Section 2.b. "Smaller-Scale Rewilding: A Practical Guide to Restoring Nature in Your Own Space"

Section 2.b. of the guide to smaller-scale rewilding from the team at LettsSafari: 'Municipal Park Rewilding'.

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Section 2.b. Municipal Park Rewilding

City and town parks offer another prime venue for smaller-scale rewilding. These are the green lungs of urban areas - and by rewilding them (or even portions of them), municipalities can significantly boost local biodiversity and ecological services. Park-scale rewilding typically involves taking a section of a public park or commons that might have been a closely mown lawn or neglected thicket and allowing it to regenerate more naturally.

For instance, the “Letting The Light In” project at Chiswick House & Gardens in London is rewilding about 20 acres of woodland within an urban historic estate. The woodlands had become dark and choked with invasive evergreens (like laurel and holly), so the project is opening up glades, removing those invasives, and letting sunlight stimulate a burst of native ground flora and young trees - essentially kick-starting natural regeneration.

Section 1. "Smaller-Scale Rewilding: A Practical Guide to Restoring Nature in Your Own Space"

Dark, crowded woods kill groundcover and chase away wildlife

Over a few years, this is expected to create a much richer habitat for birds, insects, and small mammals, turning a stagnant monoculture of shrubs into a layered woodland teeming with life. It’s a perfect example of smaller-scale rewilding in a municipal context, funded by local government and wildlife trusts, showing that even a city park can prioritise biodiversity and wildness alongside recreation.