Rewilding: The Radical New Science of Ecological Recovery

by Cain Blythe, Paul Jepson

Overview

'A hugely useful and fascinating resume of rewilding - what it means, where it came from, why it's important and where it's going. Jepson and Blythe have done a masterly job, explaining the science behind rewilding in an accessible, honest and compelling way. It deserves to be widely read and become a book of great influence.' Isabella Tree, author of Wilding

'Compelling ... [a] succinct and objective account' Financial Times

Rewilding is the first popular book on the ground-breaking science behind the restoration of wild nature.

As ecologists Paul Jepson and Cain Blythe show, rewilding is a new and progressive approach to conservation, blending radical scientific insights with practical innovations to revive ecological processes, benefiting people as well as nature. Its goal is to restore lost interactions between animals, plants and natural disturbance that are the essence of thriving ecosystems.

With its sense of hope and purpose, rewilding is breathing new life into the conservation movement, and enabling a growing number of people - even urban-dwellers - to enjoy thrilling wildlife experiences previously accessible only in remote wilderness reserves. 'De-domesticated' horses galloping across a Dutch 'Serengeti'; beavers creating wetlands in the British countryside; giant tortoises restoring the wildlife of the Mauritian islands; perhaps one day even rhinos roaming the Australian outback - rewilding is full of exciting and inspirational possibilities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781785786273
Publisher:	Amberley Publishing
Publication date:	07/23/2020
Series:	Hot Science
Pages:	176
Sales rank:	405,969
Product dimensions:	5.08(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.55(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Paul Jepson was until recently a director of Oxford University's MSc course in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management, and is a regular contributor to TV and radio.

Cain Blythe specialises in habitat restoration, nature recovery and the use of technology in conservation.

Table of Contents

1 New horizons 1

2 Megafauna pasts 11

3 Downgrading our planet 26

4 Rewilding's practical origins 47

5 Wild nature - cascades, spaces, networks and engineers 70

6 Earth system impacts 86

7 Rewilding politics and ethics 103

8 Scaling up rewilding 124

9 Rewilding - ten predictions for the future 147

Further reading 171

Index 177

Editorial Reviews

05/25/2020

Ecology consultants Jepson and Blythe provide an overview of the new conservation philosophy of rewilding in this straightforward and useful volume. The authors offer a brief history of the term, tracing it back to the mid-1990s, and explain the concept as one of “restoring degraded lands into thriving new natural assets” by reintroducing animal species and tapping into their ability to reshape ecosystems. To illustrate, the authors look at the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park in 1995; the animals’ numbers rose from 66 in 1995, to over 300 by 2005. As another success story, the authors cite married couple Isabella Tree and Charles Burrell’s repurposing of his ancestral 3,500-acre estate in West Sussex, England, from farmland into a nature preserve, by knocking down fences and allowing livestock to roam wild. Jepson and Blythe look ahead, as well, concluding with 10 predictions, including that rewilding will further “move into the cultural and policy mainstream” thanks to media exposure (such as provided by Tree’s 2018 bestseller, Wilding) and that urban rewilding efforts will expand as well. In offering hope rather than pessimism for humanity’s care of the environment, Jepsen and Blythe’s well-explained primer will strike a chord with conservation-minded readers. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

'Straightforward and useful ... In offering hope rather than pessimism for humanity’s care of the environment, Jepson and Blythe’s well-explained primer will strike a chord with conservation-minded readers' Publishers Weekly

'[C]onservation professionals and non-specialists with a keen interest in conservation biology should find this book to be a thought-provoking read.' Library Journal

From the Publisher

08/01/2020

Rewilding is a trendy but controversial conservation philosophy that can mean different things in different ecological contexts, from re-wolving the ecosystem of Yellowstone National Park to letting cheetahs chase pronghorns in the Southwest United States. For rewilding consultants Jepson and Blythe, it represents the beginning of a paradigm shift in conservation science and practice, particularly its emphasis on megafauna and grasslands. Beginning with a discussion of the scientific theories and principles underpinning rewilding, the authors examine how it differs from other approaches to conservation as well as the difficulties in getting various stakeholders—such as the media and the public—to accept rewilding's more radical conservation agendas. While some critics see rewilding as a repackaging of established conservation ideas, the authors hope that rewilding science can help solve some of the biggest challenges facing the planet, including climate change. VERDICT Jepson and Blythe reiterate and repeat arguments in an attempt to put a positive spin on rewilding and the debate surrounding it, but conservation professionals and non-specialists with a keen interest in conservation biology should find this book to be a thought-provoking read.—Cynthia Lee Knight, formerly with Hunterdon Cty. Lib., Flemington, NJ

Library Journal