Four in five adults in Britain support rewilding, according to new research.
An opinion poll commissioned by the charity Rewilding Britain shows that 81% of Britons support rewilding, with 40% strongly supportive and just 5% of people opposed.
Rewilding Britain defines rewilding as the large-scale restoration of nature to the point it can take care of itself – restoring habitats and natural processes, and where appropriate reintroducing missing species.
Leading pollsters YouGov asked 1,674 Britons: ‘To what extent do you support or oppose rewilding in Britain?’.
The poll, conducted last October, also found that 83% of the public support Britain’s national parks being made wilder, with areas set aside for rewilding. This huge level of support is significant as the UK Government has just announced a 12-week public consultation on how to ensure these national landscapes can do more for nature, climate and people.
Three-quarters (75%) of people back the idea of increasing the area of Britain that is rewilding to at least 5%, from less than 1% currently.
And 75% want politicians to do more to reverse the decline of nature. Britain has been ranked by the authoritative State of Nature report as one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, with over half of its species declining and many threatened with extinction.
Discover more (www.rewildingbritain.org.uk)
Photo by Johannes Plenio
