The Breakdown: Rewilding

The Environment
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Another environmental buzzword that gets thrown around a lot, and in a lot of different contexts, so what actually is it and why is it important?

What is it?

Rewilding is the large-scale restoration of nature by reducing human management, enabling natural processes to shape land and sea, repair damaged ecosystems and restore degraded landscapes to create wilder, more biodiverse habitats.

For example, Rewilding Britain outlines five principles for rewilding:

1. Support people and nature together – work and live within flourishing ecosystems

2. Let nature lead – not geared towards reaching a human-defined state

3. Create resilient local economies - create livelihoods that thrive alongside and enrich nature

4. Work at nature’s scale - giving nature space and connecting ecosystems)

5. Secure long-term benefits - a positive legacy for future generations

Sounds great, but what does this actually look like?

It can include a whole range of different actions, such as removing dykes and dams to free up rivers, allowing forests to naturally regenerate, reducing human management of wildlife populations, and by reintroducing keystone species such as wolves and lynx, that disappeared due to the actions of humanity.

Wolves running free through the woods, that should make the Christmas Day walk more exciting.

Not all keystone species are predators; however, beavers, bison and wild boar all play a crucial role in shaping landscapes, balancing ecosystems, and driving ecological processes. Soils, trees, plants, and other animals all suffer in their absence.

Of course, reintroducing species is a controversial and complex subject, and the likelihood of conflict between humans and animals increases, particularly farmers who fear for their livestock becoming easy prey.

We always hear about the continuing loss of nature and species decline, but things don’t seem much worse than when I was growing up.

This might be the case, but the baseline by which we judge the decline is in fact already in a state of extreme depletion. This concept is called ‘shifting baseline syndrome’ and occurs when the people of each generation perceive the state of the ecosystems they encountered growing up as normal. By not recognising the state nature was in before our lifetime, the natural world will continue in a state of decline without us realising, so rewilding is a vital tool in combatting this danger.

How can large scale rewilding occur when space is at a premium and the global population continues to grow?

Rewilding is about human populations and communities working with nature, not against it. Naturally functioning ecosystems are better at providing us with clean air and water, preventing flooding, storing carbon, and helping us to adapt to climate change. Of course, conflicts of interest occur, but it is important to implement solutions that work for both humans and the natural landscape. In Italy, farmers have brough back traditional shepherds to protect flocks from wolves to great effect, and nature-based economies in depleted rural areas are flourishing thanks to ecotourism, wildlife guiding and cultural heritage projects.

River restoration projects such as on the River Meuse have also delivered multiple benefits from a cooperative relationship with nature, including reducing flood risks, increasing biodiversity, and delivering socioeconomic benefits through resource extraction and ecotourism.

What about the managed rivers and dams that deliver important clean energy?

Many dams do provide value and benefits for society, but there is a need to balance our needs with the needs of nature.

Dams have a far-reaching environmental impact, contributing to an 84% average decline in freshwater wildlife population sizes since 1970, trapping more than a quarter of Earth’s land-to-ocean sediment flux and also impacting the climate via modification of the carbon cycle.

Although dams may produce benefits for some through drinking water and agriculture, the effects downstream from sediment loss can be pretty devastating for nature and people. Other problems include algal blooms from trapped nutrient deposits, eutrophication, biodiversity loss, fishery failures, flooding, sea level rise, and hydroelectric plants and their reservoirs in tropical regions can emit two to three times more greenhouse gases than natural gas, oil, or coal plants, due to deforestation and potent methane emissions.

Damn... But I’m not landowning Royalty or an aristocrat with a gamekeeping estate, what can I do?

Lots can be done on an individual or community level to help; urban rewilding can mean allowing grass to grow on lawns, restoring neighbourhood parks, safeguarding hedgerows, and wildlife corridors, and creating ‘tiny forests’ using indigenous soil and plants. Getting involved in local community activities is a great way to engage in rewilding and has benefits for your health. Exposure to nature is shown to improve people's mental health, while boosting air quality helps prevent disease and boosts immune systems.

The bottom line:

In Europe, more than 80% of land is degraded and less than 30% of rivers are regarded as healthy. Alongside reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, eating less meat, and reducing our plastic waste, restoring biodiversity is an essential element of the route to a more sustainable future we must strive for.

Rewilding is an exciting conservation idea, that can help connect us to natural ecosystems, bring us closer to incredible wildlife, and facilitate the revival of natural processes.

Further information:

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