Scotland could become first ‘rewilded’ nation—what does that mean?

2022-11-18

Excerpt from this National Geographic story:

At the end of the last ice age, Scotland was a truly wild place, where the Highland tiger, a distinctly banded wildcat, and the wolf, lynx, and bear roamed among Caledonian pine forests. The Romans called the country’s north “The Great Wood of Caledon.” But over time, humans purged the land for timber, charcoal, and agriculture. Native species such as wild boar, polecat, and elk vanished. By the turn of the 20th century, only 5 percent of Scotland’s land area was covered by forest.

Now the country is experiencing a zeitgeist moment for rewilding—in essence, the rebuilding of ecosystems to their natural uncultivated states—with new efforts and a matrix of wild lands and natural corridors spreading across the country. The actions of those responsible are aligning and, if successful, would make Scotland the first rewilded nation in the world.

“Scotland has majestic scenery and beautiful glens, but the ecological completeness has long been greatly diminished,” says Peter Cairns, executive chairperson of the nonprofit Scotland: The Big Picture. “Climate breakdown is one of the principal drivers for rewilding gaining momentum now because it unites everyone.”

Through volunteer programs and immersive overnight experiences, these rewilding organizations are hoping to open visitors’ eyes to what the future could look like.

No one in Scotland can quite agree when the rewilding movement officially began, but one popular perspective sets it in the late 1980s. That’s when environmental charity Trees for Life moved the conversation from preserving individual species and specific habitats—the selective approach to conservation at the time—to reigniting ecological processes with a landscape-scale approach.

Today, Trees for Life is behind the far-reaching Affric Highlands vision, a 30-year blueprint to transform Glens Cannich, Affric, Moriston, and Shiel—a succession of valleys, in the Central Highlands—into an unbroken refuge. More immediately, it’s also responsible for a world first in rewilding.