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Rewild At Heart CollaborationBy Ray Woods – Rewild at Heart
I’ve been following the White Stork Project as an avid “bird nerd” and armchair rewilder (and Knepp Rewilding Kitchen online customer) for some time. But my proper introduction to the White Stork Project was a little different to most.
A customer of mine enquired if I had plans to do a white stork design and I, of course, said yes. It turned out the customer was a White Stork Project Volunteer and promptly introduced me to Laura, the Project Manager, suggesting that a partnership might be a good fit!
Not long after, my partner Paul and I were invited to Knepp Rewilding Project in East Sussex to see the storks in action and meet Laura, who manages the day-to-day running of the project and plays a key role in helping bring storks back to the landscape.
I grew up next to the Cliffe Pools RSPB reserve in Kent, spending much of my childhood in what we called the marshes, but was mostly farmland. While I loved being out in nature, I was always keenly aware that our landscape was missing something. The “Cliffe marshes” had been dyked and drained for farmland, and besides the occasional heron and seeing the nesting gulls around the lakes, it always felt a bit depleted – it wasn’t bristling with the life I knew should be there.
We visited Knepp in November, on a bright but chilly day. Almost as soon as we arrived and met with Laura, we saw about twenty white storks flying overhead. It was an incredible welcome. We weren’t sure what we’d see on our visit, but we weren’t expecting such an auspicious greeting!
Laura explained that while most of the storks had migrated for the winter, these resident storks were mostly the rehabilitated originals at Knepp who came across from Warsaw Zoo: recovered from their various injuries enough to fly, but not to migrate, so they remain close to their home. The migratory birds travel as far away as North Africa, to return again in spring.
We chatted rewilding and nature as we walked around the southern block of the Knepp Rewilding Project. It was remarkable to see the impacts of rewilding firsthand; the scrub, the vast oak trees and stork nests, even beaver dams – features I’d only encountered through reading and following the projects as a fan.
It left me with a newly-realised hope, that I might one day see white storks flying over or nesting in those Cliffe marshes!
We ended the visit with a coffee at the Knepp café, where we discussed our budding partnership. At Rewild at Heart, we make sustainable, eco-friendly products rooted in a commitment to supporting and championing conservation efforts.
I embroider clothing, Paul makes woodwork like bug hotels and frog logs that people can use to give nature a little boost in their own gardens. I’ve made two new stork designs, with which we hope to do two things: first, to help raise funds in direct support of the White Stork Project, 10% of the sale price from each piece sold will be donated to the project. Secondly, to help extend awareness, carrying the story of the storks and their return into new spaces.
We’re incredibly grateful to Susan for her introduction and to Laura for the invitation, generosity and insight, and the opportunity to support the project in a meaningful way. We look forward to seeing how the work continues to unfold, visiting Knepp again in the Spring, and we might just see you all at a Storrington Nature Festival soon!
From the White Stork Project:
Thank you so much to Ray and Paul for reaching out, and developing this generous collaboration, we are thrilled to be working with them.
To support the work of Rewild At Heart, and the White Stork Project, please visit their website: Rewild at Heart | Sustainable Fashion & Hand-Made Woodwork
10% of the sale price from each white stork piece sold will be donated to the project, helping us to continue the work we do.
