There has been a recent explosion of 'wilding' projects, accompanied by best-selling books and media enthusiasm. This lecture aims to provide a route map for members to navigate these projects, and to identify opportinities for engineering applications and innovation. It gives a commentary on why these projects are growing rapidly, discusses their different forms and objectives, higlighting practical challenges with their establishment and management. It discusses how agricultural engineering can help meet these challenges, and exploit commercial opportunities in the wilding supply chain. The lecture is illustrated by case studies, drawn from a wide range of current wilding projects in Dorset.
Mark Kibblewhite CEnv FIAgrE is a soil scientist and environmental chemist and the current chair of the Dorset Wildlife Trust. He is a former president of IAgrE and past trustee of the Douglas Bomford Trust, and was Director of the National Soil Resources Institute at Cranfield University, where he is an Emeritus Professor.
