Roots, relevance, aims and values
29
uses. Sixth, rewilding may run up against strong social
barriers, especially with respect to the reintroduction
of predators such as wolves and bears.
Notwithstanding these serious issues, the idea is one
that engages a great deal of popular interest, capturing
the hostility of some but also the imagination of many.
Rewilding solutions lying between the relatively
enclosed nature of Oostvaardersplassen and the revolutionary ideas of Pleistocene rewilding would seem to
offer considerable potential for successful ecosystem
restoration. One such example is the recent introduction, as an ecological analogue for extinct Mascarene
Island giant tortoise, of captive - bred populations of
Aldabran tortoise to Round Island, a small island
(255 ha) with noxious weed problems (Griffi ths et al .,
2009 ). The idea is that the introduced species may act
as an ecosystem engineer, restoring the functionality
lost due to the extinction of the indigenous species and
thus contributing to effi cient biodiversity conservation
in the Mascarene Islands. If based on careful case - by -
case planning, and experimental testing and trialling,
rewilding has some role to play in 21st century
conservation.
2.6 CONCLUDING REMARKS
In this chapter, we have argued that human values are
both the motivation for conservation and have always
infl uenced the science and practice of conservation.
Values are always changing and it is possible that one
day the foundational values of the modern conservation movement will seem outdated and out of tune
with global opinion. Moreover, there is also a danger
that values will be increasingly overlooked as conservation develops increasingly sophisticated ways to
measure and protect nature.
For example, the introduction and promotion of the
term and concept of ‘ biodiversity ’ has undoubtedly
been hugely successful as a means of raising funds and
focusing resources, but is poorly understood by the
public (Christie et al ., 2005 ) and is not closely associated with any of the historically important conservation values (but see Section 2.2.2 ). If the underlying
values of nature reserves and conservation initiatives
are not clearly stated, there is a danger that the public
may lose its appetite for conservation – a process that
would see politicians quickly follow suit.
As you read through the rest of this book, we
would like you to bear in mind that although
have, so far, not been introduced and probably never
will be due to societal resistance.
The intriguing idea of reconstituting past large
mammal assemblages is not confi ned to Holland. The
Pleistocene Park project underway in Russia is transforming taiga ‘ back ’ into mammoth tundra steppe
through creation of grasslands and the introduction of
bison, musk ox, Yakutian horse, hares and marmots
(Zimov, 2005 ). The introduction of predators is
planned once populations have established. A number
of private land - holders are also engaging with similar
ideas; for example, Paul Lister, heir to the MFI retail
empire, is pursuing a dream to rewild a Scottish estate
with wild boar, elk, bears and wolves (Sidway, 2006 ).
A third variant is the ‘ Pleistocene rewilding of North
America ’ proposal, which involves the introduction of
non - native analogues (elephant and camel) for species
that became extinct coincidental with human colonization of the Americas 13,000 years ago (Donlan et al .,
2005 ; Donlan, 2007 ). This suggestion has aroused
intense debate, with critics arguing that introducing
elephants, camels, cheetahs and lions would be both
ecologically and socially unsound (e.g. Smith 2005 ;
Rubenstein et al ., 2006 ). In a less high profi le, but
no less ambitious project, the World Wildlife Fund
(WWF) and the American Prairie Foundation are
buying up properties in north central Montana that
they eventually hope to combine with adjacent public
lands to provide a habitat for nearly the entire suite
of Pleistocene North American grassland species
(Dinerstein & Irvin, 2005 ).
Rewilding also raises a number of scientifi c, practical and social concerns that are yet to be fully resolved.
First, scientifi c knowledge of past assemblages is often
incomplete, thus making it diffi cult to establish the
baseline conditions for restoration with accuracy (see
Chapter 3 , Section 3.5.3 ). Second, without the social
consent required to reintroduce large predators back
into rewilded systems, it is unlikely that the objective
of recreating evolutionary process can be fully realized
(Schlaepfer et al ., 2005 ). Third, the poor record of
reintroductions, especially of carnivores, suggests that
the success of more ambitious rewilding projects is by
no means assured. Fourth, many of the rewilded mega -
herbivores are closely related to domestic forms, signifi -
cantly increasing risk of disease transmission between
wild and domestic stock. Fifth, restoring ecosystem
process and viable populations may require reserves
that are too large to be realistically accommodated in
many parts of the world because of competing land
29
uses. Sixth, rewilding may run up against strong social
barriers, especially with respect to the reintroduction
of predators such as wolves and bears.
Notwithstanding these serious issues, the idea is one
that engages a great deal of popular interest, capturing
the hostility of some but also the imagination of many.
Rewilding solutions lying between the relatively
enclosed nature of Oostvaardersplassen and the revolutionary ideas of Pleistocene rewilding would seem to
offer considerable potential for successful ecosystem
restoration. One such example is the recent introduction, as an ecological analogue for extinct Mascarene
Island giant tortoise, of captive - bred populations of
Aldabran tortoise to Round Island, a small island
(255 ha) with noxious weed problems (Griffi ths et al .,
2009 ). The idea is that the introduced species may act
as an ecosystem engineer, restoring the functionality
lost due to the extinction of the indigenous species and
thus contributing to effi cient biodiversity conservation
in the Mascarene Islands. If based on careful case - by -
case planning, and experimental testing and trialling,
rewilding has some role to play in 21st century
conservation.
2.6 CONCLUDING REMARKS
In this chapter, we have argued that human values are
both the motivation for conservation and have always
infl uenced the science and practice of conservation.
Values are always changing and it is possible that one
day the foundational values of the modern conservation movement will seem outdated and out of tune
with global opinion. Moreover, there is also a danger
that values will be increasingly overlooked as conservation develops increasingly sophisticated ways to
measure and protect nature.
For example, the introduction and promotion of the
term and concept of ‘ biodiversity ’ has undoubtedly
been hugely successful as a means of raising funds and
focusing resources, but is poorly understood by the
public (Christie et al ., 2005 ) and is not closely associated with any of the historically important conservation values (but see Section 2.2.2 ). If the underlying
values of nature reserves and conservation initiatives
are not clearly stated, there is a danger that the public
may lose its appetite for conservation – a process that
would see politicians quickly follow suit.
As you read through the rest of this book, we
would like you to bear in mind that although
have, so far, not been introduced and probably never
will be due to societal resistance.
The intriguing idea of reconstituting past large
mammal assemblages is not confi ned to Holland. The
Pleistocene Park project underway in Russia is transforming taiga ‘ back ’ into mammoth tundra steppe
through creation of grasslands and the introduction of
bison, musk ox, Yakutian horse, hares and marmots
(Zimov, 2005 ). The introduction of predators is
planned once populations have established. A number
of private land - holders are also engaging with similar
ideas; for example, Paul Lister, heir to the MFI retail
empire, is pursuing a dream to rewild a Scottish estate
with wild boar, elk, bears and wolves (Sidway, 2006 ).
A third variant is the ‘ Pleistocene rewilding of North
America ’ proposal, which involves the introduction of
non - native analogues (elephant and camel) for species
that became extinct coincidental with human colonization of the Americas 13,000 years ago (Donlan et al .,
2005 ; Donlan, 2007 ). This suggestion has aroused
intense debate, with critics arguing that introducing
elephants, camels, cheetahs and lions would be both
ecologically and socially unsound (e.g. Smith 2005 ;
Rubenstein et al ., 2006 ). In a less high profi le, but
no less ambitious project, the World Wildlife Fund
(WWF) and the American Prairie Foundation are
buying up properties in north central Montana that
they eventually hope to combine with adjacent public
lands to provide a habitat for nearly the entire suite
of Pleistocene North American grassland species
(Dinerstein & Irvin, 2005 ).
Rewilding also raises a number of scientifi c, practical and social concerns that are yet to be fully resolved.
First, scientifi c knowledge of past assemblages is often
incomplete, thus making it diffi cult to establish the
baseline conditions for restoration with accuracy (see
Chapter 3 , Section 3.5.3 ). Second, without the social
consent required to reintroduce large predators back
into rewilded systems, it is unlikely that the objective
of recreating evolutionary process can be fully realized
(Schlaepfer et al ., 2005 ). Third, the poor record of
reintroductions, especially of carnivores, suggests that
the success of more ambitious rewilding projects is by
no means assured. Fourth, many of the rewilded mega -
herbivores are closely related to domestic forms, signifi -
cantly increasing risk of disease transmission between
wild and domestic stock. Fifth, restoring ecosystem
process and viable populations may require reserves
that are too large to be realistically accommodated in
many parts of the world because of competing land