No 'Rewilding' Around Here?

Over the past 20 years, the UK has lost 97% of its species-rich grassland. A predictable consequence, has been the enormous reduction in the numbers of flying insects. This, of course, has detrimental effects on ecosystems. The loss of important plant pollinators (e.g. bees, butterflies and hoverflies) is a particular issue. One way of recovering the meadows and their associated insects, is to 'rewild' wasteland controlled by local councils. This land can be near communities or bordering the extensive road system in the UK. The latter is an area approximately the size of the county of Dorset. The easiest way of 'rewilding', is to cease regular mowing of these areas. The effects are not immediate but, eventually, the land's 'seed banks' eventually restore the original flowering plants to these habitats. This enables the insects to re-establish themselves. Twenty percent of English County Councils have now embraced such 'rewilding'. There's been, however, a rather sad reaction to this in Ilkeston, Derbyshire. There, 'vigilante mowers' have taken to cutting the grass in the vicinity of their own homes (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/sep/10/the-meadow-mutiny-why-a-rewilding-scheme-sparked-a-residents-revolt). The 'vigilante mowers' have reportedly convinced themselves that the failure of their Council to cut 'their' grass, is a barely-disguised economy measure. They also appear to have lots of worries about the 'dangers' of long grass. These include being depositories for dog faeces and nitrous oxide capsules. These same householders also believe it reduces the value of their properties; gives their visiting grandchildren nowhere to play and constitutes a fire risk. It seems evident that this type of 'rewilding' scheme, needs both careful explanation and sensitive introduction. Some folk have even suggesting that calling reducing grass mowing 'rewilding', is detrimental to the project. 'Rewilding' conjures up images of wolf and beaver reintroductions. Perhaps calling it 'biodiversity recovery', would make this project less contentious?