Rewilding

The Radical New Science of Ecological Recovery

By: Cain Blythe, Paul Jepson

Narrated by: Robin Laing

Rewilding is the first popular book on the ground-breaking science behind the restoration of wild nature.

As ecologists Paul Jepson and Cain Blythe show, rewilding is a new and progressive approach to conservation, blending radical scientific insights with practical innovations to revive ecological processes, benefiting people as well as nature. With its sense of hope and purpose, rewilding is breathing new life into the conservation movement and enabling a growing number of people to enjoy thrilling wildlife experiences previously accessible only in remote wilderness reserves.

‘De-domesticated’ horses galloping across a Dutch ‘Serengeti’; beavers creating wetlands in the British countryside; giant tortoises restoring the wildlife of the Mauritian islands; perhaps one day even rhinos roaming the Australian outback - rewilding is full of exciting and inspirational possibilities.

©2020 Paul Jepson (P)2020 W F Howes

Excellent Overview of Concept and Theory

Does an excellent job of communicating the principles of ecology that are foundational to rewilding, and the more nuanced aspects of it. 

Revelations about attitudes toward rewinding.i

I very much enjoyed this work and the information transmitted was often fascinating. We have a way to go before this rewinding of the planet gains a solid foothold, and time is exactly what we lack.

Loved it!

The book tackles complex issues and science with conciseness and case studies. It's absolutely delightful and inspiring.

Conservation Conundrum

There are a few facts that are incorrect about South Africa. For example, the private ownership of “game” dates back to the early 1970s and culminated in legislation that intrenched this view in 1991/2. This was before Mandela had any influence over legislation. The conundrum, however, is that much of the contents current conservation practices like the landscape approach (an old idea in relative terms), reintroduction and invasion biology already incorporate aspects of rewilding. In South Africa much land under game ranch management cannot be considered in terms conservation success which has more of an ancillary outcome. We (in SA) would consider the changing of land to a more natural state as rewilding, which is what was implied in the book anyway, sometimes! However, the rewilding as proposed by Soule’ requires the repopulating that simulate Pleistocene conditions which is impractical and a waste of money. The Dutch example in the text is a case in point. It is a novel island experiment that cannot function in isolation as a functional ecosystem. Rewilding cannot be considered a new way of looking at conservation but a concept that is additional to the toolbox. The book also does not address how financially sustainable rewilding areas will be. In Africa people want to develop and so if they are in a rewilded landscape how are they going to make a living on it?

Game changer

A must read on rewilding. Two thoughtful gentlemen offering compelling evidence for hope with the environment