The excitement around rewilding must be harnessed by the widest cross-section of society, if it is to find a place as a conservation ‘tool’.
To be honest, I like the idea of a few unfettered landscapes with large predatory animals lurking in the undergrowth. Untamed countryside complete with deep growl, loud snort and piercing scream.
Howling hills
Illegal hare coursers might stay out of fields. Sheep-worrying dogs look over their shoulders. Free-range chickens fear the night. Ramblers stick to paths, grey squirrels fear martens, badger give way to boar, and sudden decline of bird-eating cats. Oxbow lakes re-form from slow river beaver dens, heather return to improved hillsides and scrub invade National Trust UNESCO uplands. Rose-tinted landscapes dissolving into a thickness of nature not seen for years.
But. Can we please not play to the lowest common denominator in patronising, simplifying, dumbing-down something which may be exciting, especially to those far-removed from rural places, but which is perceived as an ideologically-laden issue to others.
PR flip flop
Can we be more honest on motives, set context and ? Otherwise media PR stunts explaining why you ate a road-kill squirrel miss the gravitas of a ‘mass ecosystem restoration’ (brilliant fashionably sexy sounding) – without any mention of the flip side PR flop that mass removal of humans is brilliant for wildlife. Yellowstone Park tightly controls human visitors and Romania’s bears and wolves thank a dictator for their healthy population.
Shelve ideals, share ideas
Advocates of partisan positions squabble over their ‘ideals’ while rubbishing anyone else’s ideas not fitting the narratives. While some knock the rise of Ecomodernism (even if it results in more land to rewild), others knock rewilding for its impact on food security.
So let us accept to a certain extent the ecosystems we have created unwittingly and factor in humans from the start. Only then we can more realistic in how rewilding can be progressed without having to later disentangle a theme park beset by animal welfare issues.
p.s. the teeth above are those of a dead young male polecat found in a Welsh field
pps enter compassionate conservation to add another layer of complexity
[links updated Dec 2020]
My hope is you’ll become a bit more passionate, shout louder and get yourself on telly. Then not blowing it by sitting on the fence.
“The simplest conservation measure of all is three strands of barbed wire.” Oliver Rackham. http://thedabbler.co.uk/2011/08/oliver-rackham-the-history-of-the-countryside/
Some of us still wish to access and understand either side of a fence – however barbed.
Could you explain a bit about ‘…rubbishing others’ ideas’ and can you explain if you have some kind of personal problem about George Monbiot. I’m not sure what you’re trying to say here; I do know that existing re-wilding is being done extremely carefully, and that we can’t let the fear of imperfection deter greater and more urgent effort.
I don’t read expressing one’s alternative views as “rubbishing”. Nor do I think requesting personal views on individuals from the author adds value to discussions, rather it distracts.
Mike. Thanks for your comment. Did you click the links? If Eco-modernism seeks to release land to rewild, rather than tear down the ideology behind it, can we be critical but still with shared aims in achieving the goal. If Matt Ridley offered part of his grouse moor for rewilding, would you reject it because of what he stood for?
I have no truck with George Monbiot, I’ve interviewed him https://robyorke.co.uk/2020/10/interview-monbiot-2013/ and here https://www.scribd.com/doc/167267337/The-Brecon-Radnor-Express-Farming-page-Aug-2013-archive. I continue to liaise with him on relevant issues (such as research in 4th last link in my blog above) and respect his valid role.
What I do fear is that we surround ourselves with disciples. Hearing only what we wish to hear, not being open to ‘critical friend’ input – lack incisive critical thinking. I’m sure George can easily take this from me http://www.charteredforesters.org/opinion/item/284-rob-yorke-on-george-monbiot-rewilding/. My aim – repeated in this blog – is to engage as many of possible diverse viewpoints to achieve the greater good of more wildlife habitat without anyone ‘voice’ seeking to ‘own’ the process.
Come to the Black Mountains in Feb/March 2016 to chew-the-cud (sheep-free) https://www.crickhowellfestival.com/cwf-walks-programme/2021/3/7/walk-102-another-walk-wl66p-9xxh8-ytdg3-94axt-pp8ch-hlt2x-69ams-tkedz-rpgbr
The rewilding proposal appears to be based on the assumption that it will progress in Scotland. Is my assumption correct?
Daye, thanks for you comments. Yes I believe so – though how this works practically in face of proposed land reform legislation and ownership of 50k acres required for large carnivores, is anyone’s guess.
Some is also aimed at the Cambrian mountains in mid Wales http://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/rewilding/rewilding-projects/cambrian-wildwood but suggest that letting the grass grow at the end of the garden would be a great start for anyone.