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
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Page xv
... are all my own work. I have changed the names of some of the places in mid- Wales in order to protect the wildlife I discuss from commercial exploitation. Acknowledgements If you find yourself in the area and ask xv Acknowledgements.
... are all my own work. I have changed the names of some of the places in mid- Wales in order to protect the wildlife I discuss from commercial exploitation. Acknowledgements If you find yourself in the area and ask xv Acknowledgements.
Page xx
... places your complex and fascinating ecosystems are being reduced to near-deserts of the kind with which we are familiar in Europe. In the United Kingdom we have all but forgotten what we once had, and see our bare hills and empty niches ...
... places your complex and fascinating ecosystems are being reduced to near-deserts of the kind with which we are familiar in Europe. In the United Kingdom we have all but forgotten what we once had, and see our bare hills and empty niches ...
Page xxi
... place, which we can keep in mind even as we seek to prevent our govern- ments from engineering a worse one. My proposals are not in any sense a final answer, and they are likely to be developed in different ways in different places, but ...
... place, which we can keep in mind even as we seek to prevent our govern- ments from engineering a worse one. My proposals are not in any sense a final answer, and they are likely to be developed in different ways in different places, but ...
Page 9
... places in which they live. In some cases they have changed not only the ecosys- tem but also the nature of the soil, the behaviour of rivers, the chemistry of the oceans and even the composition of the atmosphere. These findings suggest ...
... places in which they live. In some cases they have changed not only the ecosys- tem but also the nature of the soil, the behaviour of rivers, the chemistry of the oceans and even the composition of the atmosphere. These findings suggest ...
Page 11
... place on productive land. It is better deployed in the places – especially in the uplands – in which production is so low that farming continues only as a result of the taxpayer's generosity. As essential ser- vices all over Europe (and ...
... place on productive land. It is better deployed in the places – especially in the uplands – in which production is so low that farming continues only as a result of the taxpayer's generosity. As essential ser- vices all over Europe (and ...
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 |
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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 Glaslyn Glen Affric 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 protect red grouse reintroduction rewilding Ritchie river rocks salmon Scotland seen sheep Slovenia soil species square kilometres subsidies suggests survive told trees trophic cascades uplands valley Wales walked waves Welsh whales Wildlife Trust wind wolf wolves woodland woods Yalden Zimov