Rewilding Scotland
Monday 6th September 2021, 7:00pm
Venue: via Zoom:
https://uofglasgow.zoom.us/j/94251609123?pwd=SzhPUEtXNFlMMkwwK1pOWWtpWHJZQT09
Passcode: 820813
Speaker: David Hetherington
Over the centuries, Scotland is thought to have lost 8 species of large land mammal, as well as a wide range of other wildlife, due to a range of human pressures such as deforestation, wetland drainage, overhunting and persecution. Lost species started to be actively restored to the Scottish countryside in the 18th century, but many are still missing or are absent from large areas. As Scotland strives to tackle the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis by, for example, significantly expanding woodland cover and restoring damaged wetlands and peatlands, are we willing to consider sharing our countryside with missing animals such as large carnivores, considered for so long to be anachronistic in modern, economically-flourishing landscapes but which nevertheless can have a significant ecological role to play.
Unlike wolves and bears that weaved their way into our childhood consciousness, the lynx is largely unknown to us. What do these secretive ambush hunters look like? What do they eat? How do they live? And how do they get on with people? Using examples from across Europe, The Lynx and Us describes how this enigmatic predator is recovering lost ground and, crucially, what that means for the human population in this, the busiest of continents. It seems likely that Britain will be the last corner of Europe without any of its missing large predators. This book concludes therefore, with a question: What would it mean to live once more alongside Europe’s largest cat, the Eurasian lynx? The Lynx and Us is a 168-page hardback sumptuously illustrated with the stunning photography of Laurent Geslin, whose portfolio of wild lynx images taken in the mountains of Switzerland is the finest available.
David completed his PhD at the University of Aberdeen on the feasibility of reintroducing the Eurasian lynx to Scotland, before starting work with the Cairngorms National Park Authority, where his focus these days is helping deliver both woodland expansion and wildcat conservation across the UK’s largest national park. In his spare time , David sits on the board of rewilding charity Trees for Life, the Ecological Advisory Board for the Ardtornish Estate in Lochaber, and the Conservation Advisory Group for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.