Reading about the mishaps in Argentina reminded me of the reindeer discussions in Finland. It's not all or nothing, but rather finding a way and a solution that as many interest groups as possible can live with.

Those who are enthusiastic about saving the environment often have a mixed relationship with science. They might for example, support organic farming or oppose nuclear power, despite organics having no nutritional benefit and requiring far more land to be used to raise the same amount of crops, while nuclear is a green energy source that should be seen as an essential support to renewables. This same confusion can extend to the concept of rewilding, which is one reason that the subtitle of this book uses the word 'radical'. What is the right point to conserve/restore the environment to? What you remember from your childhood? When industrialization happened? When Europeans arrived? When humans arrived? They argue that the latter two are more healthy/complete ecosystems, and yet current conservation efforts are not that ambitious.

Although many rewilders consider it weird science, the stuff of Jurassic Park, I find it compelling, not least because rewilding often begins with a baseline. Who’s to say what that baseline should be? We Are the Ark– Pioneer gardening rewilder, Mary Reynolds brings her warm and enigmatic style of rewilding to a wider audience in this captivating illustrated edition. Her thoughts align closely with my own on rewilding gardens, so I look forward to reading this one. For anyone unfamiliar with rewilding science, Rebirding is a great place to start, as the author gives a great outline of the key literature. There’s obviously a focus on birds, given the title, but it’s tied in to the effects of wider restoration – there are almost no birds without insects, as he points out, and no insects without the plants and habitats they need to survive. Rewilding science is already well advanced in the Netherlands, particularly with the way river habitats are managed. Other projects and research are referenced throughout the book and the final chapter gives ten predictions for the future.

I'm not quite sure where this book fits within the ecological literature I've become deeply interested in as an adult. Most likely you could use this as a 101 or 102 level introduction to the topic and a light argument for its practice. The punch of large images emphasises fine detail and the wider scene. And that scene often involves the restoration of more natural vegetation cover and the diversity of wildlife that could thrive as a result. The story of how the Scottish uplands have been degraded by centuries of deer and sheep grazing has been told many times. So too have tales of persecution of creatures such as birds of prey. What sets this book apart is contemporary solutions. They go into so detail about the sorts of animals that are needed to bring about lasting and significant change to the ecosystems. It turns out that as good as apex predators are altering the dynamic, the best animals for changing ecosystems are large herbivores. In Europe we used to have large cattle breed called aurochs, these are now extinct but there is a scheme to selectively breeding older species of cattle to recreate this ancient species. The result of this is the Taurus, these have been bred with large horns, small udders and longer legs. It is intended that these will become the wild bovine to populate the rewilded areas in years to come.The way this book is structured is very helpful for rewilding novices, with confusing jargon demystified and competing theories explained. The authors also make sure to cover the most common case studies, so you’re not left feeling embarrassed when someone brings up the Oostvaardersplassen in casual conversation.

Wilding at Knepp would not have been possible without the support of taxpayers, through mechanisms such as the Countryside Stewardship Scheme and the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme. That said, official agencies also slowed you down or prevented you from doing some things you have wanted to do. What do you think will best facilitate wilding in future? This book also provides interesting examples of rewilding experiments, notably ‘the big four’: Oostvaardersplassen (‘OVP’, Netherlands), Siberia’s Pleistocene Park (Russia), island rewilding (the Mauritian islands), and the wolf introduction in Yellowstone Park (USA). This provided some optimism in the final chapter, that rewilding is viable and that Europe will lead the way for potential rewilding projects across the world, especially for Asia. Nature conservation in the 21st century has taken a radical new turn. Instead of conserving particular species in nature reserves as 'museum pieces', frozen in time, the thinking now is that we should allow landscape-sized areas to 'rewild' according to their own self-determined processes. By fencing off large areas and introducing large herbivores, along with apex predators such as wolves, dynamic new habitats are already being created. Before we can understand the need for rewilding, we have to confront the planet’s dewilding. From my vantage point, dewilding includes dramatic extinction events – (including the one dubbed the Sixth Great Extinction, unfolding today) as well as subtle losses – like the growing disconnect between children and nature. Hope, after all, is in short supply these days. Inspirational projects in far-flung places are undeniably exciting, but those of us who want to participate in rewilding need to know how we can responsibly join the movement. That’s where books like Tophill’s come in.The IUCN's Rewilding Thematic Group says “The concept of rewilding is relatively new, and whilst it offers great potential for reinvigorating conservation, it is currently defined and approached in several different ways. This is limiting the application of rewilding for ecological conservation and functional restoration.”

I would highly recommend both books for these reasons. Wilding is great for providing inspiration and hope around the dynamic changes that take place when humans remove themselves, or considerably reduce their involvement, in land management and let nature have its way. Rewidling opens up the much wider opportunities that exist across the world to transform what we think of as the natural environment, but which is really just a shadow of what once was, before we started impacting it. Rewilding, says David Woodfall, is about how people “engage with their environment through the natural world.” There’s truth in that, though it will take more than engagement to reverse wildlife declines.

From the perspective of someone studying in this field (Animal Management with a potential career in Conservation) this book was a refreshingly new perspective on the issues that we are facing today in regard to ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss. I will definitely be recommending my college library adds a copy of this book to their shelves as it is well researched, logically structured and overall, very thought provoking. He also expressed the sadness and frustration that inevitably befalls one who ventures down the path of conservation: “One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds.” To me, that rings painfully true. As an ecologist he was remarkably open-minded and un-egotistical. He genuinely felt that nature is the greatest teacher of all – and that’s a lesson, I feel, that we all do well to follow. Rewilding certainly has a lot to offer and will become more mainstream over the years and decades ahead, particularly given the threat brought by climate change. They touch on numerous rewilding projects – from the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone to the rewilding of England’s Knepp Estate – helping readers get a sense of rewilding’s many shapes and sizes. I think it is important to note that I do have experience when it comes to this topic area and have somewhat of a basis of knowledge that helped me to consume this book fully. I therefor would say that this may not be the best starting point if you are looking to research into rewilding as a topic, as whilst it is comprehensive it can be overwhelming and complex at some points.