In chapters three and four of Rambunctious Garden, Marris introduces the concept of “rewilding.” Rewilding aims to restore ecosystems to a point before human interaction by introducing large predators similar to ones that once dominated the environment. Though rewilding may be a good idea, it does however have numerous faults and risks.
The main goal of rewilding is to restore ecosystems to their once fruitful existence by promoting the protection of species and biodiversity. It has been know that for the last few hundred years, humans have had a great negative effect on the environment. In the process, countless species have gone extinct. In order to restore some order and attempt to reverse the damages done to the environment, governments have implemented laws and programs and conservationists all over the world have been practicing their own methods.
Rewilding is one of the methods aimed at restoring an ecosystem to its pervious state. “Rewilding” is a term coined by Dave Forman and it proposes that, “the main factors necessary to keep ecosystems resilient and diverse are the regulation provided by large, top-of-the-food-chain predators; the room for these predators to do their work; and connections between predator ranges so they can meet, mate, and maintain a healthily diverse gene pool.” Essentially due to the fact that a number of the larger species have died off, there are now few predators to control the population of the middle-sized species, which results in the middle-sized species feasting on the smaller-sized and eventually eliminating in such a manor. Thus, by introducing larger sized predators into ecosystems, the population sizes of the other species can be controlled and all will be well.
One of the prevalent problems with rewilding is that after humans were introduced into the ecosystems thousands of years ago, we were essentially just another species. Ecosystems, since then, have evolved to adapt to us and so they will continue now. I believe that we are essentially no different from the lion or the shark, which dominate over their environments. Wildlife and sea life have adapted to them, so our environments are most likely adapting to us.
Though “rewilding” seems like a great idea and one that is destined to work, I believe there has to be some more studies and research before going forward and taking action. One must really understand what is actually a similar species and be aware of the negative consequences of taking such great risks.
