BLOG POST: Renaturing
Contributor: Author James Canton
So, just for a moment, imagine your most idyllic literary festival event… a marque packed full of an intelligent, wise and interested audience, a fellow speaker who fits perfectly, a chair who coordinates the chat with wit and ease. Then throw in a castle as venue, a little over two miles from your home.
Perfect.
The EA Festival at Hedingham Castle over the weekend of June 14-15th 2025 – run by the amazing Joanne Ooi — was just such a dream for me. I was paired in a talk on ‘Renaturing’ – the title of my new book – with the wonderful Chloe Dalton whose Raising Hare has delighted so many of us recently. William Sieghart – legendary literary fellow – chaired the event (that was partnered by Essex Book Festival) with care and genuine concern for the matters of nature restoration and touching the wild that were discussed.
Good old Jo of Red Lion Books was there as well to ensure those present went home with fine reading materials – especially Renaturing and Raising Hare, of course!
I really hope you were there. If not, you really must stick it in your diary for next year. I certainly have.
James Canton, 2025
Renaturing: Small Ways to Wild the World
Twenty years ago, James Canton moved from London to the English countryside. Behind his farm labourer’s cottage was a small field with a ‘for sale’ sign. At first it was a site for family picnics and cricket matches with friends, but James knew that the two-acre patch of earth held more potential – as a place for nature to return and flourish. Here is the story of how, over a number of years, he undertook a project to ‘rewild’ the field: digging a pond, forging meadowlands, creating habitats for birds and insects, encouraging flowers and plants that support pollinators and wildlife. Eventually what was once just a grassy space was again buzzing with life. The process raised some interesting questions. Rewilding is about bringing a large landscape back to a natural, self-sustaining state. But that wasn’t possible on the scale of a field, a garden or a window box. What if we rethought the term? What if we aimed for ‘renaturing’ instead? Even on the smallest of scales we can create habitats to support a greater diversity of nature. A single window box planted with pollinator-friendly flowers can provide a mini-habitat to support honeybees; a tower block with a window box on every balcony becomes an acre of bee-friendly ecosystem. Renaturing shows how the concept of rewilding can be adopted by us all. We can all make positive change, however large or small. We can all be involved in caring for and restoring the natural world.
AVAILABLE HERE