Practical Re-wilding

A 2 day course giving participants a better understanding of rewilding, specifically for those seeking to learn the integral components of this approach to nature conservation. Set in the rewilding area of Coombeshead Farm in Devon, the course provides attendees with a successful example of how the application of rewilding can be achieved using pragmatic solutions.

The course includes an evening Beaver watching experience and re-wilding tour of Coombeshead, with a chance to see some of the rewilding helpers such as beaver, wild pigs, ponies, and water buffalo. There will also be an opportunity to see first-hand the techniques used at Coombeshead to ‘rewild’ and restore the ecosystem.

Accommodation is not included within the course price, however the site offers beautiful Shepherd’s huts & camping which overlook the re-wilding area. This can be booked directly with the farm and a discounted rate will be provided to those who attend the course.

Tutor: "Pete Cooper is a wilding ecologist with the Derek Gow Consultancy and works on a variety of projects including a captive breeding and release for the Glow-worm, ecological feasibility for Wildcat reintroduction to south-west England and providing baseline surveys for sites undergoing rewilding projects. He has been working at the Rewilding Coombeshead project for two years where 300 acres are being turned over from former farmland to a wilder future."

Course Details

Rewilding aims to help nature to flourish across a better-connected landscape with minimal human intervention. It aims to repair the functionality of degraded ecosystems through reintroduction of selected species and their accompanying ecological processes to build self-sustaining, resilient environments. The benefits of rewilding have been evidenced across the country and include carbon capture, reversing biodiversity loss, helping wildlife adapt to climate change, and improving our health and wellbeing.

The origin of the word ‘Rewilding’ was coined in 1990 as a conservation method based on ‘cores, corridors and carnivores’, however in the UK, we are far from reintroducing apex carnivores such as the once native lynx and wolf. So, how can we ‘rewild' in the UK? This two-day course introduces the history of rewilding across America and Europe, with an overview of projects across the UK. It provides an insight into rewilding techniques adopted by different organisations based on soil type, previous land management and space, introduction of keystone species & challenges in terms of success and failures these projects have faced.

We will discuss the benefits and problems with rewilding, other solutions (such as regenerative farming) that need to adapt alongside this approach to tackle climate change, increase biodiversity, improve soil health and store carbon, whilst protecting the farming economy.

The course will cover the following topics:

• What is Rewilding and where did this term come from
• History of Rewilding
• Rewilding in America and Europe
• Rewilding in UK; projects, challenges and successes of biodiversity increases and ecosystem restoration
• The future of rewilding; actions and approaches to be undertaken alongside rewilding to improve and guarantee success for the long term
• How you can be a part of this

This workshop is suitable for anyone with an interest in nature conservation, including conservationists, ecologists (particularly with regard to biodiversity net gain and designing offset areas), land managers, owners & environmentalists.

Schedule

Thursday 4th July:

• 2pm: Afternoon taught session
• 7pm: Beaver experience

Friday 5th July:

• 9am: Second taught session
• 11:30am: Re-wilding tour
• 1pm: Lunch

Booking Details

The hosts at Coombeshead Farm will meet you on arrival.

Lunch will be provided following the Re-wilding tour on the Friday with vegetarian and vegan options available.

We highly recommend staying overnight in the beautiful Shepherd huts or campsite available on site. On confirmation of the booking, a 15% discount code will be provided to claim discounted rates at the farm during your stay.

For those staying they have barbecues and pizza oven you can use. For others go to https://rewildingcoombeshead.co.uk/local-area-information/ where there are details on local pubs etc.

https://rewildingcoombeshead.co.uk

What to bring

• Snacks and water
• Notebook
• Wellies
• Work gloves
• External Phone Battery

A vegetarian or vegan lunch will be provided following the re-wilding tour on the second day to set you up for your journey home.

Directions

Those who have booked hut accommodation starting Wednesday should just follow arrival instructions as normal on our arrival emails. Those arriving in huts on Thursday or just arriving for the course should should come to Coombeshead Rewilding (post code PL16 0JS, map and details on www.rewildingcoombeshead.co.uk). This postcode will not take you to the exact entrance! There is a photo of the entrance below.

Links to exact spot:

https://w3w.co/justifies.soldiers.romance

https://goo.gl/maps/qfVU1M1VDDoNj4yq8

Follow site signs to Rewilding Coombeshead, camping entrance, and gather at the site office. There is plenty of parking there. Peter will be there to meet people from 1pm. We will then walk down to the classroom together to start at 2pm as planned. Please note this is a rural location, please read directions carefully.

Please inform us of any medical requirements/conditions we should be aware of prior to the course.

Feedback from previous course

'I thoroughly enjoyed this course and left feeling very positive! The course tutors have a very impressive range of knowledge and experience and gave an excellent overview of the different techniques which can be used in various situations to rewild and restore the environment. Being able to go through specific case studies elsewhere in the UK, as well as to see first-hand what has been achieved to date on the Coombeshead farm site, was particularly valuable and inspiring. The original schedule had to be altered slightly on the final day, with the classroom session and tour switched around. However, this was not a problem and I felt that this actually worked out really well, with the classroom session providing a good summary and round up to the full course.'

'I enjoyed the mix of on-site walks with quick talks/presentation - these talks don't need to be long, more a summary of what has been discussed in the field

'I camped on site which worked out really well. Staff very helpful, plenty of space available and I had plenty of time to set up before the course started. Also good value.'