Wild Performatives: Experiments in Rewilding at the Knepp Wildland Project

Overend, David; Lorimer, Jamie

doi:10.1080/2373566x.2018.1478742

Cited by 29 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…In the 1980s there was a recognition of the role that domestic livestock could play in conservation [64], with initial specific application in the likes of wetland management for birds in Southern France [37]. Indeed, some innovative conservation organisations and initiatives are using domestic animals in their management toolbox (for example, [65]; and examples in [8]). For example, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds own several flocks of sheep and herds of cattle that graze to create specific habitats for birds.…”

Section: It Is Not Clear That Selectively Bred De-domesticates Would ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Rewilding Lite: Using Traditional Domestic Livestock to Achieve Rewilding Outcomes

2021

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The vision of rewilding is to return ecosystems to a “natural” or “self-willed” state with trophic complexity, dispersal (and connectivity) and stochastic disturbance in place. The concept is gaining traction, particularly in Europe where significant land abandonment has taken place in recent years. However, in reality, the purest form of rewilding (Rewilding Max) is constrained by a number of context-specific factors whereby it may not be possible to restore the native species that form part of the trophic structure of the ecosystem if they are extinct (for example, mammoths, Mammuthus spp., aurochs, Bos taurus primigenius). In addition, populations/communities of native herbivores/predators may not be able to survive or be acceptable to the public in small scale rewilding projects close to areas of high human density or agricultural land. Therefore, the restoration of natural trophic complexity and disturbance regimes within rewilding projects requires careful consideration if the broader conservation needs of society are to be met. Here we highlight the importance of herbivory as a key factor in rewilding. We argue that the use of the suite of livestock species, and in particular traditional breeds, offers the opportunity, under both land sharing/sparing strategies, to reinstate a more “natural” form of herbivory but still retain the option for management interventions (Rewilding Lite). It will even be possible to gain economic returns (ecotourism, sale of livestock products) from these systems, which will make them more acceptable to state and private landowners. We develop our case based on the advantages of using landraces versus de-domestication strategies, and on the implementation of eco-shepherding herbivory as a restoration tool in fine mosaics of agriculture/natural patches. If this approach is adopted, then larger areas can be given over to conservation, because of the potential broader benefits to society from these spaces and the engagement of farmers in practices that are closer to their traditions.

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Section: It Is Not Clear That Selectively Bred De-domesticates Would ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Rewilding Lite: Using Traditional Domestic Livestock to Achieve Rewilding Outcomes

2021

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“…Indeed, the Estate is both an important place for ecotourism with its relative closeness to London, and it also produces around 75 tonnes of "wild" organic meat per year. The Knepp Wildland project started in 2001 and aims at creating a rewilding area with naturalistic grazing acting as a model for rewilding agricultural land in the UK (Overend and Lorimer, 2018). Considering the size of the Knepp Wildland, and the fact that there are no predators of large herbivores in the area, animal numbers must be controlled artificially.…”

Section: Ecotourism and Sustainable Meat At Knepp Estate Englandmentioning

confidence: 99%

Domestic Livestock and Rewilding: Are They Mutually Exclusive?

Gordon

Manning

Navarro

et al. 2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Human influence extends across the globe, from the tallest mountains to the deep bottom of the oceans. There is a growing call for nature to be protected from the negative impacts of human activity (particularly intensive agriculture); so-called “land sparing”. A relatively new approach is “rewilding”, defined as the restoration of self-sustaining and complex ecosystems, with interlinked ecological processes that promote and support one another while minimising or gradually reducing human intervention. The key theoretical basis of rewilding is to return ecosystems to a “natural” or “self-willed” state with trophic complexity, dispersal (and connectivity) and stochastic disturbance in place. However, this is constrained by context-specific factors whereby it may not be possible to restore the native species that formed part of the trophic structure of the ecosystem if they are extinct (e.g., mammoths, Mammuthus spp., aurochs, Bos primigenius); and, populations/communities of native herbivores/predators may not be able to survive or be acceptable to the public in small scale rewilding projects close to areas of high human density. Therefore, the restoration of natural trophic complexity and disturbance regimes within rewilding projects requires careful consideration if the broader conservation needs of society are to be met. In some circumstances, managers will require a more flexible deliberate approach to intervening in rewilding projects using the range of tools in their toolbox (e.g., controlled burning regimes; using domestic livestock to replicate the impacts of extinct herbivore species), even if this is only in the early stages of the rewilding process. If this approach is adopted, then larger areas can be given over to conservation, because of the potential broader benefits to society from these spaces and the engagement of farmers in practises that are closer to their traditions. We provide examples, primarily European, where domestic and semi-domestic livestock are used by managers as part of their rewilding toolbox. Here managers have looked at the broader phenotype of livestock species as to their suitability in different rewilding systems. We assess whether there are ways of using livestock in these systems for conservation, economic (e.g., branded or certified livestock products) and cultural gains.

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“…This initial encounter in the sodden fields paved the way for a larger event at Knepp. In October 2017, we arranged a return visit with a sixteen-strong group of theatre practitioners and scholars, human geographers, palaeoecologists, conservationists, visual artists, and journalists (Overend and Lorimer 2018). One of the performances that emerged from the creative workshop that we facilitated that weekend took place in a large field beside the camp site.…”

Section: Knepp Castle Estate West Sussexmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Working in unruly and unpredictable environments has also required us to develop multi-species methods that have engaged with and contributed to the ecological assemblages that are present in our chosen field sites (Tsing et al 2017). As I have noted elsewhere, this requires us 'to be open to the environment and alert to entanglements with nonhuman phenomena of many kinds: receptive to chance and perceptive of change' (Overend and Lorimer 2018). Our methodology aims to utilise and respond to these conditions through a combination of place writing, performance making and site-specific art, in order to prompt creative and collaborative ways of working in response to the ecologies, conceptualisations and performances of these field sites.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Field works: wild experiments for performance research

Overend

2021

Studies in Theatre and Performance

Self Cite

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This article reflects on a series of wild experiments in literal field sites. It develops a practicebased methodology that aims to identify, perform and assert wild presences and unruly processes, playfully and creatively engaging with vibrant and dynamic ecologies. To explore these concerns 'in the field', a series of research trips were undertaken in the United Kingdom between 2017 and 2020, including repeated visits to Knepp Wildland Project in West Sussex and Bamff Estate in Perthshire. These locations were chosen due to their engagement with rewilding as an experimental mode of ecosystem management. Rewilding is explored here as a process-driven approach to conservation that offers a potential model for transdisciplinary artistic research. Adopting and adapting its methods through a combination of place writing, collaborative performance making and site-specific art, a creative practice is developed that prompts collaborative ways of working in response to the ecologies, conceptualisations and performances of these field sites. Aiming to bring something back from the field into the academy, the article argues for a (re)wilding of disciplinary knowledge exchange. It concludes with a model for a wild epistemology, proposing that research in specific field sites can be informed by an artistic practice that is entangled, unsettling and continually practiced.

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Wild Performatives: Experiments in Rewilding at the Knepp Wildland Project

Cited by 29 publications

References 28 publications

Rewilding Lite: Using Traditional Domestic Livestock to Achieve Rewilding Outcomes

Rewilding Lite: Using Traditional Domestic Livestock to Achieve Rewilding Outcomes

Domestic Livestock and Rewilding: Are They Mutually Exclusive?

Field works: wild experiments for performance research

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