Fellow's Profile
David Brown
Fellow's Profile
David Brown
How rewilding can help build communities and local economies
Fellowship
- Themes
- Focus
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Learning how rewilding can help build communities and local economies
- Countries
- Fellowship year
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2026
- Locality
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South West
Contact
Biography
I am an ecologist and a lifelong environmentalist, and have worked in nature conservation for 30 years in the UK and Spain. As Restore Nature Delivery Manager for the National Trust, I lead nature recovery work across Purbeck and South Dorset where we have an ambitious vision to restore a wilder, more nature-rich landscape at a huge scale.
We've already done amazing things on nature reserves here, restoring iconic wildlife that had been missing for centuries, such as beavers and osprey - but for nature to thrive it needs to spread beyond nature reserves to the wider landscape beyond.
For this to happen, landowners, farmers and local communities need to see the benefits of nature to them, but we are living in polarised times where public debate often pitches nature against development or nature against food production. I want to learn from projects in Chile, Romania and Germany where the economic, social and wellbeing benefits of nature recovery are seen by all and where communities have been placed at the heart of rewilding projects. I want to be inspired by landscapes where wildlife thrives and understand how people and nature co-exist in these places.
Disclaimer
All Reports are copyright © the author. The moral right of the author has been asserted. The views and opinions expressed by any Fellow are those of the Fellow and not of the Churchill Fellowship or its partners, which have no responsibility or liability for any part of them.
Disclaimer
All Reports are copyright © the author. The moral right of the author has been asserted. The views and opinions expressed by any Fellow are those of the Fellow and not of the Churchill Fellowship or its partners, which have no responsibility or liability for any part of them.
