East Anglia's 'eco-anxious' farmers draft grassroots plan for a wilder UK

A grassroots movement to wild East Anglia is going national with the launch of an online map to collect pledges and connect communities and businesses.

- Patrick Barkham

WildEast was formed five years ago when three “eco-anxious” farmers decided to commit at least a fifth of their land to nature. Since then, thousands of people have pledged to rewild gardens, school grounds, public spaces and businesses.

Now, the group has created Wild Kingdom, a national version of its interactive “map of dreams”, to encourage action to restore nature across Britain. Anyone can make a pledge and share pictures, tips and success stories digital “witness statements” to nature recovery.

Hugh Crossley, a co-founder of WildEast, said: “We all have a tremendous debt to nature by way of how we've farmed, managed land and consumed. Nature, like us, thrives on the very thing we have deprived it of - wild space and connectivity.