Just another trendy buzz-word for the lefty woke brigade?

Well, it does seem to be a rather elastic word that means different things to different people. I had a conversation recently with a local forest ranger who told me that they had started to use the word ‘restoration’ instead as it caused less community division. We also have to start with the idea that during the anthropcene age, nothing is ever going to be truly ‘wild’. However, we feel that there are some important things we can learn about that are very relevant to the people, animals and plants of Cowal.

Recently we had an example of a re-introduction that did not go well within Cowal. Our immediate frustration with this was the likely negative impact this will have on the very necessary future debate.

Any rewilding project has to start with PEOPLE. This is what the green balaclavas are for- trying to start a conversation based on concern for our environment… with local people. This video makes this point better than most;

There as a wider context for the debate about rewilding. If you appreciate a good debate (even allowing for the polarisation that can obscure) it is worth listening to the following, which was recorded a few years ago, when we were considering a future without EU subsidies and wondering whether we could do things better…

There is no one ‘rewilded’ solution. Habitats accross the UK are varied and complex. The question remains however as to whether we can afford to continue to live in an increasingly denuded landscape, and if not, what can we do about it? Rory Stewart in particular makes a strong case for preserving the culture and heritage of landscape, and in the debate above, his arguments swung the vote almost in his favour, but when culture and tradition brings about ecocide how can we defend it?

Here in Cowal, we live on the edge of a huge landscape from which people were cleared in order to create opportunities for profit. This happened first with sheep (with the clearances) and then (post second world war) it happened to create forestry plantations, when the Forestry commission bought land (including in Cowal) to plant trees. For example, a number of farms were bought, deroofed and planted up in South Cowal. This activity was specifically to increase the number of trees as a resource in Britain, but the conseqences have not been an increase in diversity, but rather the opposite, as Sitka spruce plantations created ‘dead zones’ in the heart of our hillsides.

The debate above makes clear that whatever we do will require engagement with all parts of our communities, particularly the farmers and those who own the land. Here in Cowal, this is a different prospect that it would be in the Lake District, or in Fife, or Greenock.

Where is it already happening in Scotland?

This is where it gets exciting and inspirational, because across Scotland, people are actually putting the idea of ‘rewilding’ into action.

The work done by Mossy Earth is a good place to start – scroll down this page to see a whole range of fantastic projects. They put it this way;

In 2019, the State of Nature report measured the condition of nature in 218 countries and reported that Britain ranks 189th in the world. To the average eye, Scotland offers speculator natural landscapes, although what ecologists are calling ‘ecological blindness’ is masking Scotland’s true impoverished condition to many. Ancient complex woodland ecosystems, large carnivores and many herbivores are missing. Scotland’s natural world doesn’t have the diversity of networks and communities to allow nature to function as a whole.  

Rewilding represents an opportunity to remove the pressures that are hampering nature’s recovery and allow key natural processes to play out unimpeded. This could be through restoring and reconnecting fragmented forests; letting rivers flow their natural course; or reintroducing keystone species that engineer the ecosystem and create balance. Rewilding is about stepping back, trusting nature, and letting her resume control.  

From Mossy Earth website.

By way of an example, here are a couple of Mossy Earth videos about one particular species. I share these because in many ways, focussing on saving ONE species has often been part of the problem with efforts to preserve Scotland’s natural world. If we focus on one or two ‘cute’ and iconic species like sea eagles or otters, we miss the point of the need to focus on ecosystems. However, some species (keystone species) become the building blocks for ecosystems, and one such species is the Aspen;