Knepp Landcruiser Dusk Safari

Knepp is a rewilding project in West Sussex that has been encouraging rare British wild life back. Based on a 3,500 acre estate, the land at Knepp was not conducive to modern intensive farming and despite the owner Charlie Burrell trying to make it profitable for 17 years it did not work. In 2000 he sold his machinery to clear debts when moment of epiphany came to turn it into a rewilding project. In 2001 Knepp received Countryside Stewardship funding to restore the Repton park in the middle of the Estate. It took years for the idea to be wholeheartedly supported by government but in 2010 the Knepp Wildland project received Higher Level Stewardship funding. It is now a leading light in the conservation movement, an experiment that has produced astonishing wildlife successes in a relatively short space of time.

I went on a short walk, had a coffee at their cafe and also did their sunset landcruiser safari. The best part was definitely seeing the storks! There is significant evidence to show that white storks were once a breeding bird in Britain, Knepp began a breeding project which has been very successful. White storks like living in close proximity to people, building their large shaggy nests on roofs and church towers. In Europe they are so beloved and considered a sign of good luck, that people erect cartwheels on their roofs to attract them.