Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm
The remarkable true story of rewilding a 3,500-acre estate and the cascade of biodiversity that followed
"We are so used to thinking of nature as something to control, manage and improve upon that the idea of simply stepping back is counter-intuitive."
— Isabella Tree
My Review
This book fundamentally shaped my understanding of ecosystem dynamics and the power of letting go. The Knepp experiment demonstrates that the best management is often less management - creating conditions for emergence rather than trying to control outcomes. The concept of keystone species and trophic cascades became central to my thinking about organizational design.
Why It Matters
Tree's account of Knepp provides the best real-world demonstration of how ecosystems self-organize when constraints are relaxed. The book makes ecological concepts tangible and shows how keystone effects work in practice.
Key Ideas
- Keystone species create disproportionate ecosystem effects
- Trophic cascades - top-down effects ripple through the system
- Process-led rather than outcome-led conservation
- Disturbance and messiness create opportunity for diversity
How It Connects to This Framework
Book 1 Chapter 8 (Ecosystem Thinking) and Book 8 Chapter 6 (Keystone Species) draw directly from Wilding. The concept of trophic cascades in organizational contexts comes from this work.
Get the Book
Support the author and your preferred bookseller:
Tags
Want to go deeper?
The full Biology of Business book explores these concepts in depth with practical frameworks.