After decades of operating off-the-backfoot and protecting and conserving nature perceived as under threat, conservationists are becoming proactive and creative in the face of habitat loss, agricultural intensification and climate change. Beyond Conservation offers a revolutionary agenda for both managing existing wildlands in Britain and for expanding and connecting such lands. Central to this strategy is the imperative to 'rewild' or restore and repair damaged habitat and ecosystems, promote existing biodiversity and reintroduce vanished plant and animal species, while working to reconcile human needs and livelihoods and the needs of nature.

Peter Taylor is an independent consultant specializing in environmental policy. He was founder and director of the Political Ecology Research Group (1978-1992), and now leads the communications consultancy Ethos.

Introduction * The wild side of natural * Coed Eryri * Caledon * Dartmoor * The potential for networks and corridors * Restoring ecological processes: regeneration of the core vegetation * Restoring ecological processes: the herbivore guild * Restoring ecological processes: bringing back the carnivores * The healing forest * The land in-between: wilding agriculture * Targeted habitat creation * Stepping stones to a wilder policy * Straight to the heart: a wildland strategy *