And it showed nature reserves could be much more ambitious about how much wildlife they could support, she said. Knepp has one of the UK’s largest purple emperor populations (Charlie Burrell/PA)The couple halted conventional farming on their estate in 2000 and embarked on “rewilding” the estate. Knepp has become a leading light for other rewilding projects that have since sprung up across Britain. “It’s a positive trajectory and it’s increasing still, year-on-year, we’re getting higher and higher numbers of what we’re recording,” she said. Red-eyed damselflies have increased numbers by 2,000% in just five years, while the previously rare southern migrant hawker dragonfly has colonised in recent years.

Source: The Times January 12, 2026 08:26 UTC