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In 2022, some camps are organising camp experiences for you to participate in. We are hopeful that they will be able to go ahead. Camps will follow the local conditions closely, and may have to cancel activities if the local COVID-19 situation forces them to do so. If you have already signed up for a camp-activity you will be informed when this happens. We will update the website also, when such decisions are taken. Please check your own local authority travel advisory to see if you can travel to or return from the camp after the activity. At all times, when at camps, please observe it’s COVID-19 policy (such as wearing masks, social distancing, washing hands, etc).
CAMP EMBERCOMBE
Devon, England
Be part of the next Rewilding Experience: 26 - 29 May 2022
Join like-minded individuals in coming together to explore what rewilding means for the land and all who live there. Making the most of the long and warm late May days, this camp will be bursting with activity, as we roam the rewilding land of Embercombe, discovering all life, big and small. We will begin by giving you the chance to understand how the land is changing as a result of Embercombe’s rewilding approach.
Together we will explore the land to see who is living in the meadows, the woods, the lake, surveying the rich wildlife that is flooding back onto the land.
We will teach you, step by step, how to rewild a piece of land, looking at Embercombe as a case study, as well as another local rewilding project. Together you will work in groups to create a rewilding plan for a piece of land. Then, in the evening, we will travel to the River Otters to watch the beavers work their magic.
The Saturday will look into how we as human beings can live wilder lives that support the rewilding of the land and our society. The morning will be spent learning how to live from the land, helping to develop your ancestral skill set, and the afternoon will be all about how to create rituals and ceremonies that help usher in a wilder world.
We will end the experience with a coming together of our hearts and minds to reflect and share what we have learned and taken from the camp, finishing the weekend with a closing ceremony to honour our time together and taking our steps towards a wilder world.
About Embercombe
Camp Embercombe is a 20 year old education centre nestled in a wooded valley on the edge of wild Dartmoor, in the South West of England.
It is embarking on a new and exciting journey to rewild it’s 50 acre site and welcome local farmers and members of the Devon community, as well as anyone interested in this subject, to take part in this adventure.
What makes the rewilding at Camp Embercombe interesting is it’s intention to continue as a centre for personal, social and environmental transformation, welcoming hundreds of people to the site each year. Therefore the central question is: How to rewild a relatively small piece of land that is so used and loved by us, humanity, whilst also increasing biodiversity, creating habitats, drawdown carbon, and all of the other amazing benefits that rewilding can offer?
Embercombe’s work revolves around this question, weaving together the different aspects across society that need transformation in order for rewilding to truly succeed. How do we rewild ourselves, our families, our homes, our gardens, our workplaces, our farms, our communities, our society, our culture and our politics?
What to expect at camp
Your stay at Camp Embercombe will be revitalising, inspiring and educational. This is a very special place where nature is in the driving seat. There is a special feeling in the air as a result.
The courses and experiences at Embercombe are holistic, diverse and multifaceted, reflecting the interconnectedness of the different elements of rewilding that are woven together here. Therefore the activities are practical, theoretical, spiritual, with heads in notebooks, hands full of soil and eyes full of stars.
You will sleep either in our beautiful yurt village, in a shared yurt with 2 or 3 other people or in the campsite, with indoor and outdoor bathrooms. All meals are organic, local and seasonal, and will be served in our dining yurt.
We have a large group room for when we gather for sharing, dancing, music, and have lots of outside structures and spaces with fire pits. There is even a stone circle for holding ceremony.
Upcoming Camper Opportunities
Camp Embercombe is running a series of Rewilding Camps on a yearly basis, one for every season.
These camps are opportunities for anyone to learn how to rewild themselves, their communities, the land and our society, learning from the wealth of knowledge Embercombe has accumulated over the last 20 years, as well as the new learnings we’re discovering as we rewild our own site and the learnings of the more established rewilding projects in the region.
Camp Activities include:
- Being out on the land and getting to know who and what is living there
- Getting in touch with and exploring your inner world, your outer life’s purpose and your place in the web of life
- Talks and workshops from experts and inspiring speakers on topics such as species reintroductions, how to rewild your family, and what needs to be done to make rewilding mainstream
- Practical activities that help regenerate the land such as data collection, fence laying, hedge-laying, invasive species removal and tree planting.
- Visits to learn from other more developed rewilding projects in the area
- Creative activities such as story writing, story telling, drawing and painting of species present and arriving
- Nature connection activities to help you live a wilder life such as bushcraft and wild playon
© Harrison Wood Photography
Who is needed?
Anyone who is interested in rewilding and eco-restoration both of the self, the land and our communities and society, as people, both collectively and as individuals. We are looking for people who are interested in practical work, inspired by new ideas, willing to contribute and share in community activities.
As well as those coming for camps, we also organise open days (a chance for you to look around the site) and volunteer days (a chance to participate in some physical work on the land), as well as online masterclasses in themes relating to rewilding and regeneration.
We do not have the capacity or the need for long term volunteers.
What do we still need?
We have everything we need to accommodate campers, but funds are always very welcome for tools, trees and animal care as well as gifts to cover places for people to come on bursaries that would not be able to come otherwise.
Vision and socio-economic context
Our aim is to become an international centre for the rewilding of people and places.
Ecosystem restoration camps are a wonderful way to become involved at an early stage in the practical and philosophical evolution of this vision and we hope that our campers will leave inspired and empowered to work and advocate for rewilding and restoration in their own places.
Do You Have Questions?
Please complete the form below if you have any questions about the rewilding camp experiences at Embercombe or the volunteer days. Also, do not hesitate to contact Camp Embercombe if you have skills that are useful to the rewilding process.
*Please note that all other forms of volunteering are not possible at Camp Embercombe.
Established Camp
Next Rewilding Camp Dates
26 – 29 May 2022
14 – 17 October 2022
Organising Partners
Facilities
Camping (Yurt)
Camping (bring your own tent)
Sanitation (advanced)
Kitchen (plant-based)
Electricity
Wifi
Cell service
Swimming facilities
Children’s play facilities
Restoration Activities
Tree planting
Soil building
Erosion control
Community building
Regenerative entrepreneurialism
Restoration of livelihoods
Habitat creation
Restoration holidays
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What you must do to ensure your own safety at an Ecosystem Restoration Camp
Your safety is very important to us. Most camps are in locations that are completely safe for you to travel to. Some camps are in locations where there is civil unrest, higher levels of crime, or in areas where there could be severe nature events (earthquakes, tornados, vulcanic eruptions). We strongly advise you to check with your national authority’s travel advisory service to see if there are specific travel advisories for the region you are travelling to. We strongly advise you to comply with that travel advisory. If there is a negative travel advisory for the area you plan to go to, we want to impress on you that it is your decision to not heed the warnings and go. ERC can then not be liable in that situation if something happens to you.
Work at camps is usually safe. The camp coordinators make your safety their highest priority too. But you will be working with tools and sometimes even (heavy) machinery. Sometimes the terrain can be slightly treacherous. Heat or cold can become a problem for people at work that do not take the necessary measures to prevent injury from weather conditions. Especially in remote locations, all people at an Ecosystem Restoration Camp will need to watch out for eachother’s safety. For this reason we ask you to also sign our Code of Conduct, through which you commit to contributing to a safe environment at camps for all that are there with you. Take yours and all other camper’s safety seriously! Together, while watching over eachother, we can restore our ecosystems safely and successfully.