Re: What role, if any, can hunting play in conservation?
Thanks to Inkcap, I found Benedict Macdonald's Rebirding, and it was in my local library. I would recommend it.
I'm not going to pretend that I understood everything or agreed with all the thinking, even going back over things a few times.
One in particular was the inclusion of hunting as an important part of rewilding/rebirding. It didn’t feel right.
But then I started to think about what made me baulk at the idea. I'm not a vegetarian, although I rarely eat meat, but do eat fish and seafood, and so when I thought about it, skilled, registered hunters paying well into the community to kill large mammals (as in the Swedish example) seemed no different to my neighbour giving me some trout he had spent the day enjoyably fishing, or me enjoying foraging for shellfish on my local beach. All involved hunting, killing and eating wild animals.
So I wondered, why have I got a problem with the idea? Or do I have a problem with the idea? One thing came to mind. Maybe it's more to do with the kind of people I perceive to be hunters (where I grew up, that would be the gentry), rather than the actual act of hunting.
Still not sure. A lot to think about, so looking forward to exploring this and other issues on Incap’s Future Land.
I recently read in the Guardian about two lads who are keen to breed all kinds of amphibians and reptiles in order to "re-wild" our countryside with "missing species". A discussion of the planning of re-introductions (and introductions) might be topical. Uncontrolled releases by random enthusiasts is potentially disastrous, yet their passion for nature is laudable.
Someone involved in Red Squirrel conservation in England. As all there work is being undone by the fact that grey squirrels roam freely in the vast majority of the country
Hannah Marshall from the Woodland Trust might be good to chat too about what the UK's Woodland should look like. Shes helping create the northern forest.
Re: What role, if any, can hunting play in conservation?
Thanks to Inkcap, I found Benedict Macdonald's Rebirding, and it was in my local library. I would recommend it.
I'm not going to pretend that I understood everything or agreed with all the thinking, even going back over things a few times.
One in particular was the inclusion of hunting as an important part of rewilding/rebirding. It didn’t feel right.
But then I started to think about what made me baulk at the idea. I'm not a vegetarian, although I rarely eat meat, but do eat fish and seafood, and so when I thought about it, skilled, registered hunters paying well into the community to kill large mammals (as in the Swedish example) seemed no different to my neighbour giving me some trout he had spent the day enjoyably fishing, or me enjoying foraging for shellfish on my local beach. All involved hunting, killing and eating wild animals.
So I wondered, why have I got a problem with the idea? Or do I have a problem with the idea? One thing came to mind. Maybe it's more to do with the kind of people I perceive to be hunters (where I grew up, that would be the gentry), rather than the actual act of hunting.
Still not sure. A lot to think about, so looking forward to exploring this and other issues on Incap’s Future Land.
I recently read in the Guardian about two lads who are keen to breed all kinds of amphibians and reptiles in order to "re-wild" our countryside with "missing species". A discussion of the planning of re-introductions (and introductions) might be topical. Uncontrolled releases by random enthusiasts is potentially disastrous, yet their passion for nature is laudable.
Someone involved in Red Squirrel conservation in England. As all there work is being undone by the fact that grey squirrels roam freely in the vast majority of the country
Have a look at ‘ How to Value a Skylark’ the Countryside in a time of Change’ or look at www.bedscountryfile.Wordpress. com. Brian Kerr
Hannah Marshall from the Woodland Trust might be good to chat too about what the UK's Woodland should look like. Shes helping create the northern forest.