The Rewilding Movement
Rewilding restores ecological processes without returning landscapes to a simple pre-human state.
The Mechanism: Rewilding supports ecological processes such as habitat connectivity, species recovery, or natural disturbance. Approaches vary by region and can include active restoration, protection, and community-led stewardship.
The Philosophical Pivot: The phrase returning land to a pre-human state can erase Indigenous presence and the long history of human care for landscapes. Nature and culture are not always separate domains.
The Horizon: Rewilding may support biodiversity and climate resilience, but decisions about land use affect farmers, residents, and Indigenous communities. Conservation is more durable when local people have authority and benefit.
Restoration does not mean recreating an exact past; ecosystems change, and historical baselines are contested. The goal should be ecological health rather than an idealized image of untouched nature.
A landscape is not restored ethically if the people who belong to it are removed from the decision.
The idea of wilderness can protect nature while erasing the people who have cared for it.
Whose knowledge and history should shape what I call a natural landscape?