Can we bring back the wilderness?

[Still Waters]

Ever since Aldo Leopold warned of a world irrevocably diminished by human appetite, conservationists have urged that we "act now, before it's too late". But what if nature's end was not a foregone conclusion? Imagine if we could recreate lost rivers, meadows, rainforests even…

A few years back this would have been wishful thinking. But the science of restoration ecology is a fast moving one. Across the globe, from the Aral Sea to the arid Sahel, ambitious programmes to revive and recreate degraded ecosystems are challenging the assumption that once destroyed, nature is gone for good.

http://www.guardian....back-wilderness

[Ashotep]

Good idea and I'm glad they are working on it. I don't think the wilderness will ever return to its former glory but I think they can make things better.

[Guest]

I am currently trying to get a local council to reinstate a few acres of wild flower meadow. Sounds simple. Probably won't be possible until the machines used are all replaced. Such small ambitions thwarted by simple economic imperatives. Coupled to that is the fact that there is absolutely no will to action. Everyone agrees that its a nice ambition - but ultimately not worth a penny of their money to achieve. Meanwhile a target of 50% increase in milk production and 30% increase in meat production by 2020 has been set - with inevitably devastating effects on wildlife.

Meanwhile biodiversity continues to decline at a precipitous rate.

Br Cornelius

[AwakenAscension]

I love the wilderness and it's sad that entire ecosystems have been wrecked by human intervention. But we must not forget that we are a PART of that nature. That many other species and events/situations that were spawned on this earth (just like we were) have decimated ecosystems and those ecosystems eventually adapted because of this, long before there were human beings, or even mammals. This is an ebb and flow of change that has always occured and our entire lineage is a mere blip in the cycle of changes.. of forests disappearing and then swallowing back up the earth... in the span of life, here. Mark my words that forests will once again swallow the earth and the cycle will repeat many times over.

But I am against deforestation. I love hiking and adventure and natural diversity.

[Sthenno]

I love the wilderness and it's sad that entire ecosystems have been wrecked by human intervention. But we must not forget that we are a PART of that nature. That many other species and events/situations that were spawned on this earth (just like we were) have decimated ecosystems and those ecosystems eventually adapted because of this, long before there were human beings, or even mammals. This is an ebb and flow of change that has always occured and our entire lineage is a mere blip in the cycle of changes.. of forests disappearing and then swallowing back up the earth... in the span of life, here. Mark my words that forests will once again swallow the earth and the cycle will repeat many times over.

But I am against deforestation. I love hiking and adventure and natural diversity.

I don't think any ecologists would disagree with this - the earth will definitely survive and flourish once we're gone. But most people would rather not see that day, and projects like this might just make the time we have left last a little longer than it would if we just charged full-pelt at self-destruction...

[Wickian]

Mother nature will go on no matter what we do, but it would be better to have as diverse a surviving biosphere as possible.