James Bliss
My whole life I have always lived on a farm, yet the type of farm is something that has changed during this period. After leaving St Andrews University with a degree in Geography, I started working on the Lowther Estate. Here is where my farming journey took a change in direction towards its environmental focus. Since joining the team at Lowther I now help to restore lost environments with the help of native livestock that can be farmed extensively.
Born to be wild? Does the future success of marginal farming lie in the untapped potential of rewilding?
Worshipful Company of Farmers
Study Overview
Farming in marginal areas is never easy, whether that is due to poor livestock prices, environmental factors or social pressures. I want to show that there could be a system that is more resilient to these pressures of maintaining farming status whilst also benefiting the environment. The contentious term ‘rewilding’ is something that I believe is one we could embrace to deliver this. Countries around the globe have suffered degraded landscape resulting in decreased output and environmental degradation, however, many of these landscapes have also been returned to their glorious pasts with the help of natural systems. This is what I want to explore, by traveling to some of these wild environments and learning how they can still produce food and goods for their communities whilst living in a rewilded landscape