Rewilding - a View from a Farmer
The concept of rewilding seems to be everywhere. With its potential to address the twin crises of global heating and biodiversity loss, that’s understandable.
And who wouldn’t be excited by what’s now happening, for example, on the Threave Estate? But is that re-wilding (they graze cattle)? What exactly is re-wilding anyway, and how would it affect our present agriculture-dominated landscape, especially here in the Glenkens?
Richard farms at Lochhill Farm, Crossmichael. Pictured is part of Lochhill Farm with some of the new woodland in the background, with Erncrogo Loch and in the distance Screel and Bengairn.
I have a small (75 acre) livestock farm near Crossmichael with sheep and Galloway cattle. We are organic. We have planted hedges and 12 acres of trees (native broadleaves), and made ponds. We have hay meadows full of yellow rattle (it parasitises grass, so encouraging a greater diversity of plant species). I’m a member of several conservation organizations as well as of the Nature Friendly Farming Network and the Regenerative Farmers Network for South West Scotland. I have read and learned from Isabella Tree, George Monbiot and other re-wilders. Why, then, do I feel ambivalent about the idea of re-wilding?
If re-wilding means withdrawing from chunks of land and turning them over to ‘Nature’, this sits within a deeply embedded way of thinking that assumes a dichotomy between ‘Man’ and ‘the natural world’. According to the biblical account, God gave us ‘dominion’ over the rest of creation. Although this binary structure has since mutated through a variety of shapes at the hands of Renaissance, Enlightenment and Romantic thinkers, the basic framework remains: human beings (Society, Culture, Reason) on one side; Nature (whether resource, wilderness, solace or inspiration) on the other. (I’m over-simplifying – and probably being Eurocentric as well; but for better or worse, something like this model now drives the entire world system.)
But since Darwin, we have known that human beings are not separate from the rest of life but an intrinsic part of the evolutionary process. The discoveries of genetics make clear that we share most of our DNA with other species (including insects and plants). And we know that our bodies are home to billions of bacteria and fungi, and depend on them for our health. At the same time, ecologists have discovered that there seem to be vanishingly few (perhaps no) human capacities that are not shared to some extent by other species, including communication and social organization (and this also extends to insects and plants). The whole of life forms a whole, within which homo sapiens is a single thread. If we don’t find a way of living within this web that treats it as a self-sustaining community, we shall surely perish.
There are some parts of the world where setting aside really large areas for re-wilding may have value – parts of the Scottish Highlands may fall into this category. But in most of Scotland, re-wilding is likely to fall victim to the binary trap, with chunks of ‘Nature’ interspersed with areas of conventional farming. There are several reasons why this would be problematic:
Nowhere in the world is now free from the effects of human activity; human withdrawal is impossible.
Insects, birds, mammals, even seeds don’t respect farm boundaries. Ecological health requires supportive habitat at landscape scale.
We still need to produce food. If withdrawing from substantial areas of land implies ever greater intensification of production, this will be ecologically counterproductive.
Above all, if we continue to evade the need to find a way of living responsibly within the ‘web of life’, exploitation and damage – affecting ourselves as well as the rest of life – will carry on. Cashing in ‘natural capital’ – as in the current carbon credit scam that is powering the explosion in commercial afforestation in Scotland – is no substitute for finding a place in an ecological community.
A holistic response would require suitable financial support for farming, replacing the old EU system. England appears to have chosen the binary route I have criticised above. ‘Public money for public goods’ is going largely into ‘re-wilded’ areas while at the same time farmers are encouraged to go high-tech and intensify even more on the rest of their land. (The rocketing prices of synthetic fertilizer, diesel and livestock feed – much of it sourced from imported ingredients from ecologically sensitive areas – might suggest that further intensification is a dead end.) The Scottish Government is still developing and consulting on a new framework, due to come in 2026, but seems to be focused on a more across-the-board, whole-farm approach that continues to support food production but increases the proportion of support going into biodiversity enhancement and greenhouse emissions reduction. This is a good start – though so far the proposals are far from sufficiently radical in my view. To come close to what is needed would demand a coherent framework of change in social as well as agricultural policy areas:
A large-scale shift towards regenerative farming methods; ecologically healthy soil is fundamental.
Social policies that ensure everyone can afford and has access to nutritious, good-quality, sustainably produced food.
A shift in diet towards a reduction in consumption of meat and dairy, and an increase in fruit and vegetables; and an appropriate response from food producers.
Support for local and community-based food supply chains, with the aim of cutting food miles, boosting food security and enhancing the local economy.
Radical land reform, aiming to reduce average farm holding size, which, alongside large-scale investment in training and financial support for new entrants, would boost the numbers of land workers; less capital intensity, more labour intensity – a healthy social ecology is an intrinsic part of a healthy web of life.
This is a challenging agenda, not least for farmers, especially in South West Scotland, where pretty well all of us are livestock farmers. Is it do-able? I don’t know. But I do believe that without it, the future of food production here is bleak and the future of the web of life even bleaker.
For more information about regenerative farming, visit www.dgsustainablefoodpartnership.org/regenerative-farming-network .
Richard Middleton