S tanding on the sea wall in Lymington in Hampshire, I watched a large white bird fly low overhead. Its head looked too long, like a child’s drawing of a bird, with a spatula where the bill should be. “Spoonbill!” I shouted, pointing. Generally, pointing and shouting are frowned upon when wildlife watching , but I was excited for good reason. Spoonbills have been absent from the UK for around 360 years and are now staging a comeback. And they’re not the only ones.

Bison graze in Kent, beavers paddle in London, and cranes fish in Somerset. This is not the UK in 1600, before habitat destruction and hunting drove many species to extinction; this is 2026, and conservationists are starting to turn the tide.

From reintroducing lost species to translocations (creating new populations from existing ones), projects across the UK are working to return many species, including some keystone species that help shape our ecosystems and even combat climate change.

Here’s how to experience it for yourself with the family…