Unravelling Rewilding: The Politics of Landscape Transformation in England

Abstract

In the age of the Anthropocene, rewilding has emerged as a set of attractive practices to restore the ecological function of landscapes. This research focuses on its implementation in populated rural landscapes housing culture, as it has been shown to reflect an intricate interplay of ecological restoration, community contestation, and policy dynamics that mandate critical engagement. This research engages with rewilding in England’s rural landscape and decodes its broader implications, reaching beyond ecological boundaries. Through a textual analysis of secondary data sources, including political debates, news articles, and grey literature, this research unpacks configurations that drive the adaptation and expansion of rewilding in England and examines how they shape the landscape and the place of locals within it. The research employs a political ecology framework to examine the changes in discourse, power dynamics, socio-economic shifts, and local engagements that shape the implementation of rewilding in England’s rural landscapes. The research outlines multi-scale configurations critical for understanding how rural landscapes are shaped and reimagined. Through its engagement with the new post-Brexit land management policy (ELMS), this research significantly contributes to examining policy changes that enable rewilding.