UK CoExistence

WildEast is the new voice for a region where wildlife lies shattered & fragmented by hard farming and a human blind eye; a region where the collapse in the state of nature is mirrored by a collapse in our understanding of its critical importance to the life systems on which we rely. We have become too human, WildEast is a reset of our regional identity, a ‘human nature recovery network’ the visual expression of which is our Map of Dreams, a place where everyone – churchyard schoolyard, backyard and farmyard have a stake in nature recovery.

WildEast is for people intent on moving on from an era of endless destruction to one of restoration, for people who want to live in not (just) visit a nature reserve, for people who care that their witness statement to a life on Earth will be that they acted NOW to help restore nature to sustainable abundance by pledging their 20% – the magic number that nature needs to thrive in our hard-working landscapes.

It is said we ‘live in the dreams of other men’ – men who having survived the catastrophe of global conflict, starvation and rationing, dreamt of Europe never going hungry again and built the architecture of a European agriculture and food production system that made this a reality. But it has come at a catastrophic cost to our native biodiversity, farmed animal welfare and arguably human health and happiness.

WildEast wants to forge a new set of dreams for our children to live in – wilder, wetter, woodier landscapes connecting wild/sustainable farming systems, riverine landscapes meandering with water buffalo, (pelicans,) beavers and eagles, flowing through green towns watched over by white storks (and peregrines) and bursting with blossom & birdsong. WildEast dreams of a farming and food production economy that puts nature at the heart of every decision and a consumer that does so too.

In short WildEast is about the ‘normalisation of nature’ and to borrow from this extraordinary platform we are so lucky to share – its about Co-Existence and compromise. If Indian farmers can find ways to allow elephants safe passage across their farms and Indian towns and cities integrate cars people & domestic animals in their streets – so can and so must we.

WE are WildEast – join the movement and help us – pledge by pledge, farm by farm, backyard by schoolyard by churchyard – restore 250,000 hectares to the wild

Hugh Somerleyton, Cofounder Wild East