I think really we should be judging Rewilding Britain as opposed to the way a man lives his life. I don't think we would be able to find the time to judge each individual within the organisation. It would be more productive to discuss what Rewilding Britain are attempting to achieve as opposed to discussing this on a personal level of 'I've walked this many days in the mountains' or 'this man lives in this house'.
The factitious comments on the exotic animals I was referring to was that of Hyena and Rhino.
There are some fundamental points which keep recirculating here, everyone seems to still think that the aim is to rewild the whole of Britain and have no spaces for cattle within the uplands. If we are to debate this we need to be clear on the aims of Rewilding Britain.
Trees do grow in the uplands, as they used to, and as they are beginning to in the fenced off areas at Ogwen where cattle has also been reduced.
The mountain environment, despite being very wet and storing water for obvious reasons, is defiantly not a floodplain. I was going to write a definition of a floodplain from my old lecturer's book- Earth Environments Past Present and Future, but I don't have it with me right now. I do know that a river has to burst it's banks onto a floodplain, for it to be a floodplain.
Footpath erosion is a major issue in the mountain environment, it appears to be common due to the erosive nature of water channeling along footpaths and causing soil to erode back from the path by a substantial amount. Root systems do a great job holding the soil together.
Peat is a separate topic, obviously trees should not be planted on top of kinder scout. This comparison between rewilding and introducing trees on peat upland just seems to be muddying the discussion. I don't think anyone is asking for that to happen, but I could be wrong?
I don't think everything Rewilding Britain is arguing for is something I would support, but i think we should keep an open mind towards increasing the biodiversity in a few ares in what I agree to be a desert like environment. Some of the arguments that seem to resonate with me, and ones I suppose i'm trying to make are as follows:-
Deer populations can be managed within woodland environments, be it with hunting or reintroducing species. Venison is pretty tasty
I do think some species should be strictly ruled out in terms of reintroducing.
The Lynx and Wolf lives alongside agriculture in Germany so we could possibly learn something from them. Whether it's adapting farming or subsidises for agricultural loss.
The Wolf has been know to maul so I don't see them as an appropriate species in the UK.
Lynx, I suppose there is an argument for and against where agriculture is concerned. I guess no one wants a trail near their farm, but maybe the government could subsidise any loss for the sake of a greater understanding of our scepticism. Maybe then we would have something more concrete to base are arguments on, and understand if they could have a positive impact upon the countryside if they were to be reintroduced. I imagine they will 'escape' from somewhere at some point anyway, just like the beaver and boar have done, so maybe doing it in a controlled way would be less destructive. I imagine we will see the impact they have at some point.
I don't think we have to say yes or no to Rewilding Britain as a whole, but I think some of its components could have a positive effect on our biodiversity and economy. If you know of how or where George has gotten the figures he speaks of from, as many of you have dismissed them as being inaccurate, then I would be interested to see them. Maybe others would too.
