Feral
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15
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As an investigative journalist, Monbiot found a mission in his ecological boredom, that of learning what it might take to impose a greater state of harmony between himself and nature. He was not one to romanticize undisturbed, primal landscapes, but rather in his attempts to satisfy his cravings for a richer, more authentic life, he came stumbled into the world of restoration and rewilding. When these concepts were first introduced in 2011, very recently, they focused on releasing captive animals into the wild. Soon the definition expanded to describe the reintroduction of animal and plant species to habitats from which they had been excised. Some people began using it to mean the rehabilitation not just of particular species, but of entire ecosystems: a restoration of wilderness. Rewilding recognizes that nature consists not just of a collection of species but also of their ever-shifting relationships with each other and with the physical environment. Ecologists have shown how the dynamics within communities are affected by even the seemingly minor changes in species assemblages. Predators and large herbivores have transformed entire landscapes, from the nature of the soil to the flow of rivers, the chemistry of the oceans, and the composition of the atmosphere. The complexity of earth systems is seemingly boundless."
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I learned a lot from this book about the ancient ecology of Britain before it became a country of cattle and sheep, and the ancient ranges of large animals like elephants, bears and lions. I learned, to my surprise, that some of those large animals could be reintroduced in Britain and the United States and do fine, even benefiting the ecosystems there, as long as there was public support. And I learned quite a bit about the debates among conservationists about just what they are supposed to conserve and the best ways to do it. So, Monbiot's book contains a lot of eye-opening information, and a way of looking at wildlife and ecology that is different from most conservationists that I have read. However, this book would have benefited from some serious editing. At times it reads like a series of rants, where Monbiot makes the same point repeatedly, asks rhetorical questions, accuses government officials of being in the pockets of agriculture lobbyists, etc. By the end of the book I had lost patience with the ranting and skipped over whatever didn't seem to be imparting information. I'm glad I read this book, but others may not have the patience to wade through Monbiot's opinion pieces.
