REWILDING is all the rage in conservation circles. The idea is to return large areas of land to their natural state, rebuilding ecosystems and reintroducing species that have long since vanished. That includes those animals exterminated because they were inimical to the interests of human settlers or farmers, notably large predators like wolves and bears.
The problem, of course, is that many of these species are gone for good. So ingenious rewilders are starting to introduce alien species that they hope will do the same job as the ones that have gone the way of the dodo 鈥� or the moa-nalo, a giant Hawaiian duck quickly eaten to extinction once humans found these islands (see 鈥�Rewilding: Bring in the big beasts to fix ecosystems鈥�). Depending on who you ask, this is either a brilliant idea that will restore the health of languishing environments, or foolhardy meddling that will cause innumerable headaches.
All this is forcing enthusiasts to reconsider what 鈥渘ature鈥� really is. In many places, true wilderness vanished thousands of years ago, and the landscapes we think of as natural are largely artificial. If rewilders are successful, thousands of years from now our descendants may think of African lions roaming American plains as 鈥渘atural鈥� too.
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This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淔ake it until you make it鈥�
