Truly wild areas should be “within striking distance of everyone” so people can see how nature-rich their landscapes could be, conservationists have said.

As nature has declined in the UK, each generation accepts a world with progressively less wildlife as normal and only understands the losses since they were young, in a phenomenon known as shifting baselines.

But some flagship “rewilding” sites are reversing the trend, amazing experts and the public with how much nature they can hold and prompting calls for more places where people can find inspiration – and a boost to health and wellbeing – from being close to the wild.