Rewilder Weekly #29

Welcome to the latest edition of the Rewilder Weekly! Before we get into this week's stories, allow me to mention Guy Shrubsole's "The Lie of the Land." If you're in the UK, you'll likely know him from previous books ("Who Owns England" was truly eye-opening to me). If you can take the time, here's an in-depth interview with the man himself about the realities of landownership in England - and how it all impacts the environment of an entire country. And now let's jump into this week's eight selected stories. Let's rewild the world!

👉 As a reminder: If you come across stories you'd like to see featured in an upcoming edition of the Rewilder Weekly, send them to me and I'll gladly do what I can.

1) Could the wolf's howl be a core solution to coexistence?

Big thanks to Mandy Wright for pointing me in a fascinating direction. When it comes to coexistence measures for landscapes shared by wolves and livestock, the solutions are a well-proven variety from electric fencing to guard dogs to human guardians (with everything from whistles and lights and even rubber bullets) ... but what if there were a far more obvious (when you think about it) way? What if recorded howls would let wolf packs know that they're intruding on another pack's territory?

Mandy has written an excellent, in-depth article (with links for further reading to spare) - and her focus is very much on British wolf researcher Shaun Ellis. Over the course of the past thirty years, his research has taken him across the globe - and to living among wolves. He's written extensively about his research - and particularly also about the wolf's howl and its many meanings. One of those howls wards off rival packs ... what if that could be used in recorded form? It was tested in Poland - and it worked! There's more to unpack in the article - all around fascinating and that idea of the wolf howl recording ... I'd love to hear from readers what they know about any ongoing research in that direction.

👉 Go here for Mandy's article

2) Help makes Wales' largest nature-recovery project happen

Tir Natur was established just two years ago (more about them here) and now they see an opportunity to embrace large-scale rewilding in Wales, the opportunity to buy land - quite a bit of land - think about FIVE HUNDRED football (soccer) fields worth of land! They need funds for a down payment, the number is £40'000. When I saw it first less than a week ago some 8'000 had been contributed - by now they are at +35'000! Chip in if you can, 10, 20, 50, 100, whatever you can spare - and know that you'll be making an instant double impact, as the Aviva Community Fund matches contributions.

If the land can be bought as envisioned, then old breeds of grazing animals will be brought in (Welsh Black or White Park cattle, Carneddau Ponies and Iron Age pigs). We know just how well such rewilding efforts work (think Knepp Wilding ). If we can all help Tir Natur raise the necessary funds and they can then get cracking/rewilding, I've no doubt that Taliesin himself would be proud to walk those lands and sing its praises.

👉 Go here for post and Crowdfunder details

3) Podcasts, anyone? Ben Goldsmith, Cain Blythe, Alister Scott and more

What joy when I see other people doing the work for me! With the Rewilder Weekly, I curate and share rewilding stories - and this week I find that Stefan Ferguson has curated a list of four nature-related podcasts, saved me the doing, thanks! If you're interested (and ideally emotionally and financially invested) in the rewilding movement, Ben Goldsmith , Cain Blythe and Alister Scott will be well known to you.

The financing of nature-recovery (rewilding) efforts is essential to get us to the global scale we need. Among many other things, Ben Goldsmith talked to Tim Coles about biodiversity credits (35min); Mark Lee talks to members of the NatureTech Alliance ((52min); Oxygen Conservation talks with Cain Blythe about bridging the gap between the natural asset value of land and investor interest in nature-positive opportunities; and finally Rewildology meets up with Alister Scott of the Global Rewilding Alliance and GRA's work bring together a powerful global network to tackle the twin crisis of biodiversity loss and climate change.

👉 Go here for post and podcasts

4) Frans Schepers reports back from Argentina

Frans Schepers is co-founder and executive director of Rewilding Europe and here he shares his photographs and a summary from the clearly fruitful - and amazingly beautiful - time he's had during the three weeks of rewilding exchange organized by Rewilding Argentina .

By now the work of the Tompkins Conservation (and the story behind that rewilding magic with Kris and Dough Tompkins) is legendary. How the parks have flourished, how they've been incorporated into national parks, how Rewilding Argentina and Fundación Rewilding Chile build on the work - truly fantastic. Frans recounts, "The landscapes, nature, wildlife and birdlife were amazing, as are the successful reintroduction programs of jaguar, giant anteater, ocelot, pampas deer, giant river otter, guanaco and others. In total, we observed a staggering 36 mammal species and 238 bird species, with many highlights."

👉 Go here for post and Frans' photographs

5) The potential of (and occasional fury about) rewilding cemeteries

The New York Times reported on a growing trend across the United States, the rewilding of cemeteries. The article highlights good and flourishing examples - and what a difference those efforts make! - but it also doesn't hide the fact that some people are far from pleased. For some, cemeteries need to be orderly, neat. Anything else, they say, gives the sacred space a look of neglect and is disrespectful to the dead. I couldn't see it more differently.

Whenever loved ones die, we should celebrate and remember them in life, and with life. What more beautiful gesture for your loved one than seeing vibrant life all around the place of burial? Sure, you can whip it into shape with lawnmowers and lawn seeds and shears - but I think there's so much more joy to tall grasses dancing in the breeze, bushes singing with rustling leaves and flocks of birds, wings of butterflies and bees tickling the air, and maybe even lizards warming their bodies on rocks and stones. There's no disrespect for the dead, quite the contrary. This is - or should be - one way to show them just how much life we associate with them - just how alive they still are for us. Cemeteries shouldn't be dead places, if anything, they should be the very opposite. Places where we feel - surrounded by biodiversity-rich nature - serenely alive.

👉 Go here for post and article

6) Just one month after the dams are gone, the salmon rush back in

The Klamath was once known as the third-largest salmon-producing river in the United States' West Coast. Between 1918 and 1962 dams were built and that meant the end for the river's salmon journeys. Eventually those dams were barely useful - and still it took local tribes decades of protests and legal challenges - and just this past October it has finally come to pass - the Kalamath River flows freely again - and the salmon are already back!

Joseph L. James, chairman of the Yurok Tribe says, “Seeing salmon spawning above the former dams fills my heart. Our salmon are coming home. Klamath Basin tribes fought for decades to make this day a reality because our future generations deserve to inherit a healthier river from the headwaters to the sea.”

👉 Go here for post and article

7) Brian Cox: "Declare Scotland the world's first Rewilding Nation."

The The Scottish Rewilding Alliance (an alliance made up of many, many nature-restoration focused organizations in Scotland) is joined by famed Scottish actor Brian Cox. He penned an open letter, published in The Guardian , appealing to readers "to stand with your fellow Scots and support the Rewilding Nation Charter – urging the Scottish government to declare Scotland the world’s first rewilding nation, together with urgent action to make it so." It's a brief and personal letter - well worth reading.

Add your voice by signing the charter. Even better, if you're not already, become an active participant. The Alliance's mission is to bring the many together to enable rewilding at an unprecedented scale in Scotland. They work with landowners, communities, interest groups and government to work toward that fantastic vision - to become a globally renowned rewilding nation. It would be an incredible boon - for people, for land, for economy, for health, for climate - a wealth of wins, there for the making!

👉 Go here for post and open letter

8) What do you do to support nature restoration efforts?

You're looking at a sulphur-crested cockatoo flying over the Karlindy nature reserve. I came across a good story from Down Under, about a man who bought land in memory of his late wife. That land had been intensively farmed and his aim is to restore the 150 acres to their natural pre-farming state. The success of his efforts is already evident in the return of birdlife.

As much as I love that Karst Kruen is doing, it made me reflect on a truly unfortunate flaw in the way our species goes through life: All too often something bad needs to happen before we take action. In Kruen's case it was the death of his wife. But do you and I really have to wait for something bad to happen, before we start engaging? Of course not! When it comes to rewilding, if you have funds you can spare, why not buy a plot of land now? Or get together with others and do so? Or help fund someone else's campaign?

👉 Go here for post and donating/supporting/crowdfunding examples

We end the newsletter as always with an artwork by Chilean science illustrator and painter Mauricio Alvarez (mauricio_alvarez_art on Instagram): This time an illustration of a farm on Chile's Chiloé Island. Just makes you want to be there, doesn't it?

That's it for this week's edition! For more rewilding insights and stories from around the globe, use the #rewilding hashtag and follow people, organizations and groups that are as passionate about rewilding as you are. Let's keep connecting and growing the movement!

Wishing you a good week.

Cheers,

D