{"id":11661,"date":"2014-10-08T01:23:25","date_gmt":"2014-10-08T01:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/?p=11661"},"modified":"2014-10-06T16:25:50","modified_gmt":"2014-10-06T16:25:50","slug":"rewilding-scotland-and-return-of-lynx-and-wolf-in-spotlight-in-edinburgh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/rewilding-scotland-and-return-of-lynx-and-wolf-in-spotlight-in-edinburgh\/","title":{"rendered":"Rewilding Scotland and return of lynx and wolf in spotlight in Edinburgh"},"content":{"rendered":"

Visions of a rewilded Scotland \u2013 from restored forests to the return of predators such as the lynx and wolf \u2013 will be in the spotlight today at a topical lecture featuring acclaimed writer George Monbiot and award-winning conservationist Alan Watson Featherstone of Trees for Life, at the University of Edinburgh\u2019s George Square Lecture Theatre at 6.00 pm.<\/p>\n

With enthusiasm for rewilding \u2013 the large-scale restoration of damaged natural ecosystems \u2013 spreading quickly in the UK, the Rewilding the World event will highlight the significant benefits that this could bring to Scotland, together with a discussion on its global and ethical implications.<\/p>\n

George Monbiot said: \u201cRewilding offers us a big chance to reverse destruction of the natural world. Letting trees return to bare and barren uplands, allowing the seabed to recover from trawling, and bringing back missing species would help hundreds of species that might otherwise struggle to survive \u2013 while rekindling wonder and enchantment that often seems missing in modern-day Britain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alan Watson Featherstone, Trees for Life\u2019s Executive Director, said: \u201cRewilding offers an exciting vision of hope, through the positive and practical work of renewing and revitalising ecosystems. In the Highlands we have the opportunity to reverse environmental degradation and create a spectacular, world-class wilderness region \u2013 offering a lifeline to wildlife including beavers, capercaillie, wood ants and pine martens, and restoring natural forests and wild spaces for our children and grandchildren to enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lynx,<\/a>

Eurasian lynx \u00a9 Peter Cairns, northshots.com<\/p><\/div>\n

The latest thinking on rewilding \u2013 including recent and remarkable scientific discoveries \u2013 has been captured in George Monbiot\u2019s highly-praised and gripping book, Feral, that lays out a positive environmental approach in which Nature is allowed to find its own way.<\/p>\n

Today few areas of the world are truly wild and Scotland is no exception. Long-term deforestation and overgrazing by too many deer and sheep has left the land depleted and barren, with much wildlife in retreat or missing altogether. The Caledonian Forest \u2013 Scotland\u2019s equivalent of a rainforest \u2013 is now one of the UK\u2019s most endangered habitats, with many of its rare species in danger of extinction.<\/p>\n

Yet action across Scotland in recent years has offered signs of what could be achieved by restoring natural processes and protecting wilderness areas, and by reducing human interference in ecosystems.<\/p>\n

In the Highlands considerable efforts to restore and expand native forests have led to the establishment of a new generation of trees \u2013 and their associated plants, insects and other wildlife \u2013 at many sites. High-profile successes include the re-establishment of healthy populations of birds of prey such as the sea eagle, osprey and red kite, and the trial reintroduction of European beavers at Knapdale in Argyll.<\/p>\n

George Monbiot and Alan Watson Featherstone will argue that far more needs to be done however, and will outline how a more ambitious approach could bring wide-ranging benefits to wildlife and people, while putting Scotland on the map as a wildlife tourism global hotspot.<\/p>\n

Scotland is also ideally placed to be a world leader in an international drive to slow, halt and reverse global forest loss. In a major announcement at the UN Climate Summit in late September, world leaders, companies and campaigners pledged in the New York Declaration of Forests to restore 150 million hectares of degraded landscapes and forests by 2020 and end deforestation by 2030.<\/p>\n

Future rewilding could involve the reinstatement of missing species, including apex predators such as the Eurasian lynx and even the wolf, both of which play a crucial top-down regulatory role in ecosystems.<\/p>\n

While the reintroduction of predators is often proposed as a means of reducing excessive numbers of red deer in the Highlands, its main impact would likely be in disturbing deer populations, causing these animals to move more frequently so that their grazing is less concentrated in specific areas.<\/p>\n

The lynx \u2013 already reintroduced to areas of Europe such as the Alps and Jura mountains \u2013 offers little threat to sheep. It is a specialist predator of roe deer, a species which has multiplied in Britain in recent years and which holds back the natural regeneration of trees through intensive browsing.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Rewilding the World event is being organised by the University of Edinburgh\u2019s Department for Social Responsibility and Sustainability as part of Edinburgh World Justice Festival.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the day, Alan Watson Featherstone and George Monbiot will also be speaking about rewilding to MSPs on the Scottish Parliament\u2019s Cross-Party Group on International Development.<\/p>\n

Leading volunteering conservation charity Trees for Life is restoring Scotland\u2019s ancient Caledonian Forest, and has pledged to establish one million more trees by planting and natural regeneration by 2018. To mark its 25th anniversary this year, it is offering expanded opportunities for volunteers to support its work and gain conservation experience.<\/p>\n

George Monbiot \u2013 well known author and columnist for The Guardian \u2013 is currently setting up an organisation to catalyse the rewilding of land and sea across Britain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Visions of a rewilded Scotland \u2013 from restored forests to the return of predators such as the lynx and wolf \u2013 will be in the spotlight today at a topical lecture featuring acclaimed writer George Monbiot and award-winning conservationist Alan Watson Featherstone of Trees for Life, at the University of Edinburgh\u2019s George Square Lecture Theatre at 6.00 pm. With enthusiasm for rewilding \u2013 the large-scale restoration of damaged natural ecosystems \u2013 spreading quickly in the UK, the Rewilding the World event will highlight the significant benefits that this could bring to Scotland, together with a discussion on its global and…<\/span> <\/p>\n

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