Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help facilitate re-wilding in England.

This Government has set out its intention to deliver for nature, taking action to meet our Environment Act targets, and working in partnership with civil society, communities and business to restore and protect our natural world.

Wilding or rewilding is the restoration of ecosystems to the point where they are more regulated by natural processes. This Government is supporting a number of initiatives to create wilder landscapes across England, as part of a broader approach to nature recovery. Rewilding is not appropriate in all situations, and we must balance priorities including food production.

One of the ways this Government is supporting wilder landscapes and wildlife-rich habitat is through Landscape Recovery (LR), one of Defra’s Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. LR is for landowners and managers who want to take a large-scale, long-term approach to producing environmental and climate goods on their land. It will facilitate and fund ambitious projects through bespoke, 20+ year agreements. LR supports objectives such as restoring ecological or hydrological function across a landscape, peatland restoration, woodland management, or habitat restoration.