My name is Alice Barker. I am a 26 year old conservationist, and a brand ambassador for The N/a’an ku sê Foundation in Namibia. 

On Monday, 3rd January 2022, I had the pleasure of viewing the BBC documentary ‘Attenborough’s Wonder of Song’. In it, legendary naturalist Sir David Attenborough discussed his favourite sounds of the natural world, including nightingales, a bird that is discussed frequently in classic English literature, but seldom seen today. That is because nightingale numbers have declined an appalling 90% since the 1960s (source: Philip Olterman, The Guardian: ‘Why nightingales are snubbing Berkeley Square for the Tiergarten’, 2019). Sir David then went to visit the Knepp Estate in Sussex, a rewilding project where, in a patch of land that has been left to the jurisdiction of nature, there are now estimated to be more than 40 nightingale territories. It really brought home how much of an impact rewilding can have. 

Then, in an almost coincidental turn of events, on Thursday, 6th January 2022, the government announced there was going to be funds put aside for ‘large-scale land use change’, such as rewilding projects, on farming and arable land (source: BBC News). 

Just as I have been a long-time advocate of Sir David, he has been a long-time advocate of rewilding - I first heard about it in his 2020 book: ‘A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future’. He says that we must rewild the world in order for this beautiful planet to have any chance at recuperating. 

Although it saddens me to say it, Sir David is 95, and at such an age, it is impossible to say how many more years we may have with him, and so I started this petition in his honour. I urge the Secretary of State and other government ministers in the relevant departments to fully comprehend the impact, importance and benefits of rewilding. I urge them to comprehend the irreversible consequences of what will happen if we continue to ravage our green spaces in the way we have done. And I urge them to push for feasible, practical legislation that enables rewilding to happen easily and organically, without difficulty or hardship. We owe it to Sir David to uphold his wish, and who knows? One day, as a result of our actions, we may just hear nightingales sing widely across the country again.