2. Rewilding – The Return of Exuberant Landscapes

08/02/22 • 49 min

With Derek Gow & Kris Tompkins.

The rewilding movement is currently sweeping across the world’s landscapes, restoring ecologies and species, re-naturalising rivers and forests.

Our two guests are trailblazers in this space – first we hear from Kristine Tompkins, ex-CEO of Patagonia who, together with her late husband Doug Tompkins, have protected over 14 million acres of wildlands and national parks across Latin America, along with over 30 million acres of marine areas. Kristine is Chair of the National Geographic Society’s Last Wild Places campaign and was the first conservationist to be awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy.

Then we speak with Derek Gow, who is infamous amongst insider rewilding circles for his leadership in the re-introduction of the beaver back into European landscapes. Through Derek, and his delightfully funny and informative book 'Bringing back the Beaver', I’ve become somewhat obsessed with beavers. He’s been one of the most vocal actors in the reintroduction of missing keystone species in England such as the beaver, the water vole and the white stork, butting heads with obnoxious lobbyists and government officials. He is currently rewilding his 300-acre farm on the Devon/Cornwall border where the Eurasian lynx, wild boar and harvest mice make home.

This episode covers the basics of rewilding and goes into different models of restoring ecosystems into their rightful states, all the while discussing the mental impediments and frustrations that can occur in the attempt to rewild the most stubborn species of all — the human being.

Episode Website Link: lifeworld.earth/episodes/rewilding

Show Links:

Look out for meditations, poems, readings, and other snippets of inspiration in between episodes.

Music: Electric Ethnicity by Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock, Ellie Kidd & The Rising by Tryad CCPL

Photo of flower: Maewenn Bourcelot @maochan.talamoni

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Derek Gow & Kris Tompkins.

The rewilding movement is currently sweeping across the world’s landscapes, restoring ecologies and species, re-naturalising rivers and forests.

Episode Website Link: lifeworld.earth/episodes/rewilding

Show Links:

Look out for meditations, poems, readings, and other snippets of inspiration in between episodes.

Music: Electric Ethnicity by Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock, Ellie Kidd & The Rising by Tryad CCPL

Photo of flower: Maewenn Bourcelot @maochan.talamoni

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Practice | Sensing Place

This is the first of the Lifeworlds ‘bonus’ episodes, designed to help us tune in somatically to the living world. We need to be grounding our connection to other lifeworlds into our very bodies for them to become lasting and real. Here we discover how to access these states through things like mindfulness, art, wilderness practices and poetry.

Today's exercise is about understanding the ground we stand on. The place that we call home. After a brief introduction, I present a series of prompts for you to do in your own time, over several weeks and months. It involves mapping out ecosystems, following trails of water, making a calendar of minute shifts in nature's ebbs and flows, and tuning in to the humming frequencies of what's around you.

Download the list and practice on: https://www.lifeworld.earth/episodes/practicesensingplace

A useful tool for identifying species: https://www.inaturalist.org/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

[Full Interview] Rewilding - with Derek Gow

With his hilariously sharp-witted, no-nonsense approach and radiating descriptions of nature’s landscapes, Derek Gow is a force to contend with.

He’s been one of the most vocal actors in the reintroduction of missing keystone species in England such as the beaver, the water vole and the white stork, butting heads with obnoxious lobbyists and government officials. He is currently rewilding his 300-acre farm on the Devon/Cornwall border where the Eurasian lynx, wild boar and harvest mice make home.

Our conversation ranges from the obstacles that prevent society in re-introducing critical species, all the way to Elizabethan fat bishops and voles that Gorgonzola river banks for other species to thrive. What is the mindset that sees all of land as "mine"? When were wolves seen as Gods, and what would it have been like to be a medieval traveller coming across one of these creatures “sodden like a Michelin man on a country path”? What barbarities have we committed against other species, and why should you think twice when buying herds of prehistoric Heck cattle?

Yep, this is a fun and brilliant one. (Listener tip: Derek packs more into a sentence that I could hope to do in a lifetime. Play at 1.5x at your own peril!)

Episode Website Link: lifeworld.earth/episodes/rewildingderekgow

Show Links:

Look out for meditations, poems, readings, and other snippets of inspiration in between episodes.

Music: Electric Ethnicity by Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock, Ellie Kidd

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.