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Isabella Tree
AUTHOR, CO-OWNER OF KNEPP ESTATE AND KNEPP WILDLAND FOUNDATION TRUSTEE
Married to Charlie Burrell, Isabella is an award-winning author of six non-fiction books, including the 2018 Richard Jefferies Society Literature Award-winning book Wilding: the return of nature to a British farm that was voted in the top ten science books for 2018 by The Smithsonian and made into a major motion picture in 2024.
Her 2023 book, co-authored with Charlie, The Book of Wilding – a practical guide to rewilding big and small, has been described as ‘a handbook of hope’ and ‘a manual that builds hope for a better, wilder world’.
In 2020 Isabella was awarded a CIEEM Medal for her contribution to ecology, and in 2021 received the Royal Geographical Society’s Ness Award. Isabella and Charlie were jointly awarded the Zoological Society of London’s Silver Medal ‘for outstanding contributions to the understanding and appreciation of zoology’ in 2023. Isabella has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Science from the Universities of Sussex and Oxford.
“We’ve been astonished not just by the wildlife successes of rewilding Knepp but of the incredibly positive responses to it, from Government, conservation organizations, and the general public. Knepp is, above all, a story of hope – and now, more than ever, we need hope. Knepp has begun to inspire rewilding projects in the UK and all over the world. In terms of nature, it really feels like we’re beginning to turn the Titanic around.”