By William Stolzenburg
January-March 2006 (Vol. 7, No. 1)
Discussion Questions
- What were the key premises agreed upon by the 12 co-authors of the “Rewilding” paper? Do you agree with these premises? Is there any other information that would be helpful to you in considering this?
- Why do the co-authors of this paper consider it to be an optimistic proposal?
- What is the relevance of Zimov’s research on Siberian tundra, and that of Springer and Estes on North Pacific marine mammals to the rewilding proposal for the North American continent?
- What is the rationale behind using ecological “proxies” for restoration? What are the potential advantages and disadvantages of this strategy?
- The author states that the scientific response to this proposal has “uncannily skirted the science.” What does he mean by this? Do you agree?
- What do the rewilding proposal and responses to it suggest about the relationship between the scientific and social/political aspects of conservation biology in general?
Websites for Further Information
- The Rewilding Institute: www.rewilding.org
- The Wildlands Network
Rewilding in the News
- www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2005-08-17-rewilding_x.htm
- www.csmonitor.com/2005/0830/p08s02-comv.html
Key Concepts
- Ecological restoration
- Rewilding
- Pleistocene overkill hypothesis
- Continental conservation
- Large mammal conservation
