Our Story

Wild Ennerdale began as a simple desire to talk to one another more as landowners, share resources more effectively, and to work more sensitively with nature to bring greater benefits for people and place. That was 20 years ago and Wild Ennerdale is now recognised as the longest running ‘re-wilding’ project in the UK.

The partnership brings together the three main landowners (National Trust, Forestry England & United Utilities) along with Natural England. We developed a vision and a set of guiding principles early on in the process which was based around nature being more in charge to shape the look, feel and function of the valley, along with local conversations and what people liked (and disliked) about the valley. That vision and set of guiding principles remain relevant now and are at the core of all our work.

We have worked closely with local stakeholders and wider contacts at regional, national, and international level. That continues today and forms an important part of our work both to share learning, develop ambitions and steer future work. We have a dedicated team of local volunteers who have been active over the last 15 years come rain or shine!

The Challenge

The idea of ‘rewilding’ wasn’t in the public domain when we set out. Our driver was the place and a sense that we could do more to enhance the special qualities of the site to bring more nature and people benefits. This evolved over the initial couple of years into a wilding project. It wasn’t something that happened quickly, was imposed, or triggered by external funding.

Consistent engagement was vital. We work with a wide range of audiences locally, regionally and nationally including the local community and volunteers. We are only a small team of staff, so balancing the engagement with delivery of the practical work in the valley can be a challenge, particularly in more recent years as the public interest in ‘re-wilding’ has grown.

We are facing unprecedented times with biodiversity decline and a climate emergency. We hope Wild Ennerdale plays a small part in offering practical solutions which can be applied elsewhere in the Lakes and beyond.

Our Solution

Throughout our work, we have been inspired and supported by many individuals and projects around the UK, particularly in Scotland. We have also hosted many different groups and individuals wanting to visit to see the valley and our work. We adopt an opportunistic approach and are as flexible in our work as possible as by definition, nature can be unpredictable and it’s about adaptation rather than constraints when working in a landscape.

We place many demands on our landscape; access, food, timber, water, tourism, research, mental health and wellbeing to name a few. We try to balance those through our collaborative working and recognise that if we give nature a chance, we can reap great rewards through observation, patience and facilitation.

We have a long-term approach with no fixed end-point which offers more sustainable solutions for nature recovery. We are driving change which we hope can offer learning and experiences which can be applied elsewhere. We are facing unprecedented times with biodiversity decline and a climate emergency and we hope Wild Ennerdale plays a small part in offering practical solutions which can be applied elsewhere in the Lakes and beyond.

Want to find out more?

To find out more about Wild Ennerdale, head to the link below:

www.wildennerdale.co.uk