Why rewilding?

Atlantic rainforest in Co Galway

I remember learning about rewilding through George Monbiot’s book Feral and his related Ted talk. I had at that stage spent a number of years working on the numerous environmental issues facing Ireland and was trying to reconcile this with the narrative I had absorbed in college that because Ireland had been farmed for a long time, our ecology today was a farmed version of the wild ecosystems I was seeing on the TV. Most environmentalists, it seemed, were willing to accept this as simply the way things are but learning about rewilding dropped on me like a revelation.

Ireland should not look the way it does, the state of nature is much worse than I had imagined and while farming may have had a much lower impact in the past, modern farming has brutalised our landscapes and left nature hanging on in only tiny, ragged corners. And not only farming; forestry, peat mining and, at sea, fishing, have left us with nothing resembling a functioning natural ecosystem.

Why does it matter? It turns out that healthy natural ecosystems are fundamental to the health of our planet. Even if we stopped burning fossil fuels in the morning (something we really need to do) we cannot have a safe future when forests, oceans, rivers and wetlands are ever degraded, polluted and devoid of life.

But we need to eat! Yes, we need farming, and we need farming and food production in general to be much more nature friendly than they are today. And farming is part of our culture and heritage, many people are devoted to it and I see no contradiction between this and wanting to see rewilding on a large-scale in Ireland.

For many years, I worked on national policy within the community of NGOs in Ireland. I tried to promote rewilding, not as the be-all and end-all, but as an important part of the solution to our environmental problems. I also saw that it was incredibly popular, people like the idea of rewilding, they get it and they see the need to act urgently. But governments and state agencies do not like change and many are gagged and bound by special economic interests, holding up desperately needed reform. The work of these NGOs remains vitally important but I am now ready to change tack.

I particularly noticed that people across Ireland were getting in touch to say that they had a bit of land and wanted to rewild it – what should they do? Unfortunately, there is no quick answer to this question. Every bit of land in Ireland is different and has its own story, every landowner is different and maybe rewilding is not the answer!

Now I have an opportunity to work with these people who are keen to make a difference. So far, the reaction has been great. I’m really grateful to those who have already pledged their land for rewilding and I am sure there are many more like them. If you think you are one of them, do drop me a line at info@rewildyourland.ie

Pádraic