ITS EDUCATION ASIA ARTICLE

Planting a vision

By Danny Harrington, MD ITS Education Asia

The secret to rewilding success is about people, not trees. So says this article in The Guardian. We are getting to better understand that effective solutions to environmental issues need to recognize competing interests and seek to overcome/negate conflict before it becomes entrenched. We cannot simply demand that people prioritize the environment over their livelihoods and we need to remember that people’s ideas and attitudes to the countryside are deeply embedded and have been reinforced by lifetimes of imagery, language and common usage. The article covers the story of the Affric Highlands Scheme in Scotland and its ambitious aim to rewild 200,000 hectares with a key philosophy of “rewilding the people who live in it”……