December 30, 2024 | By:

Rewilding in the Media #22

Arctic NWR Sunrise © Dave Foreman

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Sunrise © Dave Foreman

Editors’ note: In this periodic summary, we list some of the latest research and rewilding projects, ideas, and notable stories in the media about protecting and restoring wild Nature that the TRI board and staff discover and discuss. These are some highlights from the last few months of 2024. We urge sharing links to the ones you find most inspiring, and we invite you to send us links to important rewilding stories we may have missed.

1. wbur, Rewilding is a radical act of humility by Tom Butler [Sept. 30, 2024]

“Protecting remaining wildlands and fostering wilderness recovery, or rewilding, is an act of radical humility that offers myriad benefits for human well-being, ecological health, and climate stability.

But it is also antithetical to three foundational ideas that undergird our present techno-industrial growth civilization: One, that humans are the apex of evolution (or creation); two, that the Earth is here to serve us, producing an endless supply of ‘natural resources’ for our use and profit while hoovering up whatever waste we produce; and three, that all of this can go on indefinitely.”

2. Active NorCal, First Salmon in Over a Century Returns to Klamath River After Dam Removal [Oct. 7, 2024]

“The Klamath River has welcomed its first salmon in over a century, thanks to the largest dam removal project in the history of the United States.”

“Nothing has cheered me more than watching this video and seeing the Klamath re-seeding taking off so quickly. This will be fun to watch year after year as rewilding happens from a completely blank canvas.” –Jack Humphrey, Rewilding Intitute’s Director of Digital Outreach

3. National Geographic, A Yellowstone for Europe? Inside the bold effort to rewild the continent [Oct. 8, 2024]

“Last month’s issue of National Geographic includes surprising—and hopeful—results of a massive rewilding effort in Europe. Wildlife populations such as wood bison, bears, and lynx are on the rebound. Amazingly, after nearing extinction, wolves now number over 20,000 in the European Union. In the Carpathian Mountains of Romania, a small town mayor touts the benefits of rewilding for biodiversity as well as for people. He sees a new national park as a way to attract tourists and therefore offer local jobs and incentives for his people to remain in their homeland. This will be an exciting process to watch. A new law—the 2024 Nature Restoration Law sets a goal of reviving and protecting 20 percent of the EU’s land and seas by the end of this decade.

The article is authored by Isabella Tree, who, with her husband, embarked on their own rewilding project on an estate they purchased in the UK. Tree’s book Wilding, chronicles the results of that work, and a film about the story—of the same title—was produced in 2023.” –Margaret Williams, Arctic conservation advocate and Senior Fellow, Arctic Initiative in the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School

4. The Guardian, Herd of tauros to be released into Highlands to recreate aurochs effect [Oct. 10, 2024]

“A herd of beefy, long-horned tauros are to be released into a Highlands rewilding project to replicate the ecological role of the aurochs, an extinct, huge herbivore that is the wild ancestor of cattle. […] Trees for Life, the rewilding charity, is planning to create the first British herd of up to 15 of the animals on its 4,000-hectare (9,884-acre) Dundreggan estate near Loch Ness, in a scientific research project aimed at enhancing biodiversity, education and ecotourism.”

Editor’s note: Some rewilding proponents, while recognizing this as good healing work, question whether it should be called ‘rewilding,’ as the herbivores being released are not the original species there, and the project does not (yet?) involve reintroducing the missing apex carnivores (wolves, particularly) who would keep the large herbivores in balance with plant communities.

See especially Kate McFarland’s critique of some rewilding Europe efforts.

5. Mountain Journal, Hunters Should Recognize Predators as Allies, not Competitors [Oct. 18, 2024]

“‘Predator cleansing,’ a term hatched not long ago by independent wildlife researchers, doesn’t mean what it sounds like, that is, the ancient tradition of killing predators in a vain attempt to create more and better game. Traditional predator cleansing is a fool’s errand still widely practiced by people who call themselves ‘hunters’ and compete in predator-killing contests legal and popular in 41 states. Traditional predator cleansing is even practiced by some game and fish agencies.”

6. Yale Environment 360, Ukraine Rewilding: Will Nature Be Allowed to Revive When War Ends? [Oct. 21, 2024]

“Amid the war’s destruction, Ukrainian scientists are seeing signs of an ecological recovery. When the conflict ends, they say, the nation should not rebuild its massive Soviet-era infrastructure and instead continue the rewilding by letting nature keep restoring itself.”

7. A new report: Integrating high-resolution remote sensing and empirical wildlife detection data for climate-resilient corridors across tropical elevational gradients [Bilogical Conservation, Volume 298, October 2024]

“Abstract: Corridors are essential tools for promoting biodiversity resilience under climate change. However, corridor design studies are often conducted at spatial scales too coarse to guide implementation by local conservation practitioners. We mapped potential climate-resilient corridors linking lowland to highland protected areas within a highly biodiverse but fragmented landscape of southwestern Costa Rica (6311 km2) using least cost path and circuit theory approaches at high spatial resolution (10 m). We then applied an extensive camera trap dataset of medium-large vertebrates to examine corridor functionality. Although least cost paths (n = 40) were predominantly forested (median = 76 %, range = 57–82 %) and somewhat protected (median = 31 %, range = 3–55 %), they were also highly fragmented. Least cost paths from lowland to highland protected areas traversed medians of 252 forest patches (range = 162–328), 11,186 agriculture patches (range = 822–1,771), and 106 roads (range = 50–252), translating to 2 forest patches, 11 agriculture patches, and 1 road crossed every kilometer. Circuit analyses identified many high-connectivity areas outside of protected areas, including but not limited to least cost paths, but these high-connectivity areas were mostly small forest fragments. Nonetheless, capture rates for medium-to-large mammals at camera traps indicated that many species are currently unlikely to use unprotected, fragmented areas thought to be important for connectivity. In other words, additional conservation and restoration are necessary to establish functional corridors within the landscape. More broadly, this study exemplifies an approach to bridging the gap between regional-scale connectivity analyses and the needs of local practitioners by identifying locations that could be targeted for conservation or restoration within multi-use tropical landscapes.”

8. The Guardian, ‘If I’m sent to Japan, I’m not coming home’: jailed anti-whaler defiant in face of extradition threat [Dec. 1, 2024]

“Captain Paul Watson talks about his arrest on behalf of the Japanese government, his ‘interesting’ Greenland prison, and separation from his children.”

Editor’s note: Since this article was published, Captain Paul Watson has been released, and Rewilding Earth has been fortunate to do one of the first interviews with the heroic captain since he regained freedom (Listen to the podcast episode here.)

9. WWF, 742 new species identified in the Congo Basin [Dec. 3, 2024]

“In the last 10 years, 742 new species of wildlife and plants have been identified in the Congo Basin, according to WWF’s New Life in the Congo Basin: A Decade of Species Discoveries (2013–2023) report. The report highlights the remarkable biodiversity and urgent conservation needs of one of the world’s most vital ecosystems.”

10. Conservation Law Center, Historic Partnership Secures Nearly 4,000 Acres for Conservation and Future Public Recreation in Southern Indiana [Dec. 10, 2024]

“A groundbreaking collaboration has permanently protected 3,950 acres near the Lake Glendora Test Facility (LGTF) in Southern Indiana, creating the new Busseron Creek Fish & Wildlife Area, which will be open to the public in 2025.

The newly protected land will safeguard vital ecosystems and enhance future public recreational opportunities. The Busseron Creek project, spearheaded by the Conservation Law Center (CLC) and its Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape (SISL) initiative and powered by a multi-million-dollar investment by The Conservation Fund (TCF), demonstrates the power of partnerships in advancing conservation and community resilience.”

11. American Rivers, President Jimmy, A True River Hero [Dec. 29, 2024]

Reflecting on the former President’s river legacy, on his passing at age 100

“Carter was a river runner, did the first descent of a major river, the Chattogga, in Georgia and canceled plans to build 16 dams and started the process for dismantling dams.” –Jason Kahn, Rewilding Institute’s Board President

Here are a few other publications surrounding President Carter’s passing and his positive impact on wilderness in Alaska, including both a statement and blog released by Defenders of Wildlife, along with an excellent article from Anchorage Daily News.

Spread Rewilding Around the Globe!
Subscribe To Comments On This Article
Notify of
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x