Rewilding Oak presents a radical new perspective on natural oak regeneration, backed by international evidence and a rigorous reassessment of the historic wildwood.

Pre-order now - This title will be released in early October 2026.
Please note: if this book is part of a larger order, any products purchased at the same time will be shipped beforehand.
About the Book:
Author: Aljos Farjon
224 pages, 80 illustrations, 234 x 156 mm.
Hardback, ISBN 9781842468630. Kew Publishing, 2026.
Pre-order now - This title will be released in October 2026.
Please note: if this book is part of a larger order, any products purchased at the same time will be shipped beforehand.

This book is the first to assemble comprehensive evidence challenging the broadly accepted ‘Vera hypothesis’, which argues that oaks have been dependent on large grazing animals to maintain a half-open landscape since prehistory. Since its publication in 2000, the hypothesis has shaped rewilding efforts that prioritise grazing to create a mosaic of woodland and grassland.

In fact, this environment is more reflective of the historical agricultural landscape than of the natural wildwood. Whilst it can never be exactly recreated, evidence shows that the wildwood was a forest, not a parkland.

Contrary to currently accepted wisdom, extensive field observations demonstrate that light-demanding trees like oaks maintain themselves in forest ecosystems without the need of human or animal intervention. Rewilding Oak investigates the ecology of our two native oaks across lowland northern Europe and their capacity to regenerate in various habitats, from grassland to woodland. Evidence from forest history and prehistory further supports the ‘closed-canopy’ hypothesis of the wildwood.

With far reaching implications for nature management, this book presents a cogent and compelling case for rewilding oak with minimal intervention.

About the Author:
Aljos Farjon is the recipient of several international awards for his work on conifers, on which he has published 11 books and more than 100 papers and articles. He worked successively at the Universities of Utrecht and Oxford and at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, where after retirement he was made an Honorary Research Associate.

In retirement Aljos has shifted his research interests to the two oaks native to England, especially ancient oak trees and their associated biodiversity and how oaks regenerate naturally in our woodlands. This work, some of it in collaboration with other authors, has so far resulted in 3 books and several articles.