As I write this, I am preparing to head to Heartwood Farm and Cidery tomorrow for the first full day of our new Four Seasons of Transformation program. Although it’s early spring on the calendar, it’s late winter based on the vestiges of snow still on the ground and the cool temperatures that are lingering.
One of the areas on the farm that we’ll visit is called the “rewilding zone.” When I saw it last week, it looked fairly wild to me already! But when I looked more closely, I realized the trees are in rows and the ground cover is sparse and uniform — quite different than elsewhere on the farm. Farmers Val and Brent and a group of their friends are working together to restore the area to its original, more chaotic beauty. Rewilding takes time. Tackling it in community makes the task less daunting.
The concept of rewilding, common in regenerative agriculture, is less considered but equally needed by people looking for regeneration as we reimagine our next chapter.
In ecosystems, rewilding involves:
- Creating the right conditions to let nature manage itself;
- Giving diversity an opportunity to thrive;
- Reconnecting modern society with wilder nature;
- No specific endpoint, but moving up a scale of wildness is seen as the key indicator of success.
The metaphor is powerful!
I wonder what conditions, diverse influences and community I could welcome in that would move me up my “scale of wildness” — and how much restoration and resilience would result?