Pete Trewin's Reviews > Feral: Rewilding the Land, the Sea, and Human Life

A wonderful, thought-provoking book. George Monbiot makes the arguments for and against his case - that parts of the British Isles should be 'rewilded' to what they were in pre-history - and lets you decide for yourself. I like that. And as a qualified zoologist he certainly knows his stuff. No sentimental love of large predators here (a point of view that often goes with a quasi-fascist disdain for the human beings who live in their habitats). No, it is carefully argued on scientific - and in particular, ecological - principles. He makes a compelling argument against the insanities of EU agricultural policy and its destructive effect on the environment, in particular the subsidy of unsustainable sheep farming on our uplands and the discouragement of natural reafforestation. He makes the excellent point that the current state of these areas is analogous to recently cleared areas of the Amazon rain forest.

I for one would support the incremental rewilding of our uplands and the reintroduction of some of the creatures that used to live in them, starting with beavers and lynx. Not sure about elephants, though. That would need a bit of a PR campaign.