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In Holland they have developed a creative landscape philosophy called 'New Nature', and the most iconic illustration of this is the site called the Oostvaardersplassen, near Amsterdam. Here, throughout 6,000 enclosed hectares, feral Heck bulls excavate amphibian ponds with their hooves and horns, while stags and stallions battle fiercely for possession of herds of females. These creatures present a living vision that many 'rewilders' adore. Although this project may present a primeval impression, in reality it is a completely artificial though courageous creation, limited by fences, budgets, an adjacent main railway line, surrounding land users and fickle political support. Less than a lifetime ago the landscape these 'wild' herbivores now occupy was the bed of the North Sea.
Despite the contention that surrounds such projects, the Oostvaardersplassen has produced some inspirational results. Spoonbills have returned to breed in ever increasing numbers, creating a surplus population which has overlapped back into Britain. Sea eagles have raised their first nestlings in centuries, nourished by the ample supply of deer that the site affords. Projects of this type, which restore key species or re- engineer landscapes to allow natural processes such as seasonal flooding or forest fires to reoccur, have demonstrated that when nature is given free rein, the results which arise can be truly spectacular. Are we, however, prepared to live in landscapes where these processes, even if appropriately modified, become part of our own experience?
While space is without a doubt one of the biggest obstacles facing rewilders, a range of structural, social and cultural issues can also conspire to hinder change. As an example, I have been involved with the restoration of the Eurasian beaver - a large rodent that builds complex structures from wood, stones and mud across rivers - in Britain since the early 1990s. Although they once had a world range which extended from Britain to China and numbered tens of millions, beavers were hunted virtually to extinction by humans as a result of an insatiable demand for their fur, scent glands and meat. They have been widely reintroduced throughout much of their former European range as an awareness of their critical function in the creation of wetland habitats has developed. Beaver-generated landscapes also play a significant part in the retention and purification of water.
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