Below is the link to a seventeen minute, entertaining and captivating talk by ecologist George Monbiot on the concept of rewilding — using examples from Yellowstone, the oceans, and Europe and painting a vision of what might be possible for the planet.
George Monbiot is a visionary and can perhaps be forgiven for being a little foggy on the details. Some of his suggestions – like putting elephants where they don’t belong – are profoundly mistaken, but the overall concept and the brilliance and optimism with which he presents it are an intriguing vision.
The good part about what he says is that it works best when human beings stop – that is simply stop what they are doing to nature. One example he gives is the retreat of farming from parts of Europe, allowing nature to resurrect itself when it is left alone. The parts where humans are doing something, like moving animals around, sound a lot less like a good idea.
Overall, it is a fascinating view of a future that is perhaps possible. In the war between the earth and human “progress,” might the earth win in the end?
Thanks to Pamela Gale Malhotra of SAI Sanctuary for letting us know about this. Website: www.saisanctuary.com
Photo: Mike Cline/Wikimedia Commons / “I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain.” / “Lamar Valley Wolf, Yellowstone National Park, August 14, 2011.”