In Rambunctious Garden, Emma Marris spends some time talking about the concept of rewilding. People who believe in rewilding, adhere to the belief that a truly real and “positive” version of nature is one that was present well before humans took a stranglehold on the earth’s resources. This means that ecosystems should be restored to the state they were in over 10,000 years ago. An example of an environment these “rewildists” are looking to “restore” is the Great Plains are of the United States. They hope to reintroduce species that are similar to those living there in the pre-human era. For the most part, the focus is on major carnivores and those at the top of the food chain. A major conviction in rewildists is that top predators are what keep the food chain and the ecosystem as a whole balanced. Their hunting keeps all other populations in the environment in check and at healthy numbers. This means that in a future with rewilding, there may be lions and cheetahs roaming the American Great Plains.
In my opinion, I do not think rewilding is such a beneficial thing to do. There are various problems that surround the issue as well as some counterintuitive ideas. Firstly, this whole process would be extremely costly. Animals from other continents would have to be shipped over to the United States and then secured in fenced off areas. These areas would have to be monitored by peopled hired to do that. If the process had any real payoff I would see no problem in spending the money but I do not think the pros outweigh the cons. I do not see how such a human controlled environment can be seen as truly “wild”. Conservationists who hold true to rewilding are basically saying that they can build a form of nature that is more wild and untouched than nature can itself. I feel that the methods of rewilding are counterintuitive to the goals they are setting. By bringing in animals from around the world, you are influencing the environment stronger than any passive human action could. “Building” an ecosystem is equivalent to building a mall in my book. The ecosystem wouldn’t be a naturally occurring phenomenon but a man-made wonder that is supposed to look untouched and ancient.
I do not adhere to the belief that true nature must be pristine and virgin to be worthwhile. I like to think that every living organism from a bush deep in a forest to a tree on a busy city street is a part of the global spectrum of nature and thus should be respected. By focusing on these smaller plots of undeveloped land, we in a sense forget the organisms who do not live in these areas and have to deal with human interaction all the time. I just think that we as a species should accept the fact that nature has had to adapt to our development. We shouldn’t think of ways to “restore” nature to a prehuman state but rather find ways to keep what nature we have now alive and well.
