Feral

George Monbiot | 2013

After reading the first thirty pages of this book, I set it down and fully never expected to pick it up again. It wasn’t that I hated it, it was just that I didn’t want to read hundreds of pages about a guy on various outings across Britain. I began reading it again because, frankly, there was nothing else to read, but I’m happy I picked it up. Once it gets going it’s an incredibly interesting and insightful book on the topic of rewilding, the process in which ecosystems are restored to former states by reintroducing previously removed species. Monbiot is a thorough researcher and communicator who is able to weave his trips and activities with larger themes and he interviews exceptionally well. I particularly enjoyed his discussions about trophic cascades and the often paradoxical role that predator removal can have on ecosystem functionality. He explains lots of contradictions people believe in when it comes to wildlife management and he suggests some reasonable and good suggestions for how to best rewild Britain, and possibly other areas around the world. Overall, it’s a niche read but good at that.

“The drive towards monoculture causes a dewilding, of both places and people. It strips the Earth of the diversity of life and natural structure to which human beings are drawn. It creates a dull world, a flat world, a world lacking in colour and variety, which enhances ecological boredom, narrows the scope of our lives, limits the range of our engagement with nature, pushes us towards a monoculture of the spirit.”