Crisis talks: old wisdom meets new energy

Two eye-witness accounts of November’s ECOS/UCL mini-conference To mark our 40th anniversary, ECOS joined forces with University College London’s Conservation Society, for a mini-conference in November 2019 at the birthplace of ECOS.  The conference posed the very wide question ‘How do we address the environmental crisis?’, and brought together six [...]

Alison Parfitt – a brief tribute

Alison Parfitt sadly passed away on 17th December 2019. Those of us who were lucky enough to know her and call her friend will appreciate just how huge a loss this is.  Alison was a keen and active supporter of ECOS over the years and worked closely with the BANC team, as a [...]

ECOS 40(6): Editorial: Rewilding – connections and perceptions

Rewilding has been in the news a lot recently, from further releases of beaver (albeit mainly in enclosed pens) through to politicians vying for theirs to be the party promising the greatest number of trees planted to tackle climate change. Rewilding has even featured on The Archers, indicating that it [...]

ECOS 40(6): Living with the wild: cores, connectivity and co-existence

As a geographer I am fascinated by issues of spatial scale and what that means for the patterns we see in our landscapes. What we see depends very much on the lens and filters through which we look at the world – whether that’s through a microscope or from a [...]

ECOS 40(6): Movement ecology and rewilding

The level of hyperbole in the promotion of a Dutch concept of nature conservation, and its confusion with rewilding, risks reducing the meaning of rewilding to a thoughtless, simplistic equation. Rewilding is a global issue and must not be put into confusion by those who seek to shift its meaning. [...]

ECOS 40(6): Principles of rewilding – from the heart

This article discusses the challenge of maintaining a social movement for rewilding in the face of the preoccupation with academic definitions, conservation’s corporate interest, and the fomentation of conflict by the media. In the last few years, rewilding has entered new and rather tricky territory. New players have moved into [...]

ECOS 40(6): The beaver’s tale

Ambushing the return of beavers The beaver’s advocates and foes include occupants of leather benches of the highest authority in the land. Though protagonists such as the former Environment Secretary Michael Gove have influenced their prospects positively, other more devious characters, without stepping into the limelight, have acted in a [...]

ECOS 40(6): Rewilding from an ocean away

A North American’s perspective on European rewilding I must admit, I look with envy at European rewilding groups. Though the term ‘rewilding’ was coined by legendary North American wilderness leader Dave Foreman, and though the United States and Canada have some of the most visionary and effective conservation and restoration [...]

ECOS 40(6): The golden rules of rewilding – examining the case of Oostvaardersplassen

Helen Kopina, Simon Leadbeater, Paul Cryer This article adds to the “golden rules” of rewilding (the 3 Cs), that of Cores, Carnivores, and Corridors, a fourth C – Compassion – which would ensure that any (re)introduction must be in the interests of the individual animals involved. Using the history of [...]

ECOS 40(6): Return of the wolf in Northwestern Europe – A case of spontaneous rewilding

There are few cases of the striking return of a species once eradicated, particularly a large mammalian carnivore, like that of the wolf in the cultural landscapes of Northwestern Europe. This article gives an account of that come-back, as well as on-the-ground insight into the settling of the wolf in [...]

ECOS 40(6): Book Review: Rewilding

REWILDING: ECOS writing on wildland and conservation values Peter Taylor (Ed) ECOS/BANC, 2011, 494 pages Hbk  £25  ISBN 13 978-0954706425 Review by Andrew Irving Rewilding is a word that inspires an array of reactions from individuals and groups with all manner of interests. Even some people who seldom step foot [...]

ECOS 40(6): Book Review: Scotland – A Rewilding Journey

SCOTLAND – A Rewilding Journey Susan Wright, Peter Cairns & Nick Underdown (plus contributor essays) Wild Media Foundation, 216 pages Hbk  £25  ISBN 13 978-0-9568423-3-6 Review by Clarissa Richards Scotland – A Rewilding Journey takes the reader on an expedition from the top of the mountains, through the glens and [...]