In the second episode of the series, I spoke with Dr Paul Jepson, a conservationist and former director of the MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management at Oxford University. Paul now works as the Nature Recovery lead at Ecosulis Ltd, (http://www.ecosulis.co.uk/ ) an ecological consultancy based outside of Bath.
Rewilding has become a buzzword in conversations around conservation and progressive ecological thinking. Most fundamentally, the term sits in an emerging debate around how we value and use land, and ultimately at what ecological cost. Rewilding might be a contemporary movement in the UK, but its contention is caught up in a long history of land enclosure, agriculture and private ownership. As Paul illustrates, there is a huge amount of potential in reforming the way land is used at present, which could directly address issues like climate change and biodiversity loss. Outside of conservation debates, the imaginary of rewilding grows increasingly influential in discussions around art, language and politics.
This reading list was fascinating to compile, a combination of policy papers, debates and ideas that constitute present narratives around rewilding land. When I asked Paul which books have inspired him as a thinker, he responded with The Inevitable by Kevin Kelly and An Arid Eden by Garth Owen-Smith. See more of Paul’s writing on his website: http://www.pauljepson.com/
reading list 2: Paul Jepson
Recoverable Earth: a twenty-first century environmental narrative, Paul Jepson: |link|
Rewilding isn’t about nostalgia- exciting new worlds are possible, Paul Jepson: |link|
“New pastoralism”: a vision to revitalise our national parks, Paul Jepson: |link|
Rewilding: Science, Practice and Politics |link|
Time to walk the talk, Paul Jepson |link|
State of Nature report (UK, 2019) |link|
A short history of land enclosure in Britain: |link|
What were the Highland Clearances and why do they matter? |link|
Lochlaber No More (1883), John Watson Nichol [painting]
Proving the ‘shifting baselines’ theory: how humans consistently misperceive nature: |link|
The Inevitable, Kevin Kelly
A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold
An Arid Eden, Garth Owen-Smith
Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari
Lost river returns to Somerset 70 years after it dried up, Alex Morss: |link|
Beavers to be released in plan to ease flooding and aid biodiversity, Steven Morris |link|
Reclaiming the Commons, Guy Shrubsole with George Monbiot |link|
Who owns England? History of England’s land ownership and how much is privately owned today: |link|
A rewilding agenda for Europe: creating a network of experimental reserves, Paul Jepson: |link|
Summit to Sea ( Mynydd i’r Môr ), |link| [project]
Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm, Isabella Tree
The word-hoard: rewilding the language of landscape, Robert Macfarlane |link|
Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the Frontiers of Rewilding, George Monbiot
Waterlog: A Swimmer’s Journey Through Britain, Roger Deakin
Wolf reintroduction in Scotland (2018): |link|
The uneasy return of Europe’s wolves, Patrick Barkham |link|
How rewilding reduces flood risk (2016), Rewilding Britain report: |link|
Bears and wolves to coexist in UK woods for first time in 1,000 years (2019), The Guardian: |link|
‘Rewilding Australia’: not only do we need the outback, the outback needs us, Barry Traill and John Woinarski: |link|
Accidental Rewilding in Slovenia, George Monbiot |link|
Abandoning or Reimagining a Cultural Heartland? Understanding and Responding to Rewilding Conflicts in Wales – the case of the Cambrian Wildwood. |link|
Flight Ways: Life and Loss at the Edge of Extinction, Thom Van Dooren
Humankind: Solidarity with Non-Human People, Timothy Morton
Creative approaches to rewilding, Anna Souter |link|
Rewilding the Exhibition? Anna Souter |link|
A sonic rewilding with Nest Collective & Extinction Rebellion: The Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square |link| [event]
Intro excerpt: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, Jenny Odell
Outro excerpt: The Mushroom at the End of the World, Anna Tsing
tales in the anthropocene 