A banker turned land manager’s dream of building a rewilding education centre near St Andrews has moved a step closer to coming true.
Rory Fyfe from wedding specialists Kinkell Byre has been leading work to rewild 100 acres of land around the converted barn venue to the south east of the Fife town.
With the help of volunteers the father of three has already created substantial woodland and wetlands.
Rewilding is a form of ecological restoration with an emphasis on recreating an area’s natural uncultivated state.
Rory has now won further funding to hire a dedicated rewilding officer to support the work.
We’ve created a richer ecology near St Andrews in which lost wildlife will return and biodiversity is improved.” Rory Fyfe
He said: “The ‘Rewilding Kinkell’ project is already transforming our 100 acres of farmland.
“This is land where biodiversity had been in decline for many years due to intensive farming.
“We’re now at a stage where nature is beginning to take its own course. We’ve created a richer ecology near St Andrews in which lost wildlife will return and biodiversity is improved.”
Rory says rewilding is also a plus in the fight against climate change because increasing plant life and improving soil means more carbon is sequestered from the atmosphere.
“Our dream is to create an education centre where visitors can come and learn about rewilding and biodiversity.”
Rewilding at Kinkell Byre
The well-known venue sits near the coast to the south east of St Andrews.
The land at the bottom of the farm falls away into cliffs that make up part of the St Andrews to Craig Hartle site of special scientific interest.
The rewilded land includes 70 acres of grass fields and 30 acres of cliffs.
Workers and volunteers have already planted 6,430 trees and helped to create 10 wetlands.
They have planted a total of 127 fruit trees to encourage bees, insects, and other pollinators.
While 981 metres of fencing will enable cattle to roam and graze – an approach that can improve certain types of biodiversity.
More than £80k of public money to back rewilding project
In 2021, Rory and his team received a £27,150 grant from the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund.
Rory’s team have now received a further £55,314 from environment agency NatureScot to continue the work.
This grant includes funding for the creation of new wildflower meadows and the employment of a dedicated rewilding officer.
Francesca Osowska is CEO at NatureScot.
“Scotland is taking action now to meet the huge challenges and pressures that nature is facing,” she said.
“The Nature Restoration Fund supports individual projects. It is those projects that will help make the difference and set us on the road to recovery.”
Conversation