Since the Industrial Revolution—but especially in the last century—many of the earth’s ecosystems and their plants and wildlife have been seriously damaged by human development (including residential and commercial construction, industrialized farming techniques, and pollution). As a result, there have been steep declines in animal and plant biodiversity and other negative effects. A large-scale study conducted in 2019 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, American Bird Conservancy, and other organizations found that there were 29 percent fewer birds in North America than there were in 1970. This amounts to 3 billion fewer birds.
For many years, conservationists have attempted to restore natural areas, with varying levels of success. The term “rewilding” was coined by David Foreman in 1992 to describe the process of restoring land and ecosystems. Foreman is the co-founder of Wild Earth magazine and Wildlands Network (formerly known as Wildlands Project), and the founder of The Rewilding Institute. The concept of rewilding was further detailed by Michael Soule and Reed Noss in their 1998 Wild Earth paper, “Rewilding and Biodiversity: Complementary Goals for Continental Conservation.”
The concept of rewilding (especially when it is done on a large scale) is controversial with some people. Rewilders stress that fact-based and carefully planned rewilding efforts should be continued as habitat destruction increases, the numbers of certain species of plants and animals plummet, and pollution rates rise. They stress that there are many benefits to rewilding. “Well-applied rewilding can restore ecosystems at a landscape scale, help mitigate climate change, and provide socio-economic opportunities for communities,” according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a global authority on environmental issues.
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