Three years of rewilding on a former dairy farm in east Somerset, England, have brought a strong rebound in wildlife at Heal Somerset. The 190-hectare site near Frome has seen recorded bird species rise from 67 to 94, butterfly species increase from 11 to 24, and small mammal numbers improve as the land is allowed to recover.
The first landholding acquired by the charity Heal Rewilding is now home to at least 15 bat species and 60 breeding bird species, including the endangered bullfinch and the tree pipit, which is also under threat. A humane trapping survey found five small mammal species on the rewilded site, compared with three at a nearby organic dairy farm.
Rather than being managed through conventional farming, the land is being shaped by natural processes. Streams have been returned to a more natural flow, helped by free-roaming beavers, while dead wood has been left in place and scrub and tree regeneration have been encouraged.
The project has drawn in more than 250 volunteers, who help with surveying, removing barbed-wire fencing, and other tasks. Heal Rewilding also works with 15 underserved groups, including people living with dementia, people with additional needs and people experiencing financial difficulties, as well as youth groups and schools. Visitors and campers are also coming to the site, where grasshoppers, crickets and birds that are now rarer in farmed countryside can still be heard.
Jan Stannard, chief executive and co-founder of Heal Rewilding, said to the Guardian, “I had no idea when we arrived in January 2023 what to expect… To some extent you hold your nerve and trust nature. If you give wildlife an undisturbed safe place, a sanctuary, you have this sense that something good is going to come out of it. It’s an absolute joy to see wildlife resurging.”
Although the success of the site is encouraging, this project does not follow what would be a vegan rewilding approach because farmed animals have still been exploited in the form of two Tamworth pigs being introduced to the site, and further large domesticated grazers, such as cows and ponies, are planned to return in small numbers.
