Rewilding is a rich man’s game, but if local communities are excluded, it won’t succeed

‘My experience in tourism tells me that tensions will rise and projects will fail without local community consultation and benefit’, says Justin Francis, CEO of Responsible Travel, in a contribution for Inews.co.uk.

Let’s not mince our words: nature is dying. And without it, we [have] no future. […]

Done well, rewilding is not cheap. Which leads to the [following] question: who’s paying?

The billionaires made a start. US clothing entrepreneur Douglas Tompkins acquired more than two million acres of Argentinian land from the mid-90s in the interests of conservation. In Scotland, Danish billionaire Anders Povlsen has bought up more than 220,000 acres of wilderness since 2006. Just last month, German tycoon Christoph Henkel bought the 13,000-acre Kilchoan estate for rewilding and tourism.

And now, big business has joined the party – companies from Brewdog to Aviva are buying up vast tracts of UK land to rewild. It is great for their PR, with the perk of enabling them to “offset” their carbon emissions.

Businesses, farmers and landowners can also benefit from new government grants for nature recovery and profit from selling carbon credits. It is a scale of investment in nature I’ve dreamed of. […].

So what’s the issue?

Bidding wars have resulted in land value soaring, with local residents increasingly priced out. Without regulation, it risks local livelihoods, economies, heritage – even our access to nature.

I was struck by the recent story of an experienced Welsh tenant farmer who, finally able to purchase his own piece of land and having agreed the sale price, was outbid by a London-based private equity firm intent on planting non-native conifers for timber and carbon credits.

[…]

If we design rewilding bottom up – community-first – then it leads us to:

1) Large-scale rewilding that has the support of local communities – with local people contributing their skills and knowledge, sharing their cultural heritage and crafts as part of visitor experiences, preserving jobs and access.

2) Small-scale rewilding initiated by, and for, local communities on disused land, verges, playing fields or church grounds. I’m very impressed with WildEast’s Map of Dreams, where hundreds of people and organisations have pledged some rewilding.

[…]

I want rewilding to benefit all of us, because it’s right – and because that is how it will grow fastest. Grants for landowners, and approvals to sell carbon credits, should come with a requirement for community benefit. Perhaps this way we can rewild ourselves and discover the will to save our planet and our futures.

Justin Francis is the CEO of Responsible Travel.

This is an excerpt from an article originally written by Justin Francis and published by Inews.co.uk.