Desire for the Wild – Wild Desires? The trouble with rewilding

It is undeniable that human influence is now felt in almost every
ecosystem, region and ocean of the world. As a result wilderness
or wild nature is becoming less abundant. In response to this
less wild world, landscape and ecosystem restorations are
undertaken all over the globe. One of these places is the wetland
area of Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire, England, where the National
Trust is attempting a landscape scale restoration. This programme
is not just about restoring but also rewilding the landscape. A
big part of the Wicken Fen restoration involves the introduction
of large grazers: Konik ponies and Highland cattle. In April a
workshop was held at Wicken Fen entitled: Desire for the Wild,
Wild Desires? Re-wilding in a world of social, environmental and
climate change. This workshop considered what wild and rewilding
of nature means and what history can contribute to efforts to
rewild and restore landscapes and ecosystems. The guest on this
podcast is is Dolly Jorgensen, a historian of Science and the
Environment based at Umea University in Sweden. Dolly presented a
paper at the workshop on how rewilding has been an argument
meaning different things to different academic sub-groups, all
with a different historical notion of when was wild. Dolly
deconstructs the different meanings of rewilding, and also
follows the trail to find wildness all around us. This podcast is
the first of two episodes exploring the Desire for the Wild, Wild
Desires? workshop. Music credits: Where You Are Now by Zapac and
Cm 105 bpm by Admiral Bob. Available from ccMixter.