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The University of Manchester has opened applications for its new MSc in Nature Recovery, Restoration, and Rewilding, a program designed to equip students with the expertise to tackle some of our most pressing environmental crises.
Led by Dr. Ian Thornhill and Dr. Anna Gilchrist from the School of Environment, Education, and Development, the course examines urgent ecological issues, including biodiversity decline, habitat destruction, and environmental degradation. It aims to foster a new generation of conservationists, ecologists, and policymakers capable of driving large-scale restoration efforts.
The MSc program comprises six core modules:
People and Nature – Examining human-environment interactions.
Planning for Nature Recovery – Strategies for large-scale restoration projects.
Rewilding: Principles and Practice – Practical applications of rewilding concepts.
Environmental Restoration – Techniques to rehabilitate damaged ecosystems.
Methods for Ecological Analysis – Scientific approaches to assessing ecosystem health.
The Nature Positive Field Tour – Immersive, hands-on experience in conservation projects.
The course integrates theoretical knowledge with field-based learning, designed to prepare students to play a crucial role in reversing ecological decline and influencing policy.
‘Developing solutions to the environmental crises will require interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches. From the outset, we’ll be equipping students with diverse learning opportunities, including lectures and seminars given by experts in transformative conservation, delivering a blend of philosophical, ethical and applied perspectives,’ said Dr Thornhill, Co-Programme Director.
‘The NR3 programme is about delivering positive change and rebuilding what’s been lost. We want to work with students from a range of disciplines and backgrounds to explore how we can give autonomy back to nature,’ he continued.
According to the United Nations, we are now at the midpoint of the "Decade of Ecosystem Restoration", yet biodiversity loss continues to accelerate. Policy decisions remain constrained by economic considerations and limited public awareness, even as environmental concerns gain traction.
The program aspires to bridge this gap by producing leaders in ecological recovery, equipping them with the skills to drive meaningful change in conservation, land management, and policy-making.
‘For too long, humans have viewed nature as something that should be at our mercy, eradicating anything that is messy, disruptive or poses a threat. We are finally being shown the reality that we are at the mercy of nature and that our systematic dismantling of ecosystems now threatens humanity itself,’ said Dr Gilchrist, Co-Programme Director of MSc Nature Recovery, Restoration and Rewilding.
‘Current generations must act now – going beyond saving what little we have left, to actively working to put back what we have taken away,’ she continued. ‘We have to do this, not just by understanding the natural science of how to transform ecosystems, but also by changing the hearts and minds of people – this Masters is all about showing students how to do both.’
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