A review of Restoring the Wild – Sixty Years of Rewilding Our Skies, Woods and Waterways by Roy Dennis (published by William Collins, 2021)

Coming hard on the heels of the author’s previous book Cottongrass Summer (Saraband, 2020) is this impressive work detailing each of Roy’s projects to promote and reintroduce various species of fauna, not just in his resident Scotland but across the UK and Europe, with links to far beyond.

In his usual conversational style of writing, the chapters describe individual efforts by Roy, from the humble Goldeneye to the majestic White-tailed Eagle, as he championed moves to place these birds firmly back on the British map.

As reflected throughout the book, he has engaged with a vast range of people working alongside him, with those in authority, and sometimes with those in opposition. The book demonstrates not only how a project can never be a ‘one person band’, but also where to strike a balance between conducting research (such as species records, even going back to ancient times to prove exactly how myopic living/ near-living memory can be) and just getting on with the job (with all safeguards and considerations in place). Candid accounts of highs and lows appear, illustrating the lessons that were learned and sometimes reapplied to other projects.

In a time when the term ‘rewilding’ appears more and more in our headlines and social media feeds, this book is a timely reminder that such efforts have been going on for more than 60 years (in Roy’s case), if not longer, and therefore are not simply a fashion that should be allowed to wax and wane. Aside from anyone with an interest in the subject, the species covered and Roy’s work in general, Restoring the Wild should be seen as a very readable, yet highly detailed, manual for those who are, or wish to become, involved with projects that can improve our environment.

Roy’s expertise in so many fields of nature means that we are very unlikely to ever see another individual in our midst who can ring an Osprey, translocate squirrels, broadcast on the television and release a White-tailed Eagle essentially all on the same day. But the next generation can use his writings as their guidance for the future.

One of the appendices gives a summary of the individuals involved in the projects covered. They, together with his family, effectively have formed Roy’s ‘army’ over the many years of work, and this book recognises them for the key parts they have played, and continue to play. At the head of that army we find a ‘ Field Marshal’ for nature

( Roy would want the emphasis on ‘ field’, I am sure!) – it’s our nature, and without his work as detailed in the book it would be lacking many elements right now, if not forever. Mike Crutch, April 2021