Sounds intriguing. I remember an advocate of reintroducing wolves in Scotland, in part to address the red deer epidemic. They said something along the lines of, in the time it takes humans to set up a working party, reform, reestablish terms of reference, and produce a report which sits on a shelf while various interests fight, a pack of wolves will have just gone and done some culling.
Yes, if the Netherlands can cope with having a pack of wolves they shouldn't be a problem in Scotland (or other parts of the UK). They still suffer from a Little Red Riding Hood image here.
Wolves and lynx are cheaper than culling, but we do need to find a way to bring sceptics on a journey. There are already issues with farmers coming into conflict (potentially) with sea eagles, which they claim are killing lambs. There needs to be almost a 'truth and reconciliation' scheme there to find out what's going on, and to mediate between parties so that a solution can be found.
I think we'd see the same problem, but much larger, with the reintroduction of wolves or lynx, so we need to use sea eagles as a way to create a playbook for dealing with this kind of conflict.
I don’t think we’d lose many sheep to lynx, because they are ambush predators that tend to hunt in woodland, whereas most sheep are grazed on open land in the UK.
Wolves might take more (as with sea eagles taking lambs), but sheep farming on uplands is uneconomical and only sustained by subsidies.
So we should either compensate farmers for losses or review what we are paying them to do. Maybe being guardians of rewilded places would be better for society?
I think issue is as much with perception as reality. If farmers believe lynx and wolves are a threat to their livestock, then they will continue to object. So the question is how we refactor the way we use our land in order to both support high quality jobs for rural people, and support rewilding.
I think Benedict Macdonald's Rebirding is good on this. He has clear, sensible plans for several parts of the UK about how to boost the local economies whilst supporting rewilding.
Yes, a lot is down to perception and sometimes that is coloured by reactionary NFU positions that influence the media. They certainly don’t speak for all farmers. But farmers have a key role to play in improving biodiversity.
Yes, that's very much what I've read too. We have way, way too many deer in the UK, and we either act as the apex predator, hunt them and turn them into tasty venison, or we bring in a carnivore or two that can do the same. I've heard conservationists saying that we need to be culling 50% of the deer population every year, the numbers are so out of hand.
The big problem with deer is that they eat new buds and shoots, so they stop flowers and saplings from growing, which affects the insect population and that, of course, then affects birds, bats and other insectivores. So we really do need to find a way to deal with the deer.
I'd invite every meat eater to stop thinking of deer as cute, and start thinking of them as delicious. Venison's also healthier than steaks, so that's another plus!
I am a regular listener to the Archers, so appreciate the niche you are trying to fill with your sitcom.
I live in Scotland, in a village surrounded by big estates, some of which have been bought up by hedge fund owned companies for making profits from carbon trading. The local community is sceptical about their approach (although many are in favour of rewilding).
I've listened to a bit of The Archers, and quite enjoyed it, though I'm terrible at keeping up-to-date so now have a backlog!
Do you know which company it was that bought up the estate? I know that Oxygen Conservation recently bought one, the Dorback Estate in the Cairngorms, so am curious whether it's them. I'd be interested to know what the locals' thoughts are, if you can share any insights?
There are issues with carbon trading and biodiversity net gain, but from what I've seen of Oxygen Conservation at least, their approach may well work. Better that there's a company driven by ecological and environmental principals selling carbon credits or BNG credits than companies doing it themselves really badly!
I look forward to reading the second part of your post!
Sounds intriguing. I remember an advocate of reintroducing wolves in Scotland, in part to address the red deer epidemic. They said something along the lines of, in the time it takes humans to set up a working party, reform, reestablish terms of reference, and produce a report which sits on a shelf while various interests fight, a pack of wolves will have just gone and done some culling.
Yes, if the Netherlands can cope with having a pack of wolves they shouldn't be a problem in Scotland (or other parts of the UK). They still suffer from a Little Red Riding Hood image here.
Wolves and lynx are cheaper than culling, but we do need to find a way to bring sceptics on a journey. There are already issues with farmers coming into conflict (potentially) with sea eagles, which they claim are killing lambs. There needs to be almost a 'truth and reconciliation' scheme there to find out what's going on, and to mediate between parties so that a solution can be found.
I think we'd see the same problem, but much larger, with the reintroduction of wolves or lynx, so we need to use sea eagles as a way to create a playbook for dealing with this kind of conflict.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/02/im-used-to-people-thinking-im-lying-are-scotlands-sea-eagles-killing-hundreds-of-lambs
I don’t think we’d lose many sheep to lynx, because they are ambush predators that tend to hunt in woodland, whereas most sheep are grazed on open land in the UK.
Wolves might take more (as with sea eagles taking lambs), but sheep farming on uplands is uneconomical and only sustained by subsidies.
So we should either compensate farmers for losses or review what we are paying them to do. Maybe being guardians of rewilded places would be better for society?
I think issue is as much with perception as reality. If farmers believe lynx and wolves are a threat to their livestock, then they will continue to object. So the question is how we refactor the way we use our land in order to both support high quality jobs for rural people, and support rewilding.
I think Benedict Macdonald's Rebirding is good on this. He has clear, sensible plans for several parts of the UK about how to boost the local economies whilst supporting rewilding.
Yes, a lot is down to perception and sometimes that is coloured by reactionary NFU positions that influence the media. They certainly don’t speak for all farmers. But farmers have a key role to play in improving biodiversity.
Yes, absolutely!
Yes, that's very much what I've read too. We have way, way too many deer in the UK, and we either act as the apex predator, hunt them and turn them into tasty venison, or we bring in a carnivore or two that can do the same. I've heard conservationists saying that we need to be culling 50% of the deer population every year, the numbers are so out of hand.
The big problem with deer is that they eat new buds and shoots, so they stop flowers and saplings from growing, which affects the insect population and that, of course, then affects birds, bats and other insectivores. So we really do need to find a way to deal with the deer.
I'd invite every meat eater to stop thinking of deer as cute, and start thinking of them as delicious. Venison's also healthier than steaks, so that's another plus!
I am a regular listener to the Archers, so appreciate the niche you are trying to fill with your sitcom.
I live in Scotland, in a village surrounded by big estates, some of which have been bought up by hedge fund owned companies for making profits from carbon trading. The local community is sceptical about their approach (although many are in favour of rewilding).
I am drafting a post for my Substack. This was Part 1, looking back at land use: https://felicitymartin.substack.com/p/how-did-scotlands-land-become-so?r=dsete
I've listened to a bit of The Archers, and quite enjoyed it, though I'm terrible at keeping up-to-date so now have a backlog!
Do you know which company it was that bought up the estate? I know that Oxygen Conservation recently bought one, the Dorback Estate in the Cairngorms, so am curious whether it's them. I'd be interested to know what the locals' thoughts are, if you can share any insights?
There are issues with carbon trading and biodiversity net gain, but from what I've seen of Oxygen Conservation at least, their approach may well work. Better that there's a company driven by ecological and environmental principals selling carbon credits or BNG credits than companies doing it themselves really badly!
I look forward to reading the second part of your post!