Feral: Rewilding the Land, the Sea, and Human LifeAn optimistic approach to environmentalism that focuses on the wonders of rewilding, not just the terrifying consequences of climate change. To be an environmentalist early in the twenty-first century is always to be defending science and acknowledging the hurdles we face in our efforts to protect wild places and fight climate change. But let’s be honest: hedging has never inspired anyone. So what if we stopped hedging? What if we grounded our efforts to solve environmental problems in hope instead, and let nature make our case for us? That’s what George Monbiot does in Feral, a lyrical, unabashedly romantic vision of how, by inviting nature back into our lives, we can simultaneously cure our “ecological boredom” and begin repairing centuries of environmental damage. Monbiot takes readers on an enchanting journey around the world to explore ecosystems that have been “rewilded”: freed from human intervention and allowed—in some cases for the first time in millennia—to resume their natural ecological processes. We share his awe as he kayaks among dolphins and seabirds off the coast of Wales and wanders the forests of Eastern Europe, where lynx and wolf packs are reclaiming their ancient hunting grounds. Through his eyes, we see environmental success—and begin to envision a future world where humans and nature are no longer in conflict, but are part of a single, healing world. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 86
Page xiii
... European lovers of nature gaze longingly at the Wilder- ness Act, that has so far protected 110 million acres of land from sig- nificant human impacts. They also recoil from the ways in which some people still engage with protected ...
... European lovers of nature gaze longingly at the Wilder- ness Act, that has so far protected 110 million acres of land from sig- nificant human impacts. They also recoil from the ways in which some people still engage with protected ...
Page xx
... Europe. In the United Kingdom we have all but forgotten what we once had, and see our bare hills and empty niches as natural. Some of us find ourselves afflicted by an illdefined longing, which I have come to understand as ecological ...
... Europe. In the United Kingdom we have all but forgotten what we once had, and see our bare hills and empty niches as natural. Some of us find ourselves afflicted by an illdefined longing, which I have come to understand as ecological ...
Page 9
... European trees and shrubs have evolved to resist attacks by elephants. The straight-tusked elephant, related to the species that still lives in Asia today, persisted in Europe until around 40,000 years ago,6 a mere tick of evolution's ...
... European trees and shrubs have evolved to resist attacks by elephants. The straight-tusked elephant, related to the species that still lives in Asia today, persisted in Europe until around 40,000 years ago,6 a mere tick of evolution's ...
Page 10
... Europe, as profuse and captivating as those that people now travel halfway around the world to see. One of my hopes is that it makes magnificent wildlife accessible to everyone. I mentioned that there are two definitions of rewilding ...
... Europe, as profuse and captivating as those that people now travel halfway around the world to see. One of my hopes is that it makes magnificent wildlife accessible to everyone. I mentioned that there are two definitions of rewilding ...
Page 18
... European Commission. I checked this story and soon dis- covered that the Environment Agency has no jurisdiction at sea, that vacuum tubes are used not for fishing but for sucking the catch out of the nets, that there is no such fishmeal ...
... European Commission. I checked this story and soon dis- covered that the Environment Agency has no jurisdiction at sea, that vacuum tubes are used not for fishing but for sucking the catch out of the nets, that there is no such fishmeal ...
Contents
| 1 | |
| 14 | |
Chapter 3 Foreshadowings | 23 |
Chapter 4 Elopement | 40 |
Chapter 5 The Neverspotted Leopard | 49 |
Chapter 6 Greening the Desert | 62 |
Chapter 7 Bring Back the Wolf | 90 |
Chapter 8 A Work of Hope | 121 |
Chapter 10 The Hushings | 167 |
Chapter 11 The Beast Within Or How Not to Rewild | 186 |
Chapter 12 The Conservation Prison | 209 |
Chapter 13 Rewilding the Sea | 228 |
Chapter 14 The Gifts of the Sea | 258 |
Chapter 15 Last Light | 267 |
Notes | 269 |
Index | 303 |
Other editions - View all
Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the Frontiers of Rewilding George Monbiot No preview available - 2013 |
Common terms and phrases
Alan America animals appears areas aurochs beach Beast beavers began big cats birch birds boat breeding Britain British Caledonian Forest Cambrian Mountains Cardigan Bay cattle cent century coast conservation creatures Dafydd deer ecological ecosystem elephants environmental estuary Eurasian lynx Europe European extinction farmers farming feet Feral fish Fisheries forest Forestry Forestry Commission George Monbiot grass grasslands grazing ground grouse habitats heather hills human hunting Ibid kayak killed land landscape lion live looked lynx Mammals Mesolithic miles Mountains National Ecosystem Assessment native natural world North numbers once paddle Park perhaps pine places plankton plants population predators prey protect red grouse reintroduction rewilding Ritchie river rocks salmon Scotland seen sheep shore Slovenia soil species square kilometres straight-tusked elephant subsidies suggests survive told trees trophic cascades uplands valley Wales walked waves Welsh whales Wildlife Trust wind wolf wolves woodland woods Yalden Zimov