Feral: Rewilding the Land, the Sea, and Human Life

Written by George Monbiot

Narrated by Julian Elfer

To be an environmentalist early in the twenty-first century is always to be defending, arguing, acknowledging the hurdles we face in our efforts to protect wild places and fight climate change. But let's be honest: hedging has never inspired anyone.



So what if we stopped hedging? What if we grounded our efforts to solve environmental problems in hope instead, and let nature make our case for us? That's what George Monbiot does in Feral, a lyrical, unabashedly romantic vision of how, by inviting nature back into our lives, we can simultaneously cure our "ecological boredom" and begin repairing centuries of environmental damage. Monbiot takes listeners on an enchanting journey around the world to explore ecosystems that have been "rewilded": freed from human intervention and allowed—in some cases for the first time in millennia—to resume their natural ecological processes. We share his awe, and wonder, as he kayaks among dolphins and seabirds off the coast of Wales and wanders the forests of Eastern Europe, where lynx and wolf packs are reclaiming their ancient hunting grounds. Through his eyes, we see environmental success—and begin to envision a future world where humans and nature are no longer separate and antagonistic, but are together part of a single, healing world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Aug 20, 2019
• ISBN: 9781515933465

George Monbiot

Periodista, académico, escritor, ecologista y activista político británico. Tiene una columna semanal en el periódico The Guardian. Lleva treinta años tomándole el pulso al planeta y al mismo tiempo certificando el escaso avance ante nuestra principal «amenaza existencial». Es autor, entre otros best sellers, de los libros The Age of Consent: A Manifesto for a New World Order (La era del consenso: manifiesto para un nuevo orden mundial) y Heat (Calor: cómo parar el calentamiento global). Es el fundador de The Land is Ours, una campaña pacífica por el derecho de acceso al campo y a sus recursos en el Reino Unido. En enero de 2010, Monbiot fundó la página web ArrestBlair.org, que ofrece una recompensa a las personas que intenten detener al ex primer ministro británico Tony Blair por presuntos crímenes contra la paz. Tiene doctorados honorarios de la Universidad de St. Andrews y la Universidad de Essex, y una beca honoraria de la Universidad de Cardiff. En 1995, Nelson Mandela le entregó un Premio Global de las Naciones Unidas por ser un destacado defensor medioambiental. Fue ganador del Lloyds National Screenwriting Prize con su guion de The Norwegian, así como del Sir Peter Kent Award y el OneWorld National Press Award. En noviembre de 2007, su libro Heat fue galardonado con el Premio Mazotti, pero se negó a recoger el premio en Venecia, argumentando que no era razón suficiente para volar.

Reviews for Feral

[Baron Sekiya · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Book droned on and on like a 10-hour David Attenborough movie. Some interesting parts but way too stretched out.

[pdcread · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The landscape of the UK has been tamed by man and domestic animal for millennia, so much so that vast parts of it are almost monocultures now. This legacy is one of the human desire to control and dominate their environment, and biodiversity has suffered as a result. In this book Monbiot is advocating us to re-engage with nature and considers bold and daring options to re-wild the countryside.

Possibly the bravest of his suggestions is to reintroduce wolves. First hearing this, most people will raise their hands in horror because of the danger, but as has been proven in America, and other parts of Europe, the reintroduction of a top level predator can shake the natural environment completely. For example, having wolves back in Scotland will mean that the deer population can be controlled naturally, less deer will mean that the vegetation can grow and recover, and all these have a massive effect on the animals and plants up and down the food chain. The planned and accidental introduction of beavers seems to have worked, with the changes that they make to the river systems hopefully will have a knock on effect by reducing flooding.

He isn’t a huge fan of sheep either... These simple, harmless animals cause massive devastation to the landscape, almost to the point where there is more life in a desert that on the Welsh uplands. Areas that have had sheep excluded, within a handful of years will have a rich variety of flora and fauna. The same principle applies to oceans; the modern way of trawling with dragnets wreaks utter devastation to the ocean floor. Simply banning that type of fishing in certain areas, and limiting activity in the margin of the zone will have a similar effect fairly soon too.

But as ever change is never straightforward.

Monbiot is normally a political writer, and as you’d expect there is a political element to this book. He considers the effects that the common agricultural policy has on our landscape, in particular that very little land can be left to go wild and must always be managed to be able to claim subsidies. There is a part on the failed re-wilding undertaken by the Germans, and also the evidence that our present native trees had evolved to cope with the mega fauna such as elephants and rhino that used to live here.

There is at the moment precious political will to change things, coupled with powerful (and frequently absent) landowners with little desire for change, things are not going to happen soon. For change as bold as this there needs to be full commitment from all stakeholders and parties involved, and I for one would like to see the reintroduction of the top level predators and the return of proper wilderness to parts of Britain.

It is a well written and passionate plea for the necessary revolution that is needed in our natural world. Well worth reading.

[stbalbach_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Feral is a generous wide-ranging look at how humans manage natural resources. Specially focused on where Monbiot is from, Britain. It is memoir of his outdoor adventures which leads to natural history and talks with locals on both sides of the debate. It examines sea life, plants, ecosystems and animals. It discusses current-day policy and practice. Monbiot is a fantastic writer and deep thinker. It reminds me in style and focus of another famous book on rewilding, A Sand County Almanac. I'm not British but always found its heathlands and moorlands as strange - why not trees? Turns out because laws encourage not growing trees while maintaining a sort of desert mono-culture. The few places that are allowed to return to nature become wildly beautiful and bountiful that cost less to maintain, produce more revenue for the state, restore the land and soil from centuries of abuse, allow visitors to reconnect with nature, clean the air and carbon etc.. and yet. Conservatism prevents it, nothing changes because certain people want nothing to change. Nevertheless the ice dam is start to thaw, groups in Scotland have begun restoring forests that will take generations but the sceptics are slowly being won over, one at a time.

[adrianburke_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Hard to stop reading this. A challenging read but an important one which made me see the landscape differently.

[deckehoe · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've always enjoyed and found myself vigorously nodding in agreement with Monbiot's articles in The Guardian so this book tempted me hugely. It didn't disappoint. I agree fully with his rewilding vision and this call of the wild stirred something deep inside this suburbanite.

[jbheffernan_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book. It helped me think about rewilding clearly.

[jenmdb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I don't know if the introduction to my Canadian edition of Feral is different to those buying the book in the UK or the US, but it is a scathing indictment of Canada's environmental record and particularly, the Canadian government's failure to listen to the science.

Monbiot's idea of "rewilding" is "about revisiting the urge to control nature and allowing it to find its own way". In most places that means humans have to stop large scale activities that interfere with ecosystems (commercial fishing, forestry, sheep grazing etc). In some places that means reintroducing species that have become extinct through hunting (like wild boar in the UK).

I am not a scientist but I appreciate learning about trophic cascades and Shifting Baseline Syndrome and about the remains of hippopotamus under Trafalgar Square.I am a fan of great writing and I appreciate the descriptive writing of kayaking off the Welsh coast or walking in the rain in a Scottish glen. And as a human, I appreciate the personal stories that Monbiot shares about his time in the Amazonian rainforest or with the Masai in Kenya.

If you read Heat, Monbiot's book about global warming, your probably finished it feeling thoroughly depressed. Feral is much more positive in tone and there is much to be said for the delight that a rewilded ecosystem might bring.