The North Devon coast is a place where nature’s resilience meets the gentle hand of restoration. Once worn down by years of intensive use, its rugged cliffs, open meadows, and salt-washed wetlands are now blossoming with life once more. Thanks to a visionary rewilding effort led by Jonathan Fairhurst and his team at the National Trust, this landscape is beginning to heal—becoming a haven where native plants and animals can flourish, and where the hum of bees, the flash of wildflowers, and the whisper of long grass in the sea breeze promise a new beginning for one of Britain’s wildest coastlines.

Jonathan’s patch spans twelve miles along the South West Coast Path and nearly 12,000 acres, covering areas from Croyde to Ilfracombe. This isn’t just a job for Jonathan—it’s a commitment to a vision of North Devon as a place where both people and nature thrive together.

The topic of rewilding, however, is as divisive as it is inspiring. “Rewilding can be seen as quite a contentious word,” he admits. “If you asked ten people what their definition of rewilding was, you’d get ten different answers.”