‘Pretty damn cool’: Ellie Goulding on rewilding as a cure for our planet – and our mental health

The singer-songwriter and UN environment ambassador is a self-confessed nature nerd' and urges her fans to get stuck in' to ecological activism

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I just got back from a walk in Hyde park, headphones in, Max Richter playing, after a sweltering 30C day in London. I stopped halfway to take my trainers off and pad my feet on the grass. This is where I often go when I need to breathe, and not to think.

I've been a nature nerd since the days of making mud pies (and grass on the side), turning up stones to see worms and woodlice, and foraging for blackberries with the other kids in the village, often to make some sort of inedible fruity soup.