4 in 5 people in the UK support rewilding

I am a strong supporter of rewilding and I have been since reading  "Feral" by George Monbiot in 2013.

I have written many times (search “rewilding” in the box in the top left corner of this page) about the clear benefits and also about some of the brilliant current and emerging rewilding projects around the UK.

Public acceptance of ​rewilding – the large-scale restoration of nature to the point it can take care of itself – has come a long way in recent years. It has moved on from the concept conjuring up visions of packs of wolves roaming the countryside to people feeling that rewilding offers a sense of hope, a practical solution to the nature and climate emergencies with social and economic benefits too. 

Now, in a newly released You Gov opinion poll commissioned by Rewilding Britain and conducted in October 2021, the following was found.

The poll asked 1674 people: ​“To what extent do you support or oppose rewilding in Britain?”. It found that a massive 81% of people support rewilding with 40% strongly supportive and just 5% opposed.

In addition, 75% of people back the idea of increasing the area of the UK that is rewilding to at least 5% from less than 1% currently.

The poll also found that 75% want politicians to do more to reverse the catastrophic decline of nature in our country, confirming that rewilding is overwhelmingly popular with the UK public.

Rewilding offers a major solution to the nature and climate emergencies while benefitting people, including through new jobs and opportunities for rural and coastal communities and healthier towns and cities.

Rewilding Britain is calling for major nature recovery across at least 30% of Britain’s land and sea by 2030, with 5% of this, around 1 million hectares, being core rewilding areas of native forest, peatland, grasslands, wetlands, rivers and coastal areas with no loss of productive farmland. Another 25% of the country should be regenerative, nature-positive areas that support a diverse range of land and marine uses, benefitting local economies while allowing nature to flourish.

There is growing evidence of rewilding’s social and economic benefits. An ongoing analysis by Rewilding Britain of 33 rewilding projects in England is demonstrating how rewilding can create new jobs. Between them, these sites have seen a 54% increase in full-time equivalent jobs since rewilding began. Jobs across the sites have risen from 173 to 267 and now include education, nature tourism, food and drink production, ecology and events.

“Rewilding is attracting astonishing levels of support because it’s about hope.” - Rebecca Wrigley – CEO Rewilding Britain

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