has been happening is the Knepp Estate, primitive species of cows and horses and pigs have been allowed to wander pretty much anywhere in the estate and the changes that they have brought about have been staggering. The habitats have returned and with them has come species that haven’t been seen in years. The flip side of this is that their neighbours are not particularly happy about the untidiness of the estate. Another key behind this is the revert to a scruffy form of land control. Leave things on the margins, don’t cut verges back until later in the summer and wildlife will find the way.

I thought that this was a well researched and more importantly a well-written book about rewilding. Coming at the subject from a desire to see a sizable increase in the number of species in and around our landscapes is laudable, birds are his passion after all. One that every conservationist should read, along with Wilding by Isabella Tree and Rewilding by Paul Jepson & Cain Blythe, all books that have drawn similar conclusions from practical experiments that are being run in various places around the world.

[Cathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

British birds have evolved over millennia, part of the ecosystem which developed as the glaciers retreated, then as humans settled and farmed. They evolved in a landscape populated by the large mammals which are now extinct - aurochs, wolf, boar, lynx - and some have adapted to our farms. Over the centuries, populations and diversity have declined to the drastic point we see today where many birds are on the brink of extinction.
How do we bring them back? MacDonald's thesis is that rather than concentrating on the birds themselves, we should concentrate on allowing the landscapes they need to survive to develop and thrive. It makes a lot of sense - make sure there is space and food for the birds and they will take care of themselves.
If we allow that, we open up enormous opportunities for eco-tourism, as people flock to see pelicans in Somerset, walk the wooded grasslands of the Pennines or hunt the great stags of the highlands.

He paints a beautiful picture, and sets out a way which would allow the UK to restore its natural heritage as well as provide jobs for many. RSPB and others are slowly moving in this direction, and this book helps to push them along.

My only criticism is that he entirely separates farming from nature. Land needs to produce food, as well as biodiversity, and there are a number of farmers practicing regenerative agriculture now who are playing a very real part in restoring biodiversity - Knepp - Wilding Lib/E: The Return of Nature to a British Farm for instance, or James Rebanks - The Shepherd's Life: Modern Dispatches from an Ancient Landscape. I'd be interested to understand how he feels about their work.

[Hayley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and was shocked to learn how much wildlife Britain has lost, and how little the general population cares about the massive lost of wildlife.

[David Steele · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far the most powerful and convincing ecological argument I've read. I got through this one with a whole gamut of emotions, from rage to frustration to optimism, and then all over the place again. Chapters three and four were particularly hard hitting, creating a sensation of vertigo.
This book had so many shocking facts to report, and so many important stories to tell, it's hard to imagine that the author could have also taken the time to develop realistic and costed plans for how the mindless damage that's been done so far could be turned around. What continues to shock me is that the mainstream media has mobilised half the country on the carbon-saving crusade but completely ignores the sledge hammer that's been taken to our wild bird and animal numbers in this uniquely British disaster.
From National Parks and World Heritage Sites that preserve useless deserts under the mistaken guise that they are "natural", to the sheer scale of opportunity for the economy that could easily be grasped if we were only brave enough to ask... This feels more like an emergency survival manual than a nature book. For what it's worth, I'm sending a copy to my local MP with a post-it note attached to the grouse moors chapter.

[George Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Redbirding is a fantastic book. Extremely informative while holding a great story through from the dewilding of the past through to rewilding solutions of the future.

It is truly mind blowing that 16% of the UKs land is given out to grouse and deer parks adding virtually nothing to the economy, used by virtually no one and destroying wildlife. 88% of Wales is grazed by sheep. An industry almost completely held up by government subsidies. The more I learn about animal agriculture the more insane it seems that anyone can actually argue that it can continue in its current form. Drugs fed to cattle come out in their dung destroying beetle populations and causing extinction of insectivore birds.

Despite the horrendous destruction we have unleashed on our wildlife over our history, Benedict Macdonald keeps Rebirding hopeful by explaining what our National Parks could become if we demanded more and conservation charities and NGOs dreamed bigger. The rewilding solutions in this book are a win win for everyone and I hope we can get the political will soon to make these changes. Ill be recommending this book to anyone I know who cares about the ecological crisis

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot from reading this book and enjoyed it very much. It tells a very important story of the wonderful rich wildlife Britain once had, how much we have lost and why, and how we can bring it back. It is interspersed throughout with lots of facts, interesting information and also vivid descriptions of what living with much more beautiful nature around us could be like. It also shows how urgently our attitudes towards nature and conservation need to change in this country to prevent the collapse of ecosystems and build nature back up. There is a hopeful message though and I think it would be wonderful to have pelicans and lynx and wild boar and beavers and more birds everywhere back in the UK so everyone who cares should try to help make this happen.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rebirding is an absolutely fascinating book, and one that I think anyone who is interested in British nature and wildlife should read. It took a bit of perseverance for me to get into, as the first few chapters are a bit depressing - but this simply highlights the dire situation that british wildlife is in.
Its amazing how much is simply taken as being the norm - uplands decimated by sheep farming, moorlands razed for the grouse industry, and suburbs sanitized into blandness.
The brilliant thing about Rebirding is that the author points that while significant policy change needs to take place to make farming sustainable for wildlife, a great deal could also be achieved by doing very little and embracing untidiness and chaos, and let nature do its thing.

[Morag Forbes · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a general rule if you want to convince people, organisations or government to follow your advise talking disparagingly about them is unlikely to help. The book read with such an air of superiority that anyone who didn’t agree with the author was being “incompetent” (and that’s a direct quote). Which was a real shame because this is such an important topic. How can we in Britain make our country more friendly for birds? What should wild land actually look like? What financial opportunities can be created for rural workers especially farmers? And much much more. It was hard hitting to see the statistics about how much ecology we have lost. However here again there were just too many stats which overwhelmed me as a reader.

[Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read on nature and what we should do next, very carefully researched and referenced which could easily lead you - me - on a trail from another manifesto for future generations to the next.

[Liv · Rating 2 out of 5]

Y so boring???
Some was kinda funny tbh like okayyyy purr I see u swifts!!!

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit disingenuous to both farmers and the general state of British birds, but generally very good points and well reasoned - especially when railing against the uninspiring and overly managerial ethos of modern conservation.

[Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant vision for wildlife work that does more than conserve what fragments we have left and instead demands restoration of what we've lost.

[Nicky Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

essential book for our time. A blueprint for urgent action to radically transform our ailing landscape and reverse ecological collapse with such an exciting vision. The RSPB started out with bold activism from a few women taking on the disgusting trade in exotic plumes for hats, now we need to see the RSPB step up and buy large tracts of land for wilding.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as Isabella Tree laid out a comprehensive and clear case for rewilding at the Knepp estate, Benedict MacDonald continues the call to rewild the UK and restore the great natural diversity that has been decreasing drastically for years, robbing us of natural wonders, especially a rich variety of birds. MacDonald charts the massive impact that people have had on the UK’s environment from the moment the very first people first came ashore in prehistoric times up until now, and despite moments where nature and people were able to coëxist, the recurring theme is that we have had a deleterious impact on the natural world, especially its birds.

Bold in vision and clear in purpose, Benedict MacDonald shows how we can transform and return the UK’s wilderness to its full glory, without sacrificing people or their own livelihoods, but rather by enriching rural economies and transitioning away from dying and decaying industries. It’s remarkable to read that despite what our eyes see, the vast majority of British national parks are dead, deserts devoid of any substantial birdlife, left in the hands of forestry or deer keeping that have no benefit to birds and natural wildlife. MacDonald shows how with a few reädjustments, large areas of the UK’s former grouse lands, Welsh hills, and the Somerset levels can be transformed into wonderful wilderness preserves, the envy of Europe and America. He boldly plots out even the return of Dalmatian pelicans by 2060!

Not only showing bold policy designs, MacDonald shows how our own daily lives, our gardens, roadside verges, houses, and farmlands must change to allow birds to once again flourish. Of particular importance is that recent public illness to “tidy up” our green spaces, removing messy overgrown vegetation and neatening up forests and verges. We do not need targets or beautification campaigns, we need to let go and let nature run its course. Seeing the success at Knepp, one hopes that MacDonald’s visions for a wilder UK are realised soon because national timidity and nostalgia threaten the lives of countless birds and animals, soon to be gone forever from our shores.

[Mr S · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author creates a fantastic vision for the restoration of nature and wildlife to Britain, much of which is certainly achievable. However, he does position himself as the authority on the subject, suggesting that it is nature conservation charities who are the ones that need to bare the brunt of the responsibility, despite previously pointing out that it is big industry that has created the problems.
There are some erroneous presumptions too, that nature charities should look to landscape-scale conservation, which they do and have done for decades, with the author neglecting to consider that expanding nature reserves relies on compliance from neighbouring stakeholders within the landscape, and that more land could be bought if charities "cut back many non-essential ... jobs" - to assume that nature charities employ people in "non-essential" jobs highlights a lack of understanding of such organisations.
Other than these unnecessary criticisms of charities, there is much food for thought and hopefully this will lead to real change across Britain.

[Neil Crossley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cogent and thought provoking at what is needed to restore cuckoos, turtle doves, lesser spotted woodpeckers and red shrikes to our landscape - in short landscape scale rewilding. The action of 6 big land uses have destroyed our natural heritage - dairy, cereal, deer stalking, grouse shooting, forestry and upland sheep farming. The successful lobbying got designation of the Lake District by subsidised sheep farmers who create a “dessert” for wildlife as a UNESCO site a disaster. The New Forest, Dartmouth show the way. Even the conservation charities are not really helping out birds other than a few trophy species by overmanagement. A good book to read after Feral by Monbiot and Wilding by Isabella Tree. What if we took the Knepp proven experiment and flung it at the landscape separating agriculture from low impact wilderness. This book explores a vision to restore beavers and pelicans, white tailed sea eagles lynx and out dying cuckoos.

[Robert Kidd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over this Covid-ridden year I think I've read three of the most important books that have been written in the last ten years, visionary books that don’t pull any punches when it comes to facing up to the genocide we’ve inflicted on the natural world and our countryside. George Monbiot's 'Feral', gives you a passionate, heartfelt flavour of the dessert we are now living in, and points to the damage we’re doing to our own psyches. Isabella Trees' 'Rewilding', not only gives you all the facts and information, but also explains how nature can miraculously heal itself if left to its own devices. But Benedict Macdonald's 'Rebirding' offers something else. It offers solutions! And just as importantly, challenges some of our most cherished and fundamental conceptions of conservation, turning them on their head. All these are MUST reads, but Rebirding will change your thinking.

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant read. The book takes us through a brief natural history of Britain since glaciation all the way through to the rather dismal state of affairs we find ourselves in now. The decimation of our wildlife - which the author rightly points out is a national treasure which has all but slipped away into our unconscious - began not with the agricultural revolution many thousands of years ago, but with the intense, enclosed and insecticide fueled systems which developed through the 20th century. British birds had adapted to live alongside us in artificially grazed extensive farmland habitat and were generally doing well - like in parts of Eastern Europe to this day - until we began to squeeze every last cm of land for agricultural use and saw, or did not see, our house martins, swifts and flycatchers drop from thousands, to hundreds to just a few here and there. Those well read in this field have heard this story but where this book diverges is in its vision for the future.

With courage, the author speaks out against charities who have come to be a little self-serving and scared of their own shadows, micromanaging nature reserves and obsessed with target based initiatives. He laments ecological tidiness disorder (a term, if not a concept, new to me), the mass obsessive cleaning of all the natural world around us, from lawns and verges to ancient trees in Sheffield. He used back of the envelope economics to try and prove what a false economy this is, from cash-strapped councils who claim to have no money yet spend what little they have spraying and mowing like there is no tomorrow - which there isn't for many of our birds. He brings in some excellent examples, such as the house sparrow, which spreads around the globe at 250km a year as a non-native species but one we have extirpated from inner London because the habitat they live in is so polluted and ecosystem poor.

Where the book loses a little clout, in my opinion, is in the simplification of some of the arguments. The author suggests, with good evidence, that rewilding and letting go of vast swathes of our country is what is needed to save wildlife. It is hard to argue that point. However, at the end of one chapter he states Knepp is "more profitable, more diverse, more humane, more robust - and better for both people and wildlife alike". There are other forces at play here that the author doesn't touch on. Knepp's organic, expensive, meat, which I have tasted and love, isn't affordable or accessible to everyone. Organic food comes at a premium and requires much more land footprint. Overpopulation (which the author dismisses based on the relatively small physical land footprint we take up) and our dietary choices are two fundamental issues not touched on as key enables of lessening pressures on land. Do we import our food instead when we should be encouraging more local produce and reducing our carbon footprint? The owners of Knepp themselves concede not all farming can be like it is there. I think any book which is trying to rewrite aspects of our agricultural system should touch on these fundamental societal issues we are facing, that there are simply too many of us living too lavish a lifestyle. I did, however, warm to the idea of us hunting and eating more deer, which, in the absence of predators, have overpopulated and decimated some of our countryside.

By the end the book became slightly repetitive in its message. The same species were used in each chapter (red-backed shrike, white-tailed eagle, wryneck, willow tit, lesser spotted woodpeckers) to make the same argument over and over. Nothing will thrive in monoculture, be it nature reserves and SSSI's with species specific policies, fragmented island habitat reserves or in intensive farming. All these birds exist in other areas and they can only truly thrive in a dynamic mosaic of habitats.

The book held some outstanding research, the author was knowledgeable and well read and inserted the best material in the middle third of the book. He spoke of the paper based national parks we have, how our government do not push for restoration of large swathes of nature, how land managed for grouse (why this is tolerated is beyond me, given the well constructed arguments by the author & others) alone could be converted into a Yellowstone equivalent for Britain and the sorry state of affairs of nature in Wales, a place close to my heart where 88% of the land cover is set aside for livestock. Places we refer to as national parks harboring less wildlife than my urban park. It was hard to finish this book with a smile, because I felt we had been deprived of a much greater biodiversity in this country and it mostly goes by unnoticed by the vast majority of people living their lives. Where is the pride in making this country a better place? I didn't see much here and the author was right. His call to arms for a visionary revolution of the land gave a little hope but mostly had me questioning the lack of desire from our decision makers to make our country a better place to live.

As the author eloquently suggested, wouldn't it be nice if we had places to go that meant we rarely needed to go abroad for a nature fix? A better place for anglers, deer hunters, wildlife watchers, birders, hikers, adrenaline seekers, rural communities and frankly, all of us, if the air we breathe became fresher, the meat less pumped with chemicals, the wildlife more numerous and the imagination more full knowing we could possibly one day encounter megafauna, and dare I say it, even the trace of danger, once more in the British countryside. We seem to be in a collective malaise and this book does a great job of trying to wake us up from it. Let's hope that some of us read this and do our little bit to make this happen.

[Snorki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A recommendation as part of a ’nature’ book club and not something I would probably have picked up on my own, but I am really glad that I read it. Learnt a lot about the loss of insects and birdlife, and how this is due to intensive use of insecticides and destruction of habitat, but also how sheep farming, dairy farming and especially grouse and deer farming are playing a significant part. Found it very interesting and I hope that it is widely read and acted upon as it seems that a return to a more diverse wildlife in Britain is by no means beyond our reach!

[Neil Limbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant. Staggeringly depressive at times but then it has to be, as we need to be told things straight. Compelling reading throughout, especially when we read how things can be so different as in Germany, Netherlands, Poland etc. We just need a new mindset and rewilding on a big scale. And it will be economically viable. In fact, almost certainly miles better than the struggling hill farms we have today. This book is important and I can see why it won awards. And it has also given me some new ideas for where to go on holiday!

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of really interesting facts and arguments are put forward in this book. Some I knew about, agree with or would love to see happen. Other arguments I feel more conflicted about.
It was a well-written book, clearly demonstrating the author's passion and knowledge. There was something about the writing style which didn't always keep me gripped. But a recommended book for anyone interested in rewilding - particularly of birds. I'd also suggest Wilding by Isabella Tree which I found hugely enjoyable.

[Aarhh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly brilliant - Benedict MacDonald presents an audacious vision & manifesto for revitalising Britain's nature & rural economies. Essential reading & inspiration for a course correction in UK conservation.

[Louisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has my full-throated, near-screaming endorsement for anyone in the UK who has even the vaguest questions about what's going on with our nature and biodiversity.

It is roughly split into an introduction to our ancient birds, a tracing of our decimation of UK ecosystems, excellent explanatory passages of mechanisms for restoration told through individual avians, and some mind-blowing case studies and calls to action on how we might take British nature seriously.

The first few chapters are, frankly, harrowing. It is a recounting of the British landscape stretching back 100,000s of years to the Pleistocene, the changes it has undergone and the indigenous creatures that have shaped and been shaped by it. I knew before picking up the book, in general terms, that the UK is one of the worst for biodiversity/nature in Europe if not globally. I did not quite realise the extent of why. The book unpacks this through individual stories, individual species and well-evidenced outlines of our weird harvesting of birds to the point of extinction. Heartbreaking and frustrating to hear of our the richest landowners (even then) got to decide what world we would inherit and make us all the poorer for it at the same time.

I think the stunning triumph of this book is how it addresses the myths so often pitted against movements towards proper biodiversity conservation. Namely that we don't have the space and we don't have the money. Even the conservative outlines of the ecotourism value of a properly restored UK are mindblowing. The chapter tackling grouse hunting absolutely blew my mind: Grouse moors - cleared and burnt to enable a handful of shooting parties- account for 8% of all of Britain's land but only contributes 0.001% of UK GDP, provides jobs for only 0.008% of the population. But it takes up nearly a tenth of all land - ridiculous.

Likewise, the descriptions of visions of rich and vibrant Wales, the prospect of Pelicans and lynxes and roaming herbivores to till the land all filled me with such joy and respite. That popping out of your city apartment into the marshes filled with butterflies and pop back within an hour is achievable (side eye moving to Berlin) is really brought to life through the book-writing. Delicious tracts of this book are speculative fabulation, a well-informed imaginary of what we could be aiming towards. Utopian tales that so often are actual descriptions that the line between what UK biodiversity would, could and should look like become blurred.

The comparisons with Europe and Eastern Europe, often delivered in rich almost fanciful and captivating prose, really underlined how decrepit and deprived our landscapes are. It is a siren call that of forgotten 'baselines' where we don't know what we're missing compared to even a few generations ago and happily settle for the poor quality habitats that we have left over.

The points are pretty simple, we need to be advocating for huge tracts of land to be rewilded. The economic, social, and, again frankly, survival benefits of this are blindingly obvious. At its heart is a recognition that ecosystems are connected and interdependent, and that we are also connected to those ecosystems but they do not require our control, only the space for restoration.

While reading the book I was also inspired to visit Knepp Estate, coercing my slightly outdoors-reluctant mother to come too and it was such a wonderful trip. There were storks (nests)! I only learnt, through the book, that storks had once been common in the UK but were eaten out existence and here on the UK's first rewilding estate they were beginning to flourish. It was also incredible to see how the ecosystem forces, explained in great detail in the book, so swiftly had taken hold of the landscapes. The little piggies rotivating the soil to make insects available for (now) rare birds like turtle doves, the deer and larger herbivores maintaining the treeline and ecosystem mosaic, and the beavers creating the water retentive habitat of a climate drought ridden country's dreams. All to say, it was possible to see and feel the benefits of the rebirding in action.

For its many incredible positives, I'll say the book slips in some of its less evidenced social history claims. The policy arguments too warrant proper extensive consultation with local communities but I cannot contest that there is huge support for biodiversity protection in the UK - across all political lines.

It took a while to get through this book, lots of food for thought but a great one to pick and put down without pressure. The other takeaway for me, not only was it great to learn about the radical foundations of the RSPB, was the need for political attention on this to be brought forward. It doesn't have to only be the obsessive bird people. We all can and should understand better how much rewilding Britain would improve our lives and economy. And this book is a great starting point.

[Tutankhamun18 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well articulated look at the British landscape and its failure to support functioning ecosystems. This book focuses on birds, but large herbivores and beavers and the like are needed as the ecosystem architects that will allow Britains bird life to flourish.

Some revolutionary (to me) ideas within this volume: For the longest time that fact that humans had either wiped out or outcopeted by stealing the food source of all the large herbivores that used to exist within the British landscape did not matter, because the local, nomadic, in tocuh with nature type of farming that humans practiced meant they engineered the landscape in much the same way as these extinct species did. This in turn meant that a whole cascade of species of birds, insects and other could continue to thrive in Britains mosaic of habitats (wood pastures, scrub grasslands and wetlands). It was only after the industrial revolution that we started to implement ideas of hughest yield, monoculture farming that everything went down hill. At the end of WW2 the CAP (common agricultural policy) paid farmers to manicure their farms and thereby removed huge chunks of habitat for birds and their food stuff (seed and insects). In countries like Poland and to a lesser extent Germany, where either this traditional type of farming is still practised, or where the systematic manicured natural state was not encouraged, birds and insects that have gone extinct in Britain are still thriving.

We have basically driven birds to extinction via starvation, by removing their food from their environment. We have measured the drastic decline in insect biomass since the 50s.

He then goes on to speak about the potential for rewilding the scottish highlands and how nature starved and manufactured even our national parks have become. Really makes a strong and convincing case for letting weeds grow and nature literally rewild itself. How much money the hunting industry currently makes and how much more it could make if it rewilded, culled deer on a large scale, let the forest regenerate and brought a host of supporting species.

Also interesting point about the cultural implications of migrating birds; once a species goes extinction from an area it is NEVER coming back because the location for migration is culturally coded aka imprinted and if all individuals with that culture die, then they are gone.

[Jackie McGarry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book helped me understand the intimate relationship between a bird and the environment it needs to survive and thrive and how this can't be achieved by preserving small pockets of land. Rewilding is needed on a far bigger scale and we have the room in this country to provide it. So much of that land is currently mismanaged for grouse shooting, deer hunting (in Scotland) or uneconomic, heavily subsidised sheep farming and dairy farming. The book compares the UK to other European nations, especially Eastern, where many of the birds already extinct or on the verge of being so here, are present in large, healthy numbers. It talks about the role of herbivores like elk and predators like lynx as possible in certain areas of the UK which would help shape the landscape back to it's natural rewilded state of woodland interspersed with open areas of scrubland and how this, together with reintroduction of, for example, golden eagles to North Wales and white-tailed eagles plus pelicans and others, could generate a thriving ecotourism industry creating many more jobs and pulling in much more income than grouse or deer hunting currently do.

It also begins with a fascinating history of human interaction with nature and especially birds through the centuries highlighting many of the misguided attacks on certain species eg killing nightjars because it was believed they suckled on goats milk at night. A really enlightening read and I so hope it changes our present inadequate approach to conservation.

[Cindy Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned some interesting things from this book, while thoroughly enjoying it. I learned to look at the "natural" areas that my country (the US) has set aside and view them with different eyes. Are they really all that natural?

I didn't realize the impact of historical large herbivores on the landscape and that birds evolved with these herbivores and their predators. Plants respond to the presence of herbivores by changing their growth habits and thus providing birds with the infrastructure they need to thrive. What we think of as farmland birds were grassland birds before farming. Birds, animals, insects, fungi and plants all need to be allowed to grow naturally with each other.

In addition to the historical context for what our landscapes looked like, I got a lesson in the recent history of conservation of lands in Britain and how that could be improved. I appreciate the author’s thesis that ecotourism could be responsible for many more rural jobs than we currently have. I think this is an idea that could help world-wide with conservation of land for wildlife.

This is a though-provoking book. I realize it is hyper-local, with a focus on the landscape of Britain, but it has many lessons for naturalists all over the planet.

[K. Morral · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating, inspiring yet sometimes horrifying read.

Written clearly, the book is packed with imagery (and soundery if there is such a thing) and unexpected (yet welcome) dry humour that makes the assessment of British wildlife - although with a focus on birding by definition the rewilding concept requires discussion of mammals and insects) - an easy read for non-specialist readers. And I would recommend that everyone reads this.

Starting somewhat unexpectedly with a warm through the prehistoric landscape, we are taken through the history of the birdlife, and wider eco,ogy, of the UK. Sometimes begging the negative questions of 'omg is it too late? How did this happen? What's the point?' The book is an eye opener and clarifies ways and means that assure us it isn't too late, and things can be done. Admittedly it needs to be done at a very large scale to be most effective, but as a rallying call to get people looking thinking and promoting rewilding philosophy and schemes I can't imagine a better book.

After all, who knew that the Scottisb Highlands are bigger than Yellowstone national Park, yet has less diversity of wildlife! I know I want to push for more.

[M A H THOMLINSON · Rating 5 out of 5]

So important, so interesting, and visionary: he paints a beautiful, exciting picture of what Britain can be like in the long term, with medium-term plan to get there. Did you know that Snowdonia (/Eryri) is larger than the Masai Mara? That our mono-cropped grouse moors amount to more than double the size of Yellowstone? Yet, they are so bereft of wildlife. Indeed, Britain's "idyllic" hillside vistas are almost deserts for wildlife, and starved for jobs. This is a cultural choice, as the author convincingly explains with reference to other parts of Europe. Here, our natural landscapes are uniquely bad for nature.

This book changed how I understand nature and conservation, and the author's thoughtful, plausible plan to restore it in Britain is truly inspiring.

The first half of the book is something of a misery guts though, but interesting - so if you pick up this book, persevere!

[Louis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Equal parts practical and passionate, Rebirding is a last ditch call to not accept the slow death of British biodiversity. Macdonald is clear and concise in what he believes should be done, though not quite as crystal on how he wants it done. The futility of dairy and sheep farming is damned and the toff sports of grouse shooting and deer stalking are chastised, though the question of ‘how’ hangs over the gargantuan changes Rebirding proposes. Regardless, the details of how much of the UK is given over to largely pointless shit is truly shocking and deserves to be common knowledge. Reading this in the early stages of working for NE has felt like embarking on a personal ecological radicalisation program, and now that I’ve cracked open this Pandora’s box of depressing statistics I really can’t close it.