Our Mission

The Knepp Wildland Foundation was founded to catalyse nature recovery across Sussex and beyond. We are using the lessons learned from the rewilding of the Knepp Estate to provide the evidence, knowledge and inspiration to support nature recovery at scale, with a particular focus on the next generation.

“We have two decades of evidence to back a simple, powerful fact: when given space, nature bounces back.”

— Libby Drew, Director, Knepp Wildland Foundation

Our Goals

Knowledge and Influence

We will develop a new engagement programme to spread the knowledge and evidence generated at Knepp to a wide audience. Through research and storytelling, we will promote the principles of rewilding among public audiences, land managers and community groups. We will test new tools and platforms to make data and evidence on the importance of wild spaces available to a wider range of students, researchers and policymakers.

New generation

We will invest in training, research and employment opportunities for 16-25 year olds to create skilled, confident youth networks to take forward nature recovery into a new era. Working through partnerships, including Operation Wallacea, we will provide residential placements and rewilding courses for the next generation of ecologists and conservationists..

Landscape recovery

By 2025 we aim to have agreements in place for a 50-mile wild corridor, Weald to Waves, running from Ashdown Forest to the restored kelp forests off the Sussex coast, with the Knepp Wildland Project at its heart. The corridor will ignite and inspire collaborations across Sussex. We will also develop a blueprint for farmer-led river restoration as part of a national pilot on landscape-scale nature recovery.

Meet the Team