Working in collaboration to create resilient, connected, nature-rich landscapes, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust is delivering a diverse programme of nature recovery projects that also improves people’s wellbeing by enabling them to take an active role in nature’s recovery. 

Implementing the Lawton Principles (Making Space for Nature) of Bigger, Better, More, and Connected, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust is restoring nature on our network of nature reserves and collaborating with other landowners to support nature recovery at scale. We have adopted an evidence led rewilding approach which allows nature to determine habitat and species recovery, stepping in where necessary to reinstate and strengthen natural processes and missing species, and using nature-based solutions to solve nature and climate problems.  

Our approach to rewilding across our complex and varied county is through a rewilding hierarchy. We first consider whether passive rewilding is possible, asking if we can do nothing at all. If not, we consider delivering interventions to introduce missing, or strengthen weak, natural processes to give nature a head-start to recovery – we are in an emergency, so urgency is essential! 

Some of those interventions are non-actions; leaving drains to block to enable water to form wetlands, stopping mowing to allow plants to grow and leaving deadwood where it falls to create new micro-habitats for insects, small mammals and fungi.  

Some interventions include the introduction of native species to act as ecosystem engineers, engineering habitats to become the best they can be for wildlife to colonise in sustained populations.

We have reintroduced beavers at Willington Wetlands to create dams and pools that slow the flow of water and create rich aquatic habitats. Often proxy species are used; swapping out wild boar for pigs, and wild ponies and aurochs for domestic breeds of ponies and cattle. The proxy species graze the land to give a diversity of flora a chance to flourish, poach the soil to awaken dormant seeds, give fallen seeds bare ground to germinate, and deposit dung to aid soil health.  

Sometimes it has not been possible for herbivores to be reintroduced to a site, so we have created opportunities for people to step into the role of ‘ecosystem engineers.’ Not only has this been a fun way for people to spend a day, but it has also delivered an essential intervention to improve a site’s natural health, at the same time, improving people’s wellbeing from being outside and connected to nature. 

At Allestree Park, home of the UK’s largest urban community rewilding project, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and partners, have been facilitating the people of Derby to ‘Be a Jay’, ‘Be a Boar’, and ‘Be a Beaver’, and visiting dogs (with their owners) to ‘Be a Wolf’!

Through these fun and social events, school children, community groups, Derby residents and visitors, have contributed to the health of the rewilded park. ‘Be a Jay Day’ saw people collecting acorns and planting them across the park, mimicking the actions of Jays hiding acorns in secret larders in autumn, and often not returning for them all, aiding natural regeneration of oak trees.  

Many volunteers turned out for ‘Be a Boar Day’, mimicking the actions of wild boar rootling around in the ground for food, using tools not snouts, turning over the invasive grass and giving dormant wildflower seeds a chance to waken and grow.  

Where the once highly managed drainage system at Allestree Park served to draw water from the manicured golf course, it has been left to block up. The result is the natural creation of ephemeral pools appearing on the grassland below a small brook. These seasonal habitats provide breeding grounds for amphibians and aquatic insects, and a water and food source for birds and mammals. ‘Be a Beaver Day’ saw school children and other volunteers building beaver dams upstream of the pools. Their beaver skills brought instant results with multiple pools of water appearing along the stream. These pools will offer a new dynamic habitat for many creatures on the park including dragonflies and damselflies, frogs and toads. 

Andy Honman, Wilder Connections Officer for Allestree Park explains:  "We’ve been overwhelmed with the enthusiasm from local community groups to think and work like ecosystem engineers. Our events demonstrated ‘community rewilding’ at its best with groups developing a sense of ownership of their beaver dams and rootled boar patches; small spaces that will make a big difference to nature, and a place where groups can return time after time to enjoy the positive changes that are happening." 

The next stage of all these activities is to monitor changes over time and where necessary, repeat, scale up or alter to ensure they are improving habitat health and benefiting nature, long term. 

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust’s ambition is to support communities to be at the heart of nature recovery in Derbyshire, being closer to nature and acting for wildlife so people and wildlife thrives together.  We are in a nature and climate emergency, but by acting for wildlife, people can make a real difference and create reason to feel optimistic.  

To learn more about what is happening at Allestree Park see our pages here.