Why Rewilding and Reintroduction matter in the UK

Here's a response to some of articles highlighting the environmental benefits and importance of rewilding in the UK:

The Guardian: Rewild a quarter of UK to fight climate crisis, campaigners urge

I was interested to find out how rewilding areas could be used to combat climate change and reduce carbon emissions.

It appears the general idea that re purposing areas of land used for hunting or areas of farmland that don't provide vast benefits could promote the recovery of flora and fauna that could absorb carbon emissions, whilst reducing the carbon footprint of British farmland. A good example of this is Knepp Estate in Sussex.

However, this has been criticised by the British farming community who have their own targets to reduce the carbon footprint of British farmland ad believe that rewilding areas of and will force food producers to look at cheaper options in other countries which do not share the same concerns on climate change.

BBC: How Shropshire ideas may help the angry rewilding debate

This was an interesting article that looked at the rewilding debate holistically and used Shropshire as an example of a happy middle ground in the debate that benefits both sides.

The article discussed the idea of 'green corridors' rather than whole swathes of land being left to rewild making smaller changes to benefit and promote the wildlife already there, especially when it comes to animals such as pine martens which are on the brink of extinction.

BBC: More than a quarter of UK mammals face extinction

Perhaps the most alarming of the three, this article highlights just how rapid the decline of British wildlife is and how many animals are on the brink of extinction.

The fact that 26% of British mammals are dangerously close to extinction shows a great need for restoring wildlife and promoting safe areas for nature to recover.

However, I am curious to discover whether efforts to reintroduce species such as wolves, beavers and bears should be prioritised over promoting the recovery of species such as pine martens which are near extinction and have a large benefit on their environment, for example their ability to control grey squirrel populations which will in turn promote red squirrel populations which are generally too cunning for pine martens to hunt.

Cornwall Beaver Project Filming Reflection

Here is a reflection on my time spent in at Woodland Valley Farm in Ladock, Cornwall, interviewing Chris Jones, a farmer who had introduced beavers to his farm land

I went down to Woodland Valley Farm to interview Chris and film the beavers using camera traps which had been provided to me by, Craig Williams, a friend of mine who studies wildlife photography at Falmouth University and helped me to film, and also has a keen interest in rewilding.

I wanted to find out about the beaver project, what it is about them that Chris was so passionate about, the benefits they bring to farmland and what his motivations were for the project; a love for the animal? to help the farmland? or, perhaps financial gain?

Here is a selection of behind the scenes shots from the filming set up:

Here is a video diary of my thoughts on my weekend in Cornwalll: