“To restore stability to our planet, we must restore its biodiversity, the very thing that we’ve removed. It’s the only way out of this crisis we’ve created – we must rewild the world.’ – Sir David Attenborough
What if there was a magic bullet that could solve the debilitating climate and biodiversity crises of our time? A dynamic conservation solution that only asked of us to do the bare minimum enough to set off a regeneration and rewilding cascade in nature whose outcome will restore carbon absorbing sinks, regulate climate, buffer us from storms and floods, replenish groundwater sources, mitigate emergence of newer infectious zoonotic diseases, revive plant and animal populations and so much more? The good news is that there is one such solution. And that is REWILDING nature.
What is Rewilding?
Imagine the human body, a self-regulating system whose tissues and organs must run in meticulous harmony to stay alive and function. Interference or disruption of any kind in the workings of even a single organ or a gene can cause the body to fall sick, or even die. Same goes for a natural ecosystem such as a forest or the sea. Its ecological health is maintained by the health of the various species of plants and animals in their natural habitats. The delicate interconnectedness and interlinkages of the various units – from predators and prey to seed dispersers and pollinators, to decomposers, scavengers to organic detritus, soil, river, and mountains – make up the intricate fabric of any ecosystem. But, actions of humans have caused ecosystems the world over to crumble into disharmony and chaos and as a result torn down the wall of our own defences against the devastating cascading effects of failing ecosystems.
But, fortunately, we can still rely on the resilience of nature and her legendary regenerative powers by allowing wildlife to reclaim large portions of land and water through large scale rewilding efforts.
Rewilding essentially involves two main strategies – restoration through a passive approach that involves allowing degraded lands to regenerate by keeping anthropogenic influences away, and allowing nature to revive on its own with minimal human intervention.
The second one demands an active involvement though reintroduction of lost or dwindling species of plants or animals into its natural environment to restore species populations and ecological balance. Generally, large or apex predators, large herbivores and/or keystone species are reintroduced. In these scenarios, conservationists take into consideration the food chain of the ecosystem in question, and generally the species higher up on the food chain like an apex predator (e.g. tiger) and even large herbivores (e.g. elephant) are preferred for rewilding. Their presence regulates the behaviour and populations of species lower down on the respective food chains, thereby intricately regulating their impact on vegetation, soil, water flow, and so on. This ‘top down’ ecological series of interactions is called trophic cascade and the approach is termed as ‘trophic rewilding’. Here too, post reintroduction, nature is allowed to take its course with little or no human intervention.
The most famous example of one such successful rewilding effort was the reintroduction of wolves in the Yellowstone National Park in 1995, about 70 years after they disappeared from the park. It is said “the wolves changed the behaviour of the rivers”. How? When the apex predators, the wolves, came, populations of deer and other herbivores were brought under check, vegetation in overgrazed parts of the park due to excessive numbers of herbivores revived, grass and trees got a firmer grip on the soil reducing erosion. Thus, banks of rivers stabilised, birds returned amidst the growing number of trees, number of river-dependent animals such as beavers rose, fish and amphibians revived, populations of smaller mammals improved as the coyote population was regulated by the wolves… The wolves physically transformed the ecology and geography of the region. Interconnectedness within the ecosystem thus, became crystal clear.
The Three C’s
The broad C’s of rewilding – Cores, Corridors and Carnivores – largely encapsulate the conservation rationale behind most large scale rewilding endeavours whose grander aim is to increase biodiversity, reverse extinction trends in several species, and revive ecological machinery to mitigate climate change. This includes identifying and demarcating a large core (inviolate of humans) region in need of ecological restoration and allowing regeneration of degraded and imbalanced ecosystems. For smooth movement of animals such as wide ranging large carnivores and genetic flow between animal populations, ensuring healthy connectivity between such core areas and other wilderness areas is crucial. Wildlife corridors connecting two or more cores need to be restored with the help of local communities, preserved, and protected. Carnivores represent the apex predators within ecosystems whose presence and reintroduction within a landscape enables ecosystem revival.
Natural ecosystems by nature are self-regulating and self-sustaining. But, impact of human actions have rendered large swathes of natural habitats dilapidated, destroyed and wounded. Wildlife populations the world over have witnessed a staggering 60% or more decline in just the last 40-50 years. We have essentially fractured the carbon absorbing sinks such as oceans and forests, and are now reeling under the impact of man-made climate change further compounded by continued and relentless carbon emissions. Only restoration of such ecosystems on the land and in the seas will keep all dominoes from falling, and ecosystem functions from collapsing.
While one may argue about the practical feasibility of rewilding under climate change and see no hope in such efforts, scientific studies such as that by Jarvik and Svenning (2018) prove that rewilding effort even in the present scenario of changing climate is full of potential and there is still time to turn things around, partially, if not fully. Though daunting, there is still chance for us to keep the global temperature rise to below 1.5 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels. But, the window is closing fast.
At such a time, the commendable efforts by organisations such as the WILD Foundation and Global Wildlife Conservation whose Global Rewilding Alliance initiative is striving to build a newer and stronger vision for the planet, the one of “a world where restored wild lands and seas provide a secure future for people, nature and the planet.” The Global Rewildling Alliance is galvanising support from its growing network of members expounding the rewilding approach to conservation. The Alliance even announced March 20 as World Rewilding Day and celebrated its first chapter this year in a bid to raise awareness about the importance of rewilding.
The Wildlife Conservation Trust is proud to be part of this expanding Global Rewilding Alliance network and espouses meaningful and scientific rewilding conservation interventions.
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About the author: Purva Variyar is a conservationist, science communicator and conservation writer. She works with the Wildlife Conservation Trust and has previously worked with Sanctuary Nature Foundation and The Gerry Martin Project.
Disclaimer: The author is associated with Wildlife Conservation Trust. The views and opinions expressed in the article are her own and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Wildlife Conservation Trust.
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