Rewilding Is Life-Changing — It Saves Multiple Species
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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2020 TIMES EVOKE NEW DELHI ‘Rewilding is life-changing — it saves multiple species and creates sustainable economies’ avid Attenborough’s new documentary teaches ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton University. Closely involved ‘A Life On Our Planet’ is an extraordi- Robert Pringle A DREAM REALISED Dnary ‘witness statement’, where the in successful rewilding projects in Costa Rica and Mozambique, the biodiversity expert shares his From impalas to waterbuck, wildlife iconic naturalist describes both paradise lost numbers in Gorongosa National — and inspiration gained. Attenborough, who insights with Times Evoke on how these projects worked — and what they’ve brought back: Park have risen with rewilding has spent 70 years covering Earth’s species, traces nature’s story from the Holocene, 10,000 ewilding is important for the be if people cannot realise the benefits. 3 years ago, when all its living beings shared a future of humanity. And we One universal benefit is the opportunity veritable Garden of Eden. Nature, Attenbor- now need to decide what the to experience the place. Therefore, in Mo- 2 ough emphasises, means harmony, its diverse R quality of this future will be. zambique and Costa Rica, a major empha- beings composing ecosystems where each Will it be vibrant, invigorating and sis is on educational field trips for chil- 1 species contributes vital services. These in- healthy? Or will it be dreary and digital, dren, who will grow up to be the custodi- Animals/sq km Animals/sq clude dispersing seeds which become crops, sitting in our basements, vilifying each ans of protected areas. Another common- IMPALA rejuvenating trees which produce clean air, other over social media? In my experi- ality is the recognition that a wild pro- 0 bulwarking coasts against floods, oceans ab- ence, most people want the first option. tected area needs to be big and well-con- sorbing excess heat. In such ecosystems, even I’ve seen people from every culture enjoy nected to survive — thus, both projects 1993 1999 2005 2011 2017 the tiniest phytoplankton produces oxygen to the opportunity to be focus not just on rehabilitating ecosys- breathe. The natural world consists, Atten- in wild places — I’ve tems, but also growing the protected area. 30 borough says, of ‘interlocked lives which never met anybody Rewilding and economic development sustain each other — humans rely entirely who didn’t get a thrill can go together, but you need to think with 20 on this finely-tuned life support machine’, seeing a wild elephant WELCOME HOME: From African savanna a longer time horizon. In the short term, based on biodiversity, which enabled humans or a 100-metre tall tree. elephants to antelopes, rewilding has the most profitable thing often seems to 10 to begin farming and transformed our lives. These are life-chang- seen the return of endangered wildlife in OUR TIMELINE WITHOUT REWILDING be to squeeze a resource as hard as pos- km Animals/sq Yet, we harmed this very world. The Holo- ing experiences. Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park sible — log it, hunt it, plant crops, build WATERBUCK cene is our story of loss — entranced by con- But these wild 2030s The Amazon rainforest apartments. But, if you factor in sustain- 0 sumption, we trespassed recklessly on wild places are growing so scarce that this story grow underneath it. In Gorongosa becomes a savanna, changing the ability and the time horizons that matter Graphs courtesy: RM Pringle, 2017, ‘Upgrading Protected spaces and species. In 1937, Attenborough magical experience is increasingly avail- National Park in Mozambique, the goal global water cycle for our children, you need a longer time- Areas to Conserve Wild Biodiversity’, Nature 546: 91-99 recalls, Earth had 66% wild places left — by able only to a wealthy minority that can was to re-establish large animal popula- line — the rewilding efforts in Costa Rica 2040s Arctic ice melts, permafrost 2020, only 35% remain. Animal populations pay to go on safari in Africa or see a wild tions, which entailed a mix of strategies and Mozambique are a living classroom role by keeping herbivore populations globally declined by 70% since 1970. Half of tiger in India. The last few wild places — some animals were translocated from thaws, releasing deadly methane for children, so that the next generation in check. African elephants, which are all fertile land is agricultural now, and while themselves are under pressure — they other African parks, other animal popu- 2050s Coral reefs with plankton, fi sh is educated about nature. These areas also endangered, are important as eco- humans compose one-third of Earth’s mam- are under-funded, and there is a constant lations have been allowed to grow. In and amphibians perish provide clean water for villages and cities. system engineers, creating habitats for mal mass, wildlife is only four percent, one push to shrink them further, open them other cases, one might focus on issues 2080s Pollinating invertebrates go Tourists visit these, small businesses are smaller species. Their populations are million species facing extinction. But, by de- to industry, build highways through such as pollution, removing dams and so growing and there is development aid. also increasing in Gorongosa. Along- extinct — a global food crisis begins stroying biodiversity, humanity is destroying them, dam their rivers, put up fences. forth. But rewilding’s aim is the same The results are visible. In Mozambique, side, our research finds that the recov- itself. Walking through Chernobyl, Attenbor- Rewilding is our opportunity to de- — to create a biodiverse natural system 2100s With a four degree rise in the Gorongosa Project has built schools, ery of native herbivores in Gorongosa ough shows us foxes in abandoned class- mocratise that magical human experi- that effectively regulates itself without temperature, large parts of Earth helped farmers diversify crops and in- stopped the spread of the invasive plant rooms, deer on empty streets, observing, ‘With ence, while rehabilitating the ecosystems needing constant human intervention. become uninhabitable, creating crease yields, and partnered with the Mimosa pigra, which is a threat to or without us, the living world will endure. that preserve humanity by supplying Rewilding can be done at all kinds of millions of climate refugees, a sixth National Health Service to run commu- ecological health in tropical countries We humans cannot presume the same.’ With- clean water, absorbing floods and scales — people are doing it on mass extinction nity health programs. On Mount Gorongo- worldwide, including India. out nature’s biodiversity, we face catastrophe. typhoons and storing carbon. There are farms in England. I have a underway sa, farmers are growing sustainable coffee I personally believe that we need to pay However, we can still change this — and multiple ways to approach rewilding. In friend rewilding a ranch in Data Courtesy: A Life distributed worldwide, assisted by the attention to majestic species which are Attenborough offers inspiration. Among Costa Rica’s Area de Conservacion Gua- Texas. At the biggest On Our Planet park. These efforts build a strong, sustain- on the brink of extinction, and whose mitigating strategies, he outlines the vision- nacaste, for example, the aim was to re- scales, some govern- able economy, rather than simply trashing loss would be a global tragedy. We must ary idea of rewilding — restoring species to store forest. Old pastures and other lands ments have invested in the primary source for short-term profits. create space for rhinoceros, big cats, lost habitats and growing wild spaces without were acquired and the forest was allowed it, Mozambique and In terms of biodiversity, the most elephants, mahoganies, rosewoods. close human impact. As Times Evoke’s glob- to regenerate. That was not an entirely Costa Rica taking a lead. exciting development has been the re- By creating space for these, we create al experts emphasise, rewilded landscapes passive process — there was a need to Interestingly, both the rewil- turn of African wild dogs (Lycaon pic- space for many other species. But again, see species return and ecosystems heal, offer- prevent wildfire, which meant firefight- ding projects in Costa Rica tus) to Gorongosa National Park. Afri- rewilding works on multiple scales. ing multiple benefits for humanity. Join ers put in a lot of work. In wetter areas, and Mozambique put local can wild dogs are globally endangered. My friend in Texas is focusing on Times Evoke on a journey exploring rewild- they had to ‘kickstart’ the process of for- human interests at the centre. These beautiful, highly social and intel- critically endangered Bolson tortoises. ing, for, as Attenborough advises, ‘If we take est regeneration by planting plantation Both pragmatically recognise that a ligent animals play a crucial ecosystem And those species matter too. care of nature, nature takes care of us.’ trees and letting a wild rainforest under- society won’t let a large protected area Photos courtesy: Robert M Pringle RESTORING THE LOST The elimination of wildlife began during the Pleistocene Currently, one million species Degraded landscapes harm Restoration is key — scientists fi nd for Rewilding is a powerful nature-based strategy — era 60,000 years ago, when humans left Africa and fanned — 5,00,000 animals and plants, humanity — healthy natural every hectare, conserved woodlands absorb it restores ecosystem processes created by fl ora out across the globe. The ongoing Holocene or Anthropocene and 5,00,000 insects — face ecosystems perform vital 12.8 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum, and fauna, leading to a self-regulated ecological era is marked by a mass extinction of species, caused mostly extinction. Ecologists record 70% functions, from seed dispersal wetlands absorb 5.1 tonnes of carbon community. Rewilding or ‘network rewiring’ includes by land use change for agriculture, leading to habitat loss decline in over 20,000 populations to carbon sequestration, dioxide per hectare each year and every reintroducing vanished species and translocating for wildlife.