The Many Meanings of Rewilding: An Introduction and the Case for a Broad Conceptualisation

Abstract

In this paper, I (1) offer a general introduction of rewilding and (2) situate the concept in environmental philosophy. In the first part of the paper, I work from definitions and typologies of rewilding that have been put forth in the academic literature. To these, I add secondary notions of rewilding from outside the scientific literature that are pertinent to the meanings and motivations of rewilding beyond its use in a scientific context. I defend the continued use of rewilding as a single term, despite its seemingly disparate usages, and I advance a clustered concept of eight overlapping characteristics as a way to conceptualise these. I argue that this breadth helps in understanding the wider interest in rewilding as an emerging environmental phenomenon. In the paper's second part, I turn to three key issues in environmental philosophy in order to connect rewilding with the historic themes of: (1) the exclusion of humans from wild or wilderness places, (2) the ontological purity of wilderness areas through their non-human origins and history, and (3) cultural landscapes and notions of place. I suggest that rewilding carries on some of the main themes of the wilderness debate, but considering rewilding broadly allows tensions and novel questions to manifest that are important to how rewilding should be discussed and understood going forward.

Guiding principles for rewilding

“…Mostly an ecocentric world view, recognizing the need to reduce human dominance and control over nature or the landscape Re-engaging society with nature, reexamining or renegotiating human relationship with ecology, encouraging a shift from anthropocentrism to ecocentrism and coexistence with other species Brown et al, 2011;Deary & Warren, 2017;Fisher & Parfitt, 2016;Gammon, 2018;Murray, 2017;Robbins & Moore, 2013;Soulé, 1999 Based on ecological science Emphasizing the need to incorporate ecological dynamics into managing and restoring functioning ecosystems Brown et al, 2011;Foreman, 1998;Pringle, 2017;Soulé & Noss, 1998 Large-scale and long-term; ecological completeness in terms of trophic and community ecology, including keystone species A focus on landscape-or continental-scales and long-term management plans beyond the time limitations of seasonal, management, or political cycles. Smaller scale efforts building on rewilding principles are also possible and valuable, e.g., in urban settings, despite inevitable limitations.…”

The Reintroduction of Beavers to Scotland: Rewilding, Biopolitics, and the Affordance of Non-human Autonomy

“…An early definition was subsequently provided by Michael Soulé and Reed Noss, two conservation biologists involved in the Wildlands Project, as: 'the scientific argument for restoring big wilderness based on the regulatory roles of large predators' (Soulé and Noss 1998: 22). Since the paper was published, there has been a rapid proliferation of conceptualisations and definitions of rewilding over its relatively short lifespan (for commentary on this proliferation, see for example Gammon 2018;Jørgensen 2015;and Pettorelli et al 2018), many of which do not posit either 'big wilderness' or the return of 'large predators' as objectives for rewilding. Indeed, the restoration of non-apex species, the 'de-domestication' of ungulates, and the removal of barriers within landscapes that prevent the movement of wild species, such as dams and fences, are all now considered to be components of rewilding practice.…”

“…Rewilding is a distinctive form of ecological restoration that has emerged quite publicly within environmental policy and conservation advocacy circles. While there have been some recent discussions about rewilding from a theoretical perspective within the social sciences and humanities (for example Gammon 2018;Jørgensen 2015;Prior and Ward 2016;Lorimer and Driessen 2014;Lorimer and Driessen 2016), analyses of rewilding underpinned by empirical research within this body of literature are relatively slight (for notable exceptions see for example Prior and Brady 2017;Crowley et al 2017;Lorimer and Driessen 2013;Wynne-Jones et al 2018). One of the fundamental tenets of rewilding is a focus on non-human autonomy, yet empirical examples which examine non-human autonomy within rewilding practice are lacking (see DeSilvey and Bartolini 2019 for an exception).…”

Multispecies Cohabitation and Future Design

“…Rewilding is a deliberately future-oriented activity (Gammon, 2017), with nonhuman autonomy at the core (Prior & Ward, 2016). Such autonomy presupposes open outcomes that can appear detrimental to humans and nonhumans alike.…”