16th June - Practical experience of "No-fence" collars for conservation grazing, challenges and opportunities, Ben Fargher

CHANGED TO 5-6PM DUE TO PLANNED ROAD CLOSURE

Ben will talk about his experience using No-Fence collars on his families Aberdeen Angus beef herd which graze the parkland landscapes of Castle Howard. The collars were trialled in 2025 with support from Castle Howard and the Howardian Hills National Landscapes Farming in Protected Landscapes fund.

For this talk we'll be heading out to look at the Cattle in Carr Field. We will be meeting in the Stable Courtyard at 5pm and then making our way to a lookout point with a view across the herd. We will be outside for the duration of the session and walking 1km to the lookout point so please wear appropriate footwear and dress for the weather. In the event of poor weather, a tractor trailer will be used.

Spaces are limited.

21st July - Rewilding in practice?

Lauren Barnes, University of York 

This presentation will outline how and why rewilding is being interpreted and operationalised across Britain by different landowners and practitioners. Interest in rewilding across Britain has grown in recent years. Within academia, research has mainly focused on attempts to define rewilding and document its origins. In practice, rewilding is interpreted and implemented depending on the desires and needs of the practitioner within the spatial and ecological bounds of the project. To better understand the reality of rewilding implementation on the ground, I spoke to various different landowners and practitioners across Britain who have self identified their project as rewilding. The talk will present an overview of outcomes of these conversations to provide an insight into the motivations which initiated the decision to adopt a rewilding approach and the management implementations being utilised to achieve a rewilding vision.