Last week the University of St Andrews announced that its “Nature Networks” project won the 2025 UK & Ireland Green Gown Award in the Nature Positive category. The project restored and connected habitats along 16 km of Fife’s coastline, covering woodland, hedgerows, meadow, wetlands and saline lagoon restoration.
This story offers three key themes that matter to us at LettsSafari, and that your garden or balcony can reflect:
– The project established 4.78 ha of native woodland, 2,413 m of native hedgerow and 6,610 m² of meadow.
– It also restored a saline lagoon and brought neglected SSSI (site of special scientific interest) land under conservation grazing.
LettsSafari Take-away: Even small green spaces (your balcony, garden border, or communal park) can serve as stepping stones for wildlife - a tiny meadow patch, a native shrub hedge or a water feature can create mini-corridors. LettsSafari’s subscription support offers step-by-step rewilding tips so you can build habitat networks in your space, not just isolated patches.
– 408 people engaged in 38 practical volunteering/training sessions across students, staff and local residents.
– The project isn’t just about wild nature in a vacuum; it’s about community, wellbeing, education and climate adaptation.
LettsSafari Take-away: Your garden isn’t just a showpiece - it can be a classroom, a micro-rewilding lab, a personal resilience zone. LettsSafari helps you transform your space into a nature-hub where you, your friends or your family become part of the restoration story.
– The scale of the project is landscape-level: 16 km coastline, multiple habitat types.
– Yet the principle is scalable down to backyards, balconies, parks.
LettsSafari Take-away: If a university can restore woodland, meadows and lagoons at scale, you can restore a corner of green, a wild patch, a naturalised flower-border. LettsSafari’s subscription model gives you hints and tips, seasonal planting advice and monitoring checklists to turn your space into a micro-rewilding project.
At LettsSafari, we believe nature restoration isn’t just for national parks or estates - it starts with home, garden, balcony and community patches. Here’s how we support you:
Practical guidance : Our rewild-at-home modules show how to pick native plants, create mini-wetlands or wildflower corners, install simple structures (logs, deadwood, stone piles).
Monitoring & impact : We help you track changes - biodiversity counts (bees, birds, insects), wildlife sightings, vegetation growth. This mirrors how big-scale projects measure success.
Subscription model : Regular tips, content, seasonal advice mean your space evolves over time, aligning with the long-term nature restoration story.
Climate + nature synergy : Restoring your space helps with flood mitigation (rain gardens), carbon capture (native shrubs/trees), and biodiversity - all features celebrated by larger projects like the one at St Andrews.
Your space matters. A garden or balcony that’s turned wild contributes to nature recovery, climate resilience and personal wellbeing. The St Andrews project reminds us: habitat restoration isn’t distant or abstract - it’s local, tangible and powered by people. By subscribing to LettsSafari, you’re joining the wave of change. Your flower-bed becomes part of the national mosaic of rewilding.
St Andrews is more than an award-winner - it’s a blueprint for nature restoration that starts at the scale of any green space. At LettsSafari, we equip you to turn your garden or balcony into a vital node in the wider network of wild-spaces. Because restoring nature? It begins right outside your door.
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Subscribe to LettsSafari
Support our rewilding parks, get exclusive content of our projects and even receive expert tips to transform your garden, community, public or work spaces into a wildlife haven.
🌱 For every 10 new subscribers we plant a tree a year.
🦔 For every 100, we release an endangered animal.
🌳 And for every 10,000 we create a new rewilding safari park a year!
Make A Difference: Together We Can Rewild To Restore Nature.
Sign up TODAY
!
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Rewilding rebuilds nature’s natural defences. Projects like St Andrews’ coastal restoration capture carbon through new woodland and wetlands, reduce flood risk by storing rainwater, and boost biodiversity that keeps ecosystems resilient. Your own garden can do the same - small native plants and wild corners act as mini carbon sinks .
Yes! Every patch matters. Even a balcony or window box filled with native flowers creates food and shelter for pollinators. When thousands of small spaces link up, they form micro-wildlife corridors that reconnect fragmented habitats. That’s exactly the LettsSafari vision: local actions, national impact.
Begin by stepping back. Let part of your garden grow wild, skip a mow, or leave fallen leaves as shelter. Then, add a few native species and a shallow water dish or log pile. LettsSafari subscribers get seasonal tips and rewilding checklists to guide every stage - from tiny tweaks to full-blown mini-habitats.
Crunch. That unmistakable sound of autumn underfoot, the crisp crumble of fallen leaves, signals the turning of the seasons. To many, leaf piles are simply yard waste waiting for the compost bin. But to the natural world, they’re something far more extraordinary: a micro-wilderness teeming with life, transformation, and quiet magic.
Crouch down beside that heap of fallen leaves in your garden corner. Listen carefully. Beneath the rustle of oak and maple, there's an entire civilisation humming with life. A micro-wilderness as complex and vibrant as any jungle, just at a scale that fits in your backyard. It’s humid and earthy down there, a miniature rainforest tucked beneath the bare branches above. The air smells of moss and decay - life’s grand recycling system at work.
That pile of crinkled amber and burnt sienna isn't garden waste. It's a five-star hotel, restaurant, and maternity ward rolled into one, bustling with more residents than you'd find on a busy city street.
Peel back the top layer of your leaf pile and you'll discover a gradient of decomposition, each level hosting its own community. The crispy surface crackles underfoot, but just beneath lies a darker, damper world where leaves soften into a moist blanket. Here, the temperature rises a few precious degrees, enough to make all the difference on a frosty November morning.
Lift a leaf and you might spot a centipede darting away, its sinuous body moving like a living ribbon, or a millipede calmly munching through soft detritus, digesting what trees no longer need. These creatures, invisible to the casual passerby, are the engineers of the soil, the unseen workforce that keeps our ecosystems alive.
Ground beetles scuttle through the labyrinth of veins and stems, their metallic backs catching fragments of filtered light. Shiny and black, the beetles patrol like miniature panthers, hunting for unsuspecting prey: worms, slugs, or the occasional ant that’s wandered too far from its nest. Millipedes curl into defensive spirals when disturbed, their countless legs a marvel of natural engineering. Springtails, those tiny, primitive insects most people never notice, leap through the leaf litter like microscopic kangaroos, consuming fungal spores and decomposing matter.
The woodlice patrol their territories, those armoured minibeasts that roll into perfect spheres when threatened. They shuffle slowly, clad in their segmented armour, turning dry leaves into nutrient-rich crumbs. Despite their name, they're actually crustaceans that evolved to live on land, carrying their aquatic ancestry in their need for moisture. Your leaf pile provides exactly that: a damp refuge in an otherwise dry terrestrial world.
And as temperatures drop, the leaf pile becomes a refuge. Frogs burrow into its damp warmth, toads tuck themselves deep within, and hedgehogs. Those beloved icons of the British garden often choose leaf piles as their winter sanctuary. Even overwintering butterflies, like the peacock and small tortoiseshell, may shelter here, wings folded in sleep until the first blush of spring.
As autumn deepens into winter, the real magic begins. Fungi thread their invisible networks through the leaves, breaking down tough cellulose into nutrients the soil can absorb. These fungal highways connect trees across your garden, facilitating an underground internet of resource sharing that scientists are only beginning to understand.
The magic of a leaf pile isn’t just in the creatures it shelters; it’s in the transformation it sparks. As autumn’s castoffs break down, they release a slow, steady trickle of nutrients into the soil. Leaf litter feeds fungi, which in turn feeds plants. It enriches earthworms and microbes that aerate and renew the soil, creating a living cycle of decay and rebirth. Over weeks and months, the crisp reds and golds of autumn melt into a soft, dark mulch, - nature’s own compost, fuel for the next season’s growth.
Earthworms emerge from below, pulling leaves down into their burrows, churning and mixing organic matter with mineral soil. A single earthworm can process its own weight in soil every day, and your leaf pile is an all-you-can-eat buffet. What they leave behind, called worm castings, is black gold: nutrient-rich fertiliser that makes plants thrive without any synthetic supplements.
The chemical transformation happening in your leaf pile is quietly miraculous. Tough winter leaves, packed with carbon, gradually break down into humus-rich mulch that improves soil structure, retains moisture, and feeds billions of soil microorganisms. This isn't waste management - t's soil creation, the same process that built the fertile ground beneath ancient forests.
And the best part? It’s effortless. Simply by leaving leaves where they fall, or raking them into a quiet corner, you’re creating habitat, food, and shelter. You’re helping the soil breathe, holding moisture in the ground, and giving insects a home through the cold months. In short, you’re rewilding - one leaf pile at a time.
Word spreads quickly in the animal kingdom about a good foraging spot. Robins and blackbirds become regular visitors, flicking leaves aside with sharp flicks of their beaks, snatching up beetles and larvae. Hedgehogs shuffle through at dusk, their snuffling audible as they hoover up slugs and snails. Shrews, those hyperactive bundles of fur with metabolisms that never rest, hunt through the layers for invertebrate prey.
Even foxes and badgers occasionally investigate leaf piles, though they're usually after the small mammals sheltering beneath. Mice and voles tunnel through the insulating layers, creating cosy nests safe from winter's bite and predators' eyes. Toads and newts seek shelter here too, waiting out the cold months in a state of semi-dormancy.
Your leaf pile becomes a hub in the local food web, connecting decomposers to predators, plants to pollinators, soil to sky.
This is exactly what LettsSafari is all about - recognising that rewilding doesn't require vast estates or complicated schemes. Sometimes the most powerful conservation action is simply doing less: leaving those leaves, creating brush piles, letting corners go wild. Our network of smaller-scale safari parks, gardens, and backyards shows how even tiny wild spaces, whether it’s a meadow strip, a pond, or yes, a humble leaf pile, can become sanctuaries for wildlife and people alike.
Our approach is playful, practical, and deeply hopeful: restoring nature while reminding us how joyful it can be to reconnect with it.
Small-scale rewilding works because nature is fractal. The same core principles governing a thousand-acre reserve apply to your garden corner. Create habitat, provide food, allow natural processes to unfold, and wildlife will respond.
We believe everyone can be a rewilding ranger, starting with simple choices like keeping leaf piles. These micro-wildernesses prove that restoration is accessible, practical, and frankly, irresistible once you've witnessed the secret world beneath those autumn leaves. So this year, put down the rake and pick up your curiosity instead. Your garden's wildest residents are waiting.
So, as autumn deepens and the temptation to tidy up grows strong, pause before you sweep those leaves away. Instead, step closer. Listen to the whisper of the wind through the dry, papery canopy. Breathe in the musk of moss and soil. Imagine the bustling life beneath your feet—the beetles, worms, and fungi turning decay into life, the hedgehog dreaming in its leafy burrow.
In that small, scruffy corner of your garden lies a universe in miniature: a micro-wilderness, alive and humming, doing nature’s quiet work. Leave it be, and you’ll be joining a growing movement of people and creatures, helping to heal the planet, one leaf pile at a time.
Start your rewilding journey today - become a member of LettsSafari .
A striking new experiment in Finland invites us to rethink what it means to “play in the dirt”. In a study of young children at nurseries such as Natural Resources Institute Finland, entire sections of forest floor, rich in soil, mosses, leaf-litter and wild undergrowth, were installed in playgrounds. Within just weeks, children’s immune profiles shifted, their skin and gut micro-biomes diversified, and the idea that playing in nature is a “nice to have” became something more urgent: a public-health intervention.
At LettsSafari, our mission has always been to help gardens, balconies and small parks become mini-rewilded spaces. What this Finnish study shows is that nature isn’t just aesthetic - it’s foundational for health, relationships and ecosystem resilience. Let’s unpack what’s going on, what it means for our green-spaces (even at the scale of a balcony) and how LettsSafari is ready to help you translate the findings into action.
The research highlights two “layers” of biodiversity: the outer (soil, plants, fungi, environmental microbes) and the inner (our skin, gut, airways microbiota). The Finnish nurseries increased the outer layer, forest-floor soil, plants, mosses, and this changed the inner. The children playing in the enriched yards acquired more diverse skin and gut bacteria and greater immune regulatory markers.
Within as little as 28 days, children in the intervention group showed higher levels of regulatory T-cells and other immune markers associated with reduced inflammation and fewer immune-mediated illnesses.
Compare a standard urban play‐area (asphalt, gravel, rubber mats) with one transformed into a living substrate of forest soil and vegetation: the microbial richness exploded. The “rewilded” yards had many more microbes and plant species, giving children the chance to touch, explore, dig, forage, even get muddy, and thereby absorb nature’s microbial network.
The study reinforces the so-called “biodiversity hypothesis” which posits that reduced contact with diverse environmental microbes (in modern, urban, sterile settings) may be driving the rise of allergies, autoimmune disease and other immune-dysregulation ailments. It also shows us that healthy ecosystems (soil, plants, fungi, microbes) are intimately connected to human health - not as separate domains but as interwoven systems.
Even if you have just a balcony, a patio or a small garden, introducing richer substrates (leaf-litter, native plants, moss patches) can help re-connect the micro-ecosystem underfoot. The Finnish experiment used relatively modest interventions (forest-floor patches) and still saw measurable human benefit. That means your space counts.
We often talk about wildlife corridors, species restoration and carbon capture—but this study highlights that rewilding also supports human immune health. In your marketing for LettsSafari you can lean into this: it’s not just “make your garden nature-friendly”, it’s “boost your microbiome, enhance your wellbeing”.
Modern gardens often use clean gravel, manicured lawns, sterilised surfaces. The Finnish study shows the value of letting natural complexity in: soil, microbes, plants. At LettsSafari we encourage replacing sterile surfaces with living ones, planting native species, creating “mini-wild zones”.
Though the major immune shifts were seen in about a month, the value compounds over years. If children’s immune systems benefit from just weeks of enriched soil exposure, imagine what a decade of exposure could do. For gardens, the message is: start now; the ecosystem you build today supports future health, for humans and planet.
Rewilded gardens don’t only serve us - they serve the broader web of life: pollinators, soil fungi, insects, birds, micro-habitats. By shifting from conventional ornamental landscaping to micro-biodiverse zones, we build resilience in the face of climate change, biodiversity loss and ecological disconnection.
At LettsSafari we specialise in turning gardens, balconies and smaller urban spaces into thriving micro-ecosystems. Here’s how we align with, and build on, the Finnish findings:
Rewilding subscriptions & toolkits : Our subscription service guides members step-by-step through creating biodiverse substrates: how to incorporate native leaf-litter, moss patches, dead-wood zones, wild native plants. These are precisely the kinds of interventions that enrich microbial exposure.
Design templates for any scale : Whether it’s a window-box or a 200 m² park zone, our design templates account for creating “dirty zones” - areas where nature can do its work: soil-based play, wild plants, water infiltration zones.
Educational content with the story : We don’t just install landscapes; we empower people to understand why . We share stories, photography, quick reels and content that connects the dots between biodiversity and human health, so the end-user becomes a steward, not just a spectator.
Scaling urban ecosystem transitions : The Finnish experiment was a preschool yard. We scale that idea into every garden, balcony and park. By doing so, we help build a mosaic of nature‐rich spaces across urban zones, boosting the “micro-biodiversity fabric” of our cities.
The Finnish soil-play experiment is more than a fun sound-bite about “children getting muddy”. It is a profound illustration that when we bring more of nature into our lives, we bring more of ourselves - our health, our resilience, our connection. At LettsSafari, we’re committed to making that connection tangible, accessible and beautiful. Let’s get dirty together and grow something wild, healthy and enduring!
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Subscribe to LettsSafari
Support our rewilding parks, get exclusive content of our projects and even receive expert tips to transform your garden, community, public or work spaces into a wildlife haven.
🌱 For every 10 new subscribers we plant a tree a year.
🦔 For every 100, we release an endangered animal.
🌳 And for every 10,000 we create a new rewilding safari park a year!
Make A Difference: Together We Can Rewild To Restore Nature.
Sign up TODAY
!
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Absolutely. The Finnish nursery experiment proved that even small patches of living soil and native vegetation can boost immune health in just a few weeks. The same applies to our homes and cities - each balcony box or backyard wild patch becomes a micro-ecosystem that supports birds, insects, fungi and the invisible microbial life that helps keep us healthy. At LettsSafari, we call this smaller-scale rewilding - a movement that turns smaller spaces into powerful biodiversity hubs. Every patch counts.
Rewilding benefits both people and planet. The Finnish research found that when children played on forest-floor soil, their skin and gut bacteria became more diverse and their immune systems stronger. It shows that the health of our environment is directly linked to our own wellbeing. Touching real soil, breathing living air, and engaging with natural spaces stimulates our immune regulation and reduces inflammation. That’s why LettsSafari helps households reconnect with nature - creating smaller wild places that nurture both biodiversity and human health.
Start by replacing sterile materials - gravel, artificial turf, decking - with living soil and native plants. Leave fallen leaves and wood to decay naturally. Add moss, wildflowers, or a mini log pile to invite microbes, insects, and pollinators. Even a few planters or a wild corner can make a big difference. LettsSafari’s rewilding subscription provides monthly tips, seasonal guides, and easy design templates to help you transform any space (balcony, garden, or park) into a thriving mini-habitat.
The Derbyshire Wildlife Trust has launched a new rewilding project to restore Middleton Moor near Wirksworth, aiming to raise £1.2 million to purchase 135 acres of degraded land.
This land, currently over-grazed and poor in biodiversity, could become part of a 1,000-acre wildlife corridor , connecting five nearby nature reserves. It’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity to let nature recover across the Peak District landscape. “There’s very little life there right now – but with time and support, it could become a thriving habitat for birds, pollinators, and wildflowers,” said Danielle Brown from Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.
One of the biggest barriers to biodiversity recovery in the UK is fragmented habitats . When green spaces are isolated, species can’t move freely or adapt to climate change. Projects like the Derbyshire rewilding initiative show that connecting habitats – even small ones – can create powerful chains of biodiversity.
At LettsSafari, we apply the same principle to smaller spaces. Whether you have a garden, park, or balcony, rewilding works best when every patch connects to the next. Each small habitat adds to a national network for wildlife.
Rewilding isn’t only for large estates or nature reserves. It can start in a garden , community park , or school field . The Derbyshire land may begin as barren pasture, but given time and the right interventions – native planting, reduced grazing, pond creation – nature will quickly reclaim it.
At LettsSafari, we see this transformation daily across our smaller-scale rewilding sites. By restoring wetlands, planting native trees and letting grasslands grow, we prove that every piece of land has rewilding potential .
The Derbyshire project depends on public donations – and that’s part of a growing trend across the UK. People are no longer waiting for governments or corporations to act. Communities, individuals and small organisations are crowdfunding nature restoration .
This collective approach mirrors LettsSafari’s model: shared ownership of rewilding . By subscribing to LettsSafari, you contribute directly to nature restoration projects while receiving monthly rewilding tips for your own space.
Every subscriber helps fund biodiversity recovery on real land and learns how to rewild at home.
At LettsSafari , we make rewilding accessible for everyone, not just landowners or conservationists.
Rewild your garden or balcony with simple monthly guides.
Learn how to attract pollinators and boost local biodiversity.
Support real rewilding projects through your subscription.
Join a community of modern conservationists who share results and inspire action.
Our approach links personal action with wider restoration, proving that small spaces make a big difference when multiplied across communities.
The Derbyshire Wildlife Trust’s mission to restore Middleton Moor shows that restoration is possible – with people power, connection and commitment.
At LettsSafari, we take that same vision and make it local, tangible, and personal. Your garden, balcony, or park can become part of the UK’s growing wildlife network.
👉 Join LettsSafari today to support real nature restoration and receive monthly inspiration for rewilding at home: www.lettssafari.com
Rewilding means allowing natural processes to restore ecosystems - by planting native species, reducing human interference, and letting wildlife return.
Over 40% of UK species are in decline. Rewilding helps recover lost habitats, improves soil and water quality, and creates resilience against climate change.
Start small: plant wildflowers, leave a patch unmown, add water for pollinators and avoid chemicals. LettsSafari provides step-by-step guidance for every season.
LettsSafari combines expert-led rewilding projects with digital guidance for your own garden. By subscribing, you directly fund restoration while learning practical ways to boost biodiversity where you live.
Climate change has become one of the most politicised issues of our time. Opinions clash, policies divide and progress often stalls in debate. But one thing we can all agree on? Restoring nature is good - for the planet, for wildlife and for us.
Today is the International Day of Climate Action - a reminder that while the headlines may focus on politics and emissions, the heart of real climate action lies in something simpler and deeply human: bringing nature back to life.
Healthy ecosystems don’t take sides. Forests, wetlands and meadows quietly absorb carbon, filter water and shelter biodiversity. When we restore them, we strengthen the natural systems that sustain every living thing - including ourselves.
Restoring nature also restores us. Time in wild places, even small ones, reduces stress, boosts creativity and reconnects us to something bigger than our screens and schedules. It reminds us that we belong to the living world, not apart from it.
At LettsSafari , we’ve chosen to focus not on the politics of climate change, but on the practice of restoration. Our work is grounded in simple truths:
Nature is the ultimate climate stabiliser. Restored woodlands, grasslands, and wetlands act as carbon sinks, cool the air and regulate rainfall.
Biodiversity builds resilience. Diverse ecosystems are better able to withstand droughts, floods and other extremes.
People thrive when nature thrives. Restoration connects communities, fosters learning and improves wellbeing. It’s climate action with immediate human benefits.
The International Day of Climate Action is a chance to do something tangible - something everyone can feel good about:
Spend time in nature. Go for a walk, sit in a park, visit a local rewilding site.
Support restoration. Help plant native trees, clean up a riverbank, or subscribe to LettsSafari.
Share the message. Post about the natural places you love using hashtags like #ClimateAction #NatureRestoration #LettsSafari.
Climate change may divide us - but nature can unite us.
At LettsSafari, we’re turning that belief into action: restoring land, rebuilding ecosystems, and helping people reconnect with the natural world.
Join us. Act now. Restore nature. Restore hope. 🌿
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Subscribe to LettsSafari
Support our rewilding parks, get exclusive content about our projects AND receive expert tips to transform your garden, community, public or work spaces into a wildlife haven.
🌱 For every 10 new subscribers we plant a tree a year.
🦔 For every 100, we release an endangered animal.
🌳 And for every 10,000 we create a new rewilding safari park a year!
Make A Difference: Together We Can Rewild To Restore Nature.
Sign up TODAY
!
Across the UK, rewilding and nature restoration projects are reshaping how we think about land, wildlife and climate action.
The latest story making headlines is the
Boothby Wildland project in Lincolnshire
- a bold 600-hectare rewilding experiment that’s transforming intensively farmed fields into thriving wild landscapes.
From beavers re-engineering rivers to wild ponies and pigs restoring pastures , Boothby represents the new face of British rewilding: practical, science-backed and deeply inspiring.
At LettsSafari , we believe this large-scale movement also holds lessons for everyone - from landowners to gardeners. Here’s what Boothby Wildland teaches us about the power of nature restoration, and how you can take part.
Boothby Wildland sits in the Lincolnshire countryside and spans over 600 hectares of land once used for intensive agriculture.
The project aims to
rewet the landscape
,
re-wiggle old rivers
, and
restore “ghost ponds”
that had vanished under years of drainage and ploughing.
Already, dragonflies, wildflowers and water-boatmen are returning. Soon, beavers , pigs , ponies and cattle will join - working as natural “ecosystem engineers” to create a mosaic of wetlands, grasslands and scrub.
This is rewilding in action: giving nature space, time and freedom to restore itself.
Wetlands and woodlands are some of the UK’s best natural carbon stores. Projects like Boothby Wildland help lock away carbon while improving flood resilience and soil health.
When we let natural processes return, wildlife follows. Beavers build dams that create ponds for fish, frogs and birds. Grazing animals maintain open habitats where wildflowers thrive. Every species plays a role.
Rewilding doesn’t just help nature - it also supports local jobs, eco-tourism and wellbeing. People visit these sites to walk, watch wildlife and reconnect with the land.
The Boothby project is one of the first under England’s Landscape Recovery scheme , combining government support with private green finance . It’s a model for how farms, estates and councils can fund large-scale nature recovery.
At LettsSafari, we bring the spirit of Boothby to everyone - not just large estates.
We call it smaller-scale rewilding : helping gardens, parks, schools and community spaces restore nature on a small but meaningful scale.
Here’s how we help:
Our LettsSafari sites show how to create biodiversity at any scale - from ponds and meadows to hedgerows and wildlife corridors. You can learn and apply the same methods at home.
Through field guides , rewilding tips and community storytelling , we help people learn by observing nature, just as ecologists do in places like Boothby.
Each LettsSafari subscriber supports habitat restoration, pollinator corridors and species reintroduction - small steps that add up to big impact.
You don’t need hundreds of hectares to make a difference.
Here are three simple ways to start rewilding your world today:
Let it grow: Reduce mowing, plant native wildflowers, or let hedges expand.
Add water: Even a small pond or water bowl can bring birds, insects and amphibians back.
Observe and share: Take part in citizen-science and document your results.
Every wild patch counts - and when we connect them, we rebuild a living network of nature across the UK.
****************************************
Subscribe to LettsSafari
Support our rewilding parks, get exclusive content of our projects and even receive expert tips to transform your garden, community, public or work spaces into a wildlife haven.
🌱 For every 10 new subscribers we plant a tree a year.
🦔 For every 100, we release an endangered animal.
🌳 And for every 10,000 we create a new rewilding safari park a year!
Make A Difference: Together We Can Rewild To Restore Nature.
Sign up TODAY
!
The curlew – with its haunting call and sweeping bill – has declined by 60% in the UK over the past 25 years. Conservationists are now debating whether culling foxes, which prey on curlew eggs and chicks, could be the bird’s last hope. But focusing on predators alone is a sticking-plaster solution.
The real drivers of decline lie deeper: intensive farming that destroys nests with heavy machinery, landscapes emptied of top predators such as lynx and eagles, and artificial food supplies from game shooting that fuel booming fox and crow populations. By isolating the curlew as the “patient” and the fox as the “disease,” we miss the larger truth: ecosystems are webs, not straight lines.
Conservation that targets a single species risks unravelling elsewhere. Cull foxes today and tomorrow another imbalance will emerge. Instead, we need system-wide restoration:
Rewilding apex predators to naturally regulate mesopredators.
Reforming farming practices to protect ground-nesting birds during breeding season.
Restoring diverse habitats so curlews and countless other species thrive.
Nature works in wholes. The decline of the curlew is not just a bird problem – it is a symptom of broken ecological systems. By rethinking conservation as a process of healing landscapes, not just saving mascots, we stand a chance of bringing back balance.
At LettsSafari, this is our guiding principle. We don’t just plant a tree or protect a single animal. We rewild entire parks – letting woodlands, wetlands and meadows recover together. Because when ecosystems flourish, curlews, foxes, owls, butterflies and people all find their place in the song of the wild again.
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Subscribe to LettsSafari
Support our rewilding parks, get exclusive content of our projects and even receive expert tips to transform your garden, community, public or work spaces into a wildlife haven.
🌱 For every 10 new subscribers we plant a tree a year.
🦔 For every 100, we release an endangered animal.
🌳 And for every 10,000 we create a new rewilding safari park a year!
Make A Difference: Together We Can Rewild To Restore Nature.
Sign up TODAY
!
You don’t need hundreds of acres to make a difference for nature. In fact, most of the world’s biodiversity now lives alongside us — in gardens, parks, schoolyards, allotments, and road verges. That means ordinary people, not just landowners or governments, hold the keys to ecological recovery. When you rewild even a small outdoor space, you create a living refuge for wildlife, help rebuild natural processes like pollination and soil renewal, and add resilience to your local environment. Multiply that by millions of small gardens, and suddenly you have a country-wide network of wild corridors, pollinator havens, and climate buffers stitched through towns and countryside alike.
Smaller-scale rewilding is powerful because it’s achievable, personal, and contagious. You can see the results in a single season — the first bumblebee nest in your long grass, the frogs spawning in your new pond, the blackbirds nesting in your hedge. That visibility turns passive environmental concern into daily, hands-on care. Rewilding also frees you from the endless maintenance cycle of mowing, tidying, and spraying. Nature, given a little structure and patience, becomes your co-gardener, designing beauty and balance that no human plan can match.
The following 25-step sequence is a practical roadmap drawn from LettsSafari’s pioneering smaller-scale rewilding approach. It’s written for anyone with access to an outdoor space — a garden, allotment, courtyard, verge, or farm corner — who wants to turn it into a thriving ecosystem. The steps follow a logical order, from observation and preparation through planting, water creation, and habitat building, all the way to long-term care and community connection. Whether you start with one corner or the whole plot, this sequence helps you create a self-sustaining, life-filled landscape that benefits both you and the planet.
Here’s LettsSafari's step-by-step sequence (25 moves) to rewild a small outdoor space, distilled from the full LettsSafari guide and ordered from first action to long-term care:
Adopt the rewilding mindset. Commit to light-touch management, native species, and letting natural processes lead.
Do a quick baseline survey. Map sun/shade, wet/dry spots, wind, soil texture/pH, existing plants and wildlife; take “before” photos.
Stop the chemicals. Cease pesticides, herbicides, and synthetic fertilizers immediately.
Remove hazards & set guardrails. Make water features child-safe, secure compost, avoid netting that traps wildlife, and check any local rules.
Identify “keepers.” Tag any valuable natives (e.g., hawthorn, willow clumps, wildflowers) you’ll protect as anchors.
Deal with true invasives first. Prioritise safe removal/control of high-risk non-natives (e.g., knotweed, bindweed mats) before you plant.
Sketch a simple zone plan. Place a mosaic: meadow (sun), scrub/hedge (edges), a mini-copse (shade), and a small pond/bog; add mown paths to make it accessible.
Decide: plant vs. natural regeneration. Source local-provenance natives for gaps; allow self-seeding where nearby seed sources exist.
Sort water capture. Direct downpipes to swales/raingardens; choose the lowest spot for a pond or bog garden.
Build a wildlife pond/bog. Shallow margins, varied depths, no fish; fill with rainwater, plant native marginals; add stones/logs for exits.
Liberate the lawn. Immediately reduce mowing; mark a no-mow core and mow only paths/edges for structure.
Prep the meadow area. Scarify or lightly strip fertile top growth; remove thatch; optionally add yellow rattle to weaken coarse grasses.
Sow/plug a native wildflower-grass mix. Match to soil (dry/wet/acid/alkaline); aim for staggered bloom Mar–Oct. Firm, water once, then let be.
Leave some bare ground. Sunny, friable patches for ground-nesting bees and spontaneous germination.
Plant a hedgerow/scrub thickets. Clump hawthorn/blackthorn/wild-rose/bramble; keep scalloped edges for rich “edge” habitat. Add a border of high pollinating plants to surround.
Add a mini-copse or single keystone tree. Plant oak/rowan/birch/hazel in a cluster; mulch, stake lightly, and guard saplings.
Feed the detritus web. Make log/branch piles, a dead-hedge, and keep autumn leaf-litter on beds to fuel fungi and decomposers.
Install simple habitat hardware. Bird and bat boxes, solitary-bee hotels, hedgehog house, stone/brick stacks by the pond.
Create connectivity. Hedgehog holes (13×13 cm) in fences, continuous hedgerows, overhanging branches; link with neighbours where possible.
Protect young plants from browsing/pets. Guards or low fences for saplings; keep dogs out of new pond margins until established.
Adopt a low-input mowing regime. One late-summer “hay cut” for meadows; remove arisings to reduce fertility and favour flowers.
Manage scrub rotationally. Every 2–4 years cut a third to ground level (late winter) to keep a mixed-age thicket and sunny glades.
Run a gentle “boundary hygiene.” Spot-weed only true invasives; pull out ragwort where it borders horse paddocks; minimise night lighting.
Monitor and adapt. Keep seasonal notes/photos; if flowers are thin, add plugs; if shade expands, open a glade; tweak pond plants if algae booms.
Share and scale. Add a small sign (“Managed for wildlife”), trade seeds with neighbours, invite a school/park to copy your template. Members can share stories at LettsSafari+ .
Follow these in order and you’ll move cleanly from “conventional space” to a resilient mini-ecosystem — meadow + scrub + trees + water — that largely looks after itself and gets richer each season.
Your rewilded space is part of a growing global movement of smaller-scale rewilders who are restoring biodiversity and wildlife right where they live. Continue learning, share your progress online, and explore projects through LettsSafari’s community. Become a member of LettsSafari today.
In the very heart of Glasgow, where trams once rattled and Teslas now glide, a living sentinel has stood for 170 years. The Argyle Street ash , described in 1951 by local historian James Cowan as “quite the most graceful ash I have seen” , has witnessed the city’s highs and lows: industrial booms, wartime bombings, urban renewal, and now, a renaissance of civic pride.
This autumn, the Woodland Trust crowned it UK Tree of the Year 2025 , after tens of thousands of public votes. Remarkably, the Argyle ash wasn’t even on the expert shortlist - it entered as a wildcard nomination from arborist David Treanor, whose quiet devotion to the tree helped galvanise support. The people of Glasgow made their voices heard, and their tree won.
The Tree of the Year competition, which highlights trees with cultural and historical resonance, is as much about people as it is about nature. This year’s shortlist included oaks immortalised in Virginia Woolf’s Orlando and sycamores linked to Radiohead lyrics. Yet the public chose an urban ash, standing on a bustling city street.
Why? Because trees are not just biological entities. They are woven into the social fabric of our lives. We walk past them on first dates. We shelter beneath them in storms. We mark our memories with them. In the words of Virginia Woolf: “He tied his heart to an oak tree.”
The Argyle ash is no exception. For Glaswegians, it is a familiar landmark, a source of shade and continuity. In a year when we’ve mourned the felling of Northumberland’s Sycamore Gap and countless ancient trees lost to disease, this story feels different. It is not a tale of loss, but of resilience . A living counter-narrative to absence and grief.
Beyond heritage and memory, trees are vital allies in the challenges of our age:
Climate guardians : absorbing CO₂, cooling our cities and anchoring soils.
Biodiversity havens : a mature oak can shelter over 2,300 species.
Wellbeing partners : studies show that access to trees improves both mental and physical health.
Yet, despite their importance, many of Britain’s historic and culturally significant trees lack meaningful protection. Campaigners are now calling for a national taskforce and a heritage tree database, to ensure these living landmarks are not erased by short-term planning or neglect.
At LettsSafari, we believe that the Argyle ash’s victory is more than a moment of celebration - it is a rallying call. Our mission is to protect, restore, and rewild nature, one project at a time. That means:
Planting new trees while safeguarding old ones.
Restoring habitats that allow trees, wildlife and people to thrive together.
Sharing the stories of trees like the Argyle ash to inspire a deeper connection with the living world.
Every LettsSafari subscription supports this mission: for every 10 subscribers we plant a tree, for every 100 we release an animal and for every 10,000 we open a new rewilding park. Together, we can turn admiration into action.
As arborist David Treanor reflected, “By interpreting trees and telling their stories, we can encourage understanding. That understanding leads to appreciation. And appreciation leads to protection.”
The Argyle Street ash is not just Glasgow’s tree. It is a symbol for us all: that when we celebrate, protect, and cherish the trees in our midst, we also nurture our own future.
This year, the UK has tied its heart to an ash tree on a city street. Let us keep that bond strong - for another 170 years, and beyond.
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The UK government has just announced a ban on burning deep peatland across England. It’s a milestone moment: peatlands are some of the most important landscapes we have and for too long they’ve been treated as expendable.
Peat is often called England’s “Amazon rainforest” - a natural storehouse of carbon, water and life. It forms slowly, layer by layer, over centuries. Yet in minutes, burning can undo all that patient work: releasing carbon into the atmosphere, draining wetlands, destroying habitats for rare species like adders, toads and ground-nesting birds.
Until now, protections were patchy. Only peat deeper than 40 cm, and mainly in designated conservation areas, was safe. The new law changes that - expanding the ban to cover all peat over 30 cm deep, across more than 676,000 hectares. It’s a recognition that peatlands are too valuable to burn.
Bans and regulations are only the first step. Without enforcement and investment, little will change on the ground. Peat that has already been drained or burnt won’t heal on its own. Restoration (rewetting, replanting, rewilding) is the hard, hopeful work that comes next.
At LettsSafari, we believe laws should lead to landscapes alive with wildlife. That means:
The peat ban is a victory, but also an invitation. Protecting peat is about more than halting harm: it’s about giving nature space and time to repair. At LettsSafari, we see it as proof that change is possible and that restoration is not a dream, but a path already opening beneath our feet.
Peatlands remind us that nature’s work is patient and powerful. If we give it the chance, it will heal - and in healing, heal us too.
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Support our rewilding parks, get exclusive content of our projects and even receive expert tips to transform your garden, community, public or work spaces into a wildlife haven.
🌱 For every 10 new subscribers we plant a tree a year.
🦔 For every 100, we release an endangered animal.
🌳 And for every 10,000 we create a new rewilding safari park a year!
Make A Difference: Together We Can Rewild To Restore Nature.
Sign up TODAY
!
