Environmentalist and journalist, George Mobiot, makes a passionate new plea for the controversial idea of rewilding parts of Europe in his new book Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the Frontiers of Rewilding. Rewildling—a relatively recent idea—entails bringing back some of the animals (especially large ones) lost in parts of the world in order to restore ecosystems and, in Mobiot’s view, retrieve a deeper connection between humans and the wild again.
The idea of rewildling takes on many forms. Usually it argues for bringing back animals that have only recently been lost, but some proponents go so far as to suggest rewildling ecosystems with species that have been absent since the Pleistocene extinction some 10,000 years ago (which were likely pushed to extinction at least in part due to humans), for example elephants in North America and lions in Britain.
In a video below by 5×15, Monbiot introduces the idea of rewilding and what it could mean for his native Britain.
George Monbiot @ 5×15 from 5×15 on Vimeo.