Rewilder Weekly #18
Welcome to the latest edition of the Rewilder Weekly! Before we get into this week's stories, a question for you: What do you know about consciousness? There's still a great deal we don't know when it comes to flora and fauna (heck, there's still a great deal we don't know about ourselves!). If you can take the time, join a talk about animal consciousness in mammals and beyond on August 30th. Sounds fascinating - I shall be there! 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) A veritable wealth of rewilding
It's funny, I think Frans Schepers and I published something about the wealth of ongoing rewilding efforts on the very same day. My post was simply to highlight how much joy and hope all of those rewilding stories generate in me (and how there's far too much going on for any newsletter to keep up with!)
Now to Frans' post: In his role as Rewilding Europe's executive director, he gets monthly internal reports from all of their ten major rewilding landscapes - and every month he creates a one-pager with highlights for the supervisory board. In his post, Frans not only shares the one-pager, but also highlights some of what's been happening from the Danube Delta to the Affric Highlands and from the Central Apennines to the Southern Carpathians. I'm telling you, joy and hope, folks, you're bound to get a massive dose of rewilding joy and hope!
👉 Go here for Frans' post and one-pager
2) Bringing cranes back in numbers to Cairngorms
Scotland's Cairngorms National Park aims to reintroduce a breeding population of cranes to restore a missing piece of the park's ecology. Cranes were once widespread in the UK - but hunting and the drainage of wetlands meant that this amazing migratory bird in the 1500s decided to skip the UK forthwith. There are about 500'000 of them globally - but barely any in the UK today, a few of them in Scotland. The 'Cairngorms Cranes' project plans to reintroduce more of them to ensure that they make themselves at home in sustainable numbers.
I have a simple mind and I'm quite happy with it. It often allows me to get joy out of the smallest things - in this case I couldn't help but beam when I discovered that the scientific name of the common crane is 'grus grus' - pretty, ain't it? And then others added more such joy in the comments: The common toad is 'bufo bufo' (thanks Jon Conradi), the badger is 'meles meles' and the magpie's scientific name is 'pica pica' - love it (thx Lucie Wuethrich)!
👉 Go here for post and article
3) Spain plans to have its first marine national park
We see it on land, but we see it ever so much more clearly and quickly in the water - if you give nature a chance, it won't just recover, it will spill over. The spillover effects with protected marine areas are well documented and every such protection increases biodiversity overall. Fish replenish rapidly and the spillover effects benefit fishers and local communities everywhere.
The southernmost tip of Spain is called La Restinga, a place on Spain's Canary Islands. Right there a marine area has been a designated reserve (the Mar de Las Calmas) since 1996 - they say it's spectacular with an underwater mountain that entices with amazing dives. Now the Spanish government takes it to a next level in recognition of the area's immense value. A proposal has been approved to turn the reserve into a national park.
👉 Go here for post and articles
4) "My two favorite animals are sheep and wolves."
The above quote comes from Portuguese shepherd Miguel Alonso. The Guardian delivers a thorough article about the effective coexistence with wolves in the north of Portugal. Alfonso has with him six guard dogs and explains that the wolves are "actually helping me because they are hunting deer and boar, which damage my chestnut and grain plantations."
As positive as the above shepherd's example is, we see a truly insidious effort across Europe to slaughter wolves in larger numbers. Both Lucie Wuethrich and Daniel Allen shares insights into the horribly misguided wolf slaughter efforts currently under way in Switzerland. Go here for Lucie's post and here for Daniel's.
👉 Go here for post and Guardian article
5) Where's the money?
In her post, Lucie Machin writes about having attending a what must have been a wonderful rewilding gathering in Devon - but she does also reflect on funding (or lack thereof), "Some of the work that's going into reintroductions and translocations is incredible, but it makes me wonder why so much of this work is taking place in the likes of people's sheds, and why all these projects often struggle for financing, when they're literally staving off extinctions!"
Often the big nature restoration success stories have come about because of philanthropy. Big money by very wealthy people with big hearts for nature. There are other funding ways, of course, e.g. with governments setting aside increasing funds for nature restoration. But where I still see truly unacceptable avoidance is with big corporates. Too often they have foundations that are good for PR purposes but lack the substantial funds to generate large-scale impact. I remember Aviva announcing the putting aside of 100 million pounds for nature-based projects - now that's what should happen - and should be required - of every corporate!
👉 Go here for Lucie's post and pictures
6) Join the fight against the slaughter of badgers in the UK
The Badger Trust asks, "Will you join in with our National Day of Action Against the Cull on Tuesday, 3 September?" Since the 'badger cull' began in 2013, over 230'000 badgers have been slaughtered in England. Why? Because of the misguided and fundamentally flawed attempts to control bovine Tuberculosis, an infectious respiratory disease which affects cattle.
The next intensive badger killing ist set to begin again in September. "We must come together in a powerful display of unity to call for the new government to end the cull now. Over 50% of newly elected MPs are completely new to their role. Returning MPs could be either in or out of government for the first time in 14 years. NOW is the time to engage with them about ending the badger cull."
👉 Go here for learn more and join the fight
7) Wildness or Wilderness?
Words have power. And that power often goes beyond its meaning. The reason for that is that we are human and we have huge brains and we are experts of twirling things in our heads because of sentiments and experiences and culture and belief and and and ... so, choosing the wrong word can sink a project, a career, an election, you name it. In Scotland, some people get queasy when they hear the term 'wilderness' - to them it means a wild place devoid of people.
And so SCOTLAND: The Big Picture makes an excellent pivot by calling it 'wildness' instead. Their excellent article highlights that rewilding is not about nature OR people - but that people are very much at the heart and center of rewilding efforts in Scotland. Their Northwoods Rewilding Network comes with principles that include a focus on local people and local business to boost both nature and communities.
👉 Go here for post and article
8) It's time to retire the term 'conservation'
Most likely, if you are engaged in nature work, you are not 'conserving' - you are helping flora and fauna in some place of land or water to recover after that place has been degraded over the course of decades or even centuries. In my latest article, I'm looking at the term 'conservation' etymologically, historically and logically - and can't help but think that the term is a bad fit for our times and for what's needed for decades to come.
There is no point in either conserving or preserving something that is in a degraded state - it needs to be restored. You may call yourself a conservationist - but most likely that term's simply there for historical reasons - but please do read on and I have a feeling that you'll see what I mean - you're not a conservationist, you are a restorer.
👉 Go here for post and article
We end the newsletter as always with an artwork by Chilean science illustrator and painter Mauricio Alvarez (mauricio_alvarez_art on Instagram): This time something a little different from Mauricio - something magical he's created for WWF Chile:
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