How to Watch WILDING on PBS

“Wilding” follows the true story of Charlie Burrell and Isabella Tree and their sweeping efforts to revitalize the farmland of their once-failing 400-year-old British estate. Based on the book of the same name by Isabella Tree, the film takes us inside the 20-year-long conservation project as we witness their barren farm transform into one of the most important biodiversity hotspots in Britain. 

Over the course of their journey, the couple continuously battles criticism from their community and the government for going against deeply entrenched tradition. Yet, through their efforts, the Knepp Wildland rewilding project emerges as a hopeful example of how nature can find its footing when allowed to return to its ancient, natural processes.

How to Watch “Wilding”

“Wilding” premieres April 22, 2026, on PBS and the PBS App.

Check out another clip from “Wilding” on PBS. 

What is Rewilding?

In “Wilding,” viewers get a front row seat to Charlie Burrell and Isabella Tree’s efforts to “rewild” their estate. Their process involved reclaiming land ravaged by decades of plowing and chemical applications used in the modern farming industry. 

The Knepp Estate was also marginal land, meaning it’s famously difficult soil that isn’t suited for industrial agriculture. To restore the health of their land, Charlie and Isabella began introducing animals that mimicked the ancient wildlife that once roamed free all over Britain, like Exmoor ponies, Tamworth pigs, and ancient cattle breeds close in lineage to the Aurochs. 

Charlie and Isabella believed these animals could rework the landscape if allowed to use their natural behaviors — turning over soil and holding back trees — and it would allow different habitats to thrive. Instead of battling against nature, they would try working with it.

And they were right. 

As the landscape continued to morph and transition, the estate’s new habitat thrived and even attracted some of the most rare and endangered species in Britain, including nightingales, storks, turtle doves, and harvest mice. 

The Impact of Rewilding on the Knepp Estate

As Charlie and Isabella allowed the land to return to its natural processes, the health of the soil drastically improved. 

Their oak trees, once suffering from the land’s poor soil, thrived again. The roots of these magnificent trees extend nearly 50 feet beyond the canopy, and they’re all connected by microscopic filaments called mycorrhizal fungi. 

Over time, the once barren landscape transformed into lush stretches of rich habitat. 

Charlie and Isabella also witnessed new and unexpected behavior as their animals embraced their natural instincts, “rewilding” themselves as well. For instance, the pigs started swimming and diving on Hammer Pond, surfacing with huge, swan mussels in their mouths. 

After so much success on land, they brought in special engineers to rewild the River Adur where it had been forced into a straight channel crossing their property. Beaver, missing from the area for over 400 years, would restore the natural, meandering curves to the river and improve the health of the landscape. 

This is only a glimpse at the Knepp Estate rewilding project — 20 years in the making, with only more promise on the horizon. 

To see more of the amazing changes to the Knepp Estate as a result of Charlie and Isabella’s rewilding project, check out “Wilding” on pbs.org and the PBS app!