An Australian perspective on rewilding

Abstract

Rewilding is increasingly recognized as a conservation tool but is often context specific, which inhibits broad application. Rewilding in Australia seeks to enhance ecosystem function and promote self‐sustaining ecosystems. An absence of large‐bodied native herbivores means trophic rewilding in mainland Australia has focused on the restoration of functions provided by apex predators and small mammals. Because of the pervasive influence of introduced mesopredators, predator‐proof fences, and establishment of populations on predator‐free islands are common rewilding approaches. This sets Australian rewilding apart from most jurisdictions and provides globally relevant insights but presents challenges to restoring function to broader landscapes. Passive rewilding is of limited utility in arid zones. Although increasing habitat extent and quality in mesic coastal areas may work, it will likely be necessary to undertake active management. Because much of Australia's population is in urban areas, rewilding efforts must include urban areas to maximize effectiveness. Thus rewilding is not synonymous with wilderness and can occur over multiple scales. Rewilding efforts must recognize human effects on other species and benefit both nature and humans. Rewilding in Australia requires development of a shared vision and strategy and proof‐of‐concept projects to demonstrate the benefits. The repackaging of existing conservation activities as rewilding may confuse and undermine the success of rewilding programs and should be avoided. As elsewhere, rewilding in Australia should be viewed as an important conservation tool.

Dominant carnivore loss benefits native avian and invasive mammalian scavengers

“…Further research is required to see how this may impact the transmission of carrion-borne diseases and scavenging by invertebrates. In this mensurative experiment, we demonstrate that the absence of top mammalian scavengers results in the loss of essential ecosystem functions, providing support for novel management approaches, such as trophic rewilding [56-58]. Overall, our findings further highlight and clarify the integral role native mammalian scavengers perform within an ecosystem, demonstrating the ecological significance of global mammalian carnivore conservation.…”

Mitigation translocation as a management tool

“…Translocation is very much a conservation tool of the Anthropocene (Corlett 2015), encompassing everything from mitigation translocations and reintroductions to assisted colonisation (Lunt et al 2013) and rewilding (Jørgensen 2015;Sweeney et al 2019). With bold aspirations comes substantial capacity for unintended consequences for both ecology (May & Spears 2011;Abbott & Haynie 2012;Colman et al 2014) and evolution (Laikre et al 2010).…”

“…2013) and rewilding (Jørgensen 2015; Sweeney et al. 2019). With bold aspirations comes substantial capacity for unintended consequences for both ecology (May & Spears 2011; Abbott & Haynie 2012; Colman et al.…”

Tourism and rewilding: an introduction – definition, issues and review

“…However, while the general relationship between wild areas and tourism and recreation opportunities is well noted (Cerqueira et al, 2015;Saarinen, 2016Saarinen, , 2019Saeþórsdóttir & Hall, 2019), there is a surprising lack of specific studies of rewilding and tourism. In addition, urban rewilding provides a number of significant urban ecosystem services including urban biodiversity conservation (Lawton, 2019;Sweeney et al, 2019); ground water recharge and improvements in water, air and soil qualities; and economic and aesthetic services such as greenspace (Anderson & Minor, 2017), health benefits (Mills et al, 2017) and informal recreation (Hall, 2013;Kaae et al, 2019;Nejman, Łepkowski, Wilczyńska, & Gawryszewska, 2018;Rupprecht, Byrne, Garden, & Hero, 2015;Rupprecht, Byrne, Ueda, & Lo, 2015).…”