Ok, I’m catching up now and thinking that wilding and/or rewilding is never going to catch-on in any significant way here or elsewhere!
The pragmatic wilding of the Knepp Estate is a thought-provoking instance and talking point, but their economic decision/reality-check is really not about to happen routinely in the UK, or across the World. It might help inspire other folk who have similarly been battling against the odds to make their land profitable from managed agriculture, but it’s not going to do anything for folk across the world where wilding would simply mean desert with the odd extra succulent or baobab tree !!
While there may come a time when wide-scale wilding happens because of world socio-economic disorder or natural or man-made catastrophes (e.g. Chernobyl), I personally don’t see need for much wilding debate right now. Knepp is, never the less, a great opportunity for some UK ecological monitoring/learning and a book.
However, I’d rather folk don’t go about re-introducing things with big teeth into the UK (& that includes beavers) without careful/thorough control measures; control will almost certainly need annual culls with a new British menu (wolf/bear/beaver burnt-ends in a spicy Brexit BBQ sauce anyone?). Of course, beavers might end up being voted positive for flood control (subject, of course, to an annual cull idc - unless foxes take up snorkling!).
London fashion week 2022 advert - “Forget imitation fur – we will be show-casing the real thing in our special ‘rewilding waste not want not’ cat-walk event.