Rewilding and future policy

Prof Alastair Driver

Twitter: @AliDriverUK

The Premise

Traditional

conservation

practices

on their own

are not enough

to achieve

significant wildlife

recovery

in Britain

Rewilding underway at Eastern Moors, nr Sheffield 6500 ha

Rewilding

The large-scale restoration of ecosystems

to the point

where nature is allowed to take care of itself

The Garden of England

Comparative wildness in national parks (Map courtesy of Steve Carver, Univ of Leeds) Haweswater, Lake District National Park

Above Edale, Peak District National Park

Shifting Baseline Syndrome

Gamekeeper kill stats from the 6,500 acre Glengarry estate in Scotland 1837-1840

Stoat and Weasel 301 Pine marten 246 Wildcat 198 Polecat 106 Feral domestic cat 78 Badger 67 Otter 48 Red fox 11

Hooded crow 1431 Raven 475 Kestrel 462 Buzzard 285 Red kite 275 Goshawk 63 Hen harrier 63 White-tailed eagle 27 Osprey 18 Golden eagle 15 Magpie 2

BBMJ

.01 .1 1 10 102 103 104 105 106 AREA km2

1ha 10ha 100ha

MA

NA

GEM

ENT

INTE

NSI

TY

LOW

HIGH

Okavango

Yellowstone Oostvaardersplassen

Ennerdale

Polessie

Range of ‘typical’ UK nature reserves SSSIs, Wildlife Trusts, RSPB, NNRs, land within NIAs managed for conservation etc.

The rewilding spectrum

Knepp

REWILDING = Bigger, better, more joined up

Key principles of rewilding

1. People are key

2. Size matters

3. Think “natural processes”

4. Marathon with a sprint start

Rewilding underway at RSPB Haweswater 500 ha

Challenges – rate of change

Welsh hillside after 20 years Welsh mountainside after 30 years

Carrifran Wildwood, Southern Uplands, Scotland

1999 2015

Challenges – rate of change

Rewilding at Knepp Estate, West Sussex 2001-2016

1400 ha

Bechstein’s Bat

Nightingale Purple Emperor

Turtle Dove

Brown Hairstreak

Rewilding means more wildlife – Knepp example

What else can rewilding at scale provide? 1. Multiple “public goods”, including reduced flood risk, improved water quality, carbon

sequestration, access and educational opportunities, health and wellbeing benefits, etc.

2. A nature-based economy bringing income and opportunities which encourage people

to stay and thrive in rural areas

3. Healthy land and water in better condition for future generations.

Rewilding now being planned at Broughton Estate, Skipton – 1200 ha

Challenges: food

“We can’t feed a growing population if

we start rewilding”

• We waste 40% of the food we produce to eat

• Rewilding projects will normally still produce food – and many other societal benefits

• Meat consumption is predicted to fall dramatically due to synthetic “meat” technology

Rewilding planning underway with farmer cluster in Nar Valley, North Norfolk – 2000 ha

Current large scale rewilding initiatives in Britain

Red circled areas: large rewilding

“vision areas” -

• Yearn Stane

• Southern Uplands

• Peak District

Blue dots: farm cluster or estate-

scale rewilding >1000 acres

Nature Recovery Networks

Rewilding and ELMS

• Rewilding !

Proposed Environmental Land Management Scheme

Rewilding, Nature Recovery Networks and ELMS

Reintroductions

Eurasian Wolf

Eurasian Elk (Moose) European Bison

Eurasian Brown Bear

Reintroductions

Pine Marten

European Beaver European Wildcat

Red Squirrel

Thankyou for your attention

“Rewilding will be a massively important part of the Nature Recovery Network”. Tony Juniper, Chair, Natural England – Oct 2019