Knepp estate: why the king and queen of rewilding are farming again after 20 years

Charlie Burrell and Isabella Tree were pioneers of rewilding in the UK. Now they are setting their sights on regenerative agriculture, which will supply food to a new farm shop and cafe

It's odd to hear the owners of the UK's pioneering rewilding project at Knepp estate in West Sussex gushing about farming. But Charlie Burrell and Isabella Tree are returning to a sector they left 20 years ago. In 2000, they let their unprofitable dairy and arable farm go to seed. Now Knepp Wildland is a 1,400 hectare (3,500 acre) rewilding project, home to a smorgasbord of remarkable wildlife, including critically endangered nightingales and turtle doves. It is a success story that has inspired many to think differently about land, and how much wildlife we should expect in our countryside.

Now, another chapter is being added to the Knepp story, as the last 150 hectares of land is amalgamated into the project. For decades, land scattered around the villages of Shipley and Dial Post was run by a tenant farmer who used it for grazing sheep. But the farmer has left and it is being scruffed up and transformed into the Knepp estate regenerative farm, which will supply local food to a new farm shop and cafe, due to open later this year. They are also opening a market garden, which will make use of manure from the cows. Knepp visitors will be able to go on farm safaris, just like they do on the rewilding project.