We are very pleased to invite you to our Sussex AGM and Summer Social at Knepp Estate curtesy of the Burrell Family.

Knepp Wildland in West Sussex is owned by Charles Burrell and Isabella Tree, whose vision transformed the family’s struggling arable and dairy farm into one of the UK’s most influential rewilding projects. After recognising that intensive farming on the estate’s heavy clay soils was no longer economically or environmentally sustainable, the Burrell family began rewilding the 3,500-acre estate in the early 2000s, allowing natural processes to drive landscape recovery.

Today, free-roaming cattle, ponies, pigs and deer help create a rich mosaic of habitats, including scrubland, grassland, wetlands and woodland. As a result, wildlife has flourished, with rare species such as nightingales, turtle doves, purple emperor butterflies, peregrine falcons and white storks returning to the area. A key part of the project is the reintroduction of beavers, whose dam-building activities create ponds and wetlands that improve biodiversity, slow water flow and help make the landscape more resilient to both flooding and drought.

Alongside its conservation work, Knepp has developed a successful nature-based tourism business that allows visitors to experience the rewilded landscape first-hand. Visitors can enjoy a green Michelin star restaurant, sustainable lifestyle shop and airstream café, wildlife safaris, guided and self-guided garden tours, camping, glamping and luxury cabin stays, and a calendar of creative workshops and author events. Knepp also offers an online sustainable butchery, playing a key part in the rewilding process. 

This combination of ecological restoration and sustainable tourism has made Knepp a leading example of how rewilding can support both biodiversity recovery and a thriving rural economy.

The programme for the Day: 

09:30 AM - Arrival: Tea, coffee, and homemade biscuits
10:00 AM - Sussex Branch AGM
10:15 AM - Address by CLA 's President Gavin Lane
10:45 AM - Presentation and talk with Estate owner Charlie Burrell
11:00 AM - Safari Tour
12:30 PM - Reception drinks
13:00 PM - Lunch, 2 course BBQ (BBQ, Weather dependent)
14:30 PM - Departure

To access the Chairmans full AGM report please click HERE