Rewilder Weekly #16
Welcome to the latest edition of the Rewilder Weekly! Before we get into this week's edition, a special thanks to Rosie Howell for reminding me that July 28 was World Nature Conservation Day! Check out her post and infographic. Now then, let's rewild!
👉 As a reminder: If you come across stories you'd like to see featured in an upcoming edition, send them to me and I'll gladly do what I can.
1) Four barn owls, just hanging out
You'd think the first of eight stories will always be a major rewilding success story, right? Well, you'd be thinking wrong. In my experience, it's the little things that matter the most, the moments, and the moments in between moments. And so this week's first story is simply about four barn owls, hanging out at the local birding patch of Sharon Lashley DipRSA Env, DipDEA.
Engaged in a bit of bird gazing, they captured the four barn owls, first just perched on their home - great picture. But wait, there's an even better picture in the comments - check it out! I'm telling you, it's those moments. Those moments when we're in nature, when we see it gloriously alive in the wing of a butterfly or the face of a barn owl - those are the moments when we know that we want everyone to experience just how amazing it feels to be there, in nature, part of nature.
👉 Go here for Sharon's post and pictures
2) "The Value of Shooting" report: a high-gloss marketing mess
I came across a new report by the UK shooting industry only because a concerned citizen had written to a newspaper, asking for more clarification about huge numbers claimed by the shooting industry - and whether shooting estates wouldn't be better for everyone if rewilded instead ... in short, the man is right - and the so-called report is demonstrably wrong. Rewilding those estates would deliver a great deal more to biodiversity-rich nature, to rural communities in the form of actual employment, and to the public overall.
So I've looked through the report, researched a bit, looked at previous reports and rebuttals thereof. Turns out that the shooting industry, with this 28-page high-gloss marketing paper, conflates and confuscates. They claim that their existence generates far more economic value and employment than it actually does. They claim a great deal more and shooting estates across the UK use this report to tout their importance to economy and rural communities. What it claims is false and insidious - read the report and/or my article on it. Some of what you'll read about their claims will make your head spin.
👉 Go here for the post and article
3) An amazing rewilding tale about ... baby sharks!
I used to think of sharks as those amazing (and, to me, terrifying) creatures living in waters far, far away. Then I read that one shark hotspot actually happens to be smack center of the Mediterranean - around Malta! And wouldn't you know that I discovered that bit of insight just when I was there, years ago, on the tiny island of Gozo - it took me quite a bit of effort to jump into those dark blue waters! Anyway - this is one man's epic story and how he brings baby sharks back to life - it truly is an incredible tale, brought to you by Planet Wild (thanks Antonia Hungerland for sharing it!)
Sharks are key to well-functioning ecosystems - but many millions are caught as bycatch every year. Greg Nowell made an astonishing discovery - those female sharks caught as bycatch often carried eggs. He extracted from those dead sharks and then, by trial and error, discovered how he could get the baby sharks to grow and hatch - and eventually return them to the sea. He founded the Sharklab-Malta in 2008 and as of today in the aforementioned way they have released more than 360 catsharks back into the Med.
👉 Go here for Planet Wild's excellent video
4) Greg Carr - the man behind one of the world great rewilding successes
Today Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park is as synonymous with rewilding success as is Argentina's Iberà's National Park - what they have in common is that both success stories only came about because of philanthropists. With Iberà it was the love of Doug and Kris Tompkins (today the Tompkins Conservation movement), with Gorongosa it was the love of Greg Carr (the Gregory C. Carr Foundation).
Here's a wonderful article that details how the Gorongosa National Park was decimated by Mozambique's Civil War (1977-1992) and how a meeting between Carr and the country's president in 2004 was the beginning of all-encompassing change. Truly a great story. As a park warden says about Carr, "He is the center of the passion and the spirit here for biodiversity."
👉 Go here for post and article
5) Have you ever heard of "daylighting"?
I see more and more stories, across Europe and across Northern America, about the rewilding of rivers. Rivers in the hundreds are naturalized with dams remove and canals removed. Rivers back in their natural flow are not just a boon for biodiversity-rich nature, but they also delivers against floods as they create their natural reservoirs with eddies, and moors and groves and flood plains ... now there's all of that happening with the rivers we see - but what about the rivers we don't see?
Daylighting is a fascinating topic that looks at rivers that, when cities took over, were often bound into canals and covered up. In the past used for sewer disposal - today just there, underground, devoid of light - with every nature potential denied. Daylighting is the work of bringing such rivers and creeks back to light - and there's a lot happening on that front!
👉 Go here for post and articles
6) The Global Rewilding Alliance just keeps on growing!
Our friends at the Global Rewilding Alliance shared a joyous post about reaching the 10'000 followers milestone on LinkedIn. Check out the fun post as they share a collection of names for a host of species groups (you know, like 'a murder of crows' and some such) ... I can assure you - there will be some you've never heard of!
The Alliance's mission of growing a wild community of partners is most certainly on a good path: At this moment the Global Rewilding Alliance already consists of 180 Alliance partners, from 123 countries - and with a combined 200+ million hectares! That big number means an area the size of the UK, Italy, Switzerland and South Korea COMBINED.
7) More green = more nature = more mental and physical health
A tiny little story about a sidewalk in Edinburgh that seems to infuriate some. I think there's a good argument to be made that a sidewalk should allow everyone to use it, especially also people with disabilities. But what made me pause when I saw this article (and the image) wasn't so much the issue as the vitriol it seemed to invoke. While some are clearly infuriated, I looked at the image and smiled.
Follow the below link to see it - it's really just a sidewalk where nature grows through every possible crack ... one might almost think that nature is trying to tell us something! 😉
👉 Go here for post and article
8) The European bison at Wilder Blean are loving it
I'm a proud bison fanboy and giddy with joy every time I see another bison rewilding success. LinkedIn, pretty please - I MUST HAVE A BISON EMOJI. 🙏 (oddly, they've not yet responded to my entirely reasonable request).
In the post by the Wildwood Trust, Bison Ranger Donovan Wright shares a wonderful clip about the amazing Wilder Blean bison journey over the course of the past two years. Fanboy me of course loves it when I see these marvelous creatures in action, and those adorable calves, too ... may the herd grow and grow and grow!
We end the newsletter as always with an artwork by Chilean science illustrator and painter Mauricio Alvarez (mauricio_alvarez_art on Instagram): This time with a stunning ringed kingfisher (megaceryle torquata).
And that's it for this edition! For more rewilding insights and stories from around the globe, use the #rewilding hashtag and follow people, organizations and groups that are as passionate about rewilding as you are.
Have a good week!
Cheers,
D