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ABC News
a day ago
- General
- ABC News
Australia's 'guerilla rewilders' skirt rules and take conservation into own hands
John Wamsley is considered the grandfather of rewilding in Australia. ( ABC: Che Chorley ) Amid an extinction crisis, some amateur conservationists are taking matters into their own hands, releasing threatened animals on their properties. It's skirting rules and worrying scientists. But the guerilla rewilders say it's too late to wait for permission. It's the early 1980s and the grandfather of rewilding in Australia, John Wamsley, is rescuing native animals from extinction. One of those is the near-threatened brush-tailed bettong. Dr Wamsley obtained some of the small kangaroo-like marsupials and set them free on his property. According to Dr Wamsley, his sanctuary at Warrawong in the Adelaide Hills contained more than half the world's remaining population of these special bettongs at the time. Enclosed within the feral-proof fence, with no predators, they began to breed and breed and breed. Soon, there were simply too many to contain on the property. John Wamsley is considered the grandfather of rewilding in Australia. ( ABC: Che Chorley ) "I had to either let them destroy themselves or shoot 75 per cent of them," Dr Wamsley says. He decided to shoot them. "I probably shot half of the western brushtail bettongs left in the world that day. I had tears in my eyes doing it, but there was nothing I could do." This was the first chapter of Australia's rewilding story. But it was far from the last. Australia is now home to a number of unauthorised projects trying to repopulate the continent with endangered animals. It's called guerilla rewilding. And the issues that plagued Dr Wamsley continue to plague some of the attempts today. On a property two hours west of Melbourne, Roy Pails is on a similar mission to rewild his property. Over two years Mr Pails painstakingly built a feral-proof fence around 80 acres of land he owns, dubbing the area Sunset Sanctuary. He introduced native mammals such as bandicoots, bettongs and potoroos. But there's just one problem. Roy Pails created Sunset Sanctuary two hours west of Melbourne. ( ABC: Patrick Stone ) He didn't have any kind of approval to set the animals free. His animal licence says they need to be caged. "There's no rule saying you can't put them in a big cage," Mr Pails quips. "So I thought, well, I've done the right thing. I've got the animals in a big cage. They're free roaming and they're happy." But that's not how Victoria's environment department sees it. "They don't like what I've done now apparently," Mr Pails says. This is not the first time he has had a run-in with the department. In his previous life as a pet shop owner, Mr Pails pleaded guilty to a number of breaches of the terms of his wildlife licence. That included three counts of selling wildlife he didn't have a licence for and two counts of displaying protected wildlife at his shop. Now, Mr Pails has inadvertently joined an international movement of rogue rewilders who are sidestepping regulations and taking the extinction crisis into their own hands. Scientists warn that this practice, commonly referred to as guerilla or rogue rewilding, risks harming animals and does little for biodiversity. "I think that's the real danger … you create a sort of cowboy world where people can do whatever they like and you don't actually get good outcomes," says Richard Kingsford, an ecologist from UNSW, who runs one of the biggest official rewilding projects in Australia. It can result in the starvation and inbreeding of animals, but it also poses major risks for Australia's biosecurity, the professor says. As you enter Mr Pails's property, you're greeted by an enormous sign: "Welcome to Sunset Sanctuary. Wild lives matter." Mr Pails has a throng of supporters for what he's done at Sunset Sanctuary who donate money and offer support on his social media page. "We could protect so many more endangered animals if we can get rid of some of this paperwork," he says. Mr Pails says he knows of other rogue rewilders who are yet to be discovered by the department and are watching his case with trepidation. One of those individuals spoke to the ABC under the condition of anonymity, fearing repercussions from the department. "The ship for purists, 'only trained scientists can do this' … that ship has sailed. We just have to start acting rather than talking," they said. A history of guerilla rewilding Guerilla rewilding is the act of introducing native animals to an area without the permission of a regulatory body such as a state environment department. There have been examples of this overseas — there's the infamous "beaver bomber" of Belgium, lynxes being released into the Scottish Highlands, and the suspicious re-emergence of the UK's native wild boars. There's usually a libertarian or anti-red-tape element to the practice; people fed up with regulators' often risk-averse approach to restoring nature or, in this case, saving threatened and endangered species. John Wamsley is considered the grandfather of rewilding in Australia. ( ABC: Che Chorley ) One of the most famous Australian examples of this is conservationist John Wamsley's rewilding work in the 1980s. John Wamsley is considered the grandfather of rewilding in Australia. ( ABC: Che Chorley ) "I think there were about 40 government departments or something I had to get approval from, and that takes time … What I decided to do after that was just all the time was to build those sanctuaries without approval," Dr Wamsley says. John Wamsley is considered the grandfather of rewilding in Australia. ( ABC: Che Chorley ) "And that way it's a lot easier to gain forgiveness than it is to gain approval, especially if you can get the media onside." John Wamsley was a major innovator in the conservation space and a voice for threatened species when very few people seemed to care. He was a major inspiration to Mr Pails. "If he hadn't started, some of those animals wouldn't be here," Mr Pails says. And so he set about making his own sanctuary. In 2018, Mr Pails carefully studied how to construct a feral-proof fence via the internet and enlisted his family's help. By 2020, he started sourcing animals for his project. Mr Pails was able to obtain endangered Australian marsupials using a Victorian advanced wildlife licence, typically used to keep pets. While the animals were legally sourced, what Mr Pails did with them next exposes a major loophole for people looking to rewild their properties. He released the animals inside the feral-proof-fenced area, where they roam and breed freely. And while that may sound idyllic, it poses all kinds of headaches for regulators and scientists. The loophole is in question, as is the health and welfare of the animals in projects like Mr Pails's. Trading animals Rewilders trade animals such as bandicoots in what's been described as a bartering system between sanctuaries around Australia. They are sourced from conservation-minded sanctuaries that also have free-roaming endangered Australian marsupials inside feral-proofed fences. But it turns out those sanctuaries aren't always paying close attention to where their animals end up. The ABC approached some of the sanctuaries that supplied Mr Pails with animals. Potoroo Palace, based in Merimbula, claims to have not known the animals were for a personal rewilding project and said it was difficult to know a different state's licence conditions. This is despite the owner of the sanctuary, Alexandra Seddon, commenting on a Facebook post of Mr Pails, saying she was happy the animals were part of the "brilliant" project. Animals roam and breed inside feral-proof areas. ( ABC: Che Chorley ) Rewilders trade animals in a bartering system between sanctuaries. ( ABC: Che Chorley ) Softfoot Marsupial Sanctuary in South Australia, speaking more broadly, says it is typically satisfied with detailed images of a feral-proof fence and a licence number of the purchaser. It admits that mistakes have been made in the past: animals they sold were not looked after adequately and badly constructed fences allowed ferals into the sanctuaries where they were homed. "You do the best you can, and if it goes wrong you just regret it," owner Sandy Retallick said. These were legal transactions, but Mr Pails's licence required him to keep the animals caged. This is Wild Deserts, a feral-proof-fenced sanctuary in the desert of north-west New South Wales. It's home to some of Australia's most threatened desert mammals. And it's where rewilding becomes serious science. Professor Richard Kingsford is a rewilding expert. ( ABC: Bill Ormonde ) Today, Richard Kingsford is preparing to capture and release golden bandicoots. The professor has been in the rewilding space for decades and is considered an expert on the topic. Brush-tailed bettongs are a key species for the Wild Deserts project. ( ABC: Bill Ormonde ) He says it can take several years to get approval for rewilding projects — and he thinks that's appropriate. "I guess in the sort of grey area where people have sanctuaries and they're moving animals around, it just doesn't seem right that they're able to do that." Roy Pails works on the fence at Sunset Sanctuary. ( ABC: Patrick Stone ) Professor Kingsford has serious concerns about Mr Pails's sanctuary. "It sounds like it's not nearly a big enough area. Roy Pails won't be giving up on his dream of running his own rewilding project. ( ABC: Patrick Stone ) "They're all either feeding on vegetation or perhaps invertebrates, so there will be a lot of competition going on, and I'd be really worried about their long-term welfare and their survival. "I've got lots of questions about that, and they're not good questions." Professor Kingsford also has biosecurity concerns. "Are they the animals that live in that environment or have you got them from another part of Australia? Those are real challenges in terms of pest species." A group of scientists from the United Kingdom took to the journal Nature late last year, expressing their frustration at guerilla rewilders in the publication's reader correspondence. "They erode public trust in evidence-based conservation, they inflame polarised discourse around the already-sensitive issue of species reintroduction, and they undermine the leadership of public environmental agencies," they wrote. The group advocated for evidence-based, ecologically sustainable conservation. "Ultimately, deliberative collective action, although slower, will be more productive and is more likely to produce lasting conservation gains." What happens over time? It's night at Sunset Sanctuary and Mr Pails is preparing to give out food supplements to the animals in the sanctuary. He's currently experiencing drought and says he has no choice but to offer feed. Mr Pails has big concerns about overpopulation and the inbreeding of his animals. In this 80-acre space, he struggles to keep count of the animals, but believes he had hundreds at one point. These are the kinds of predicaments Professor Kingsford is concerned about. "If you get it wrong, you can do a lot of damage … It needs to be properly regulated as wildlife licensing should be." The longevity of these projects is another welfare concern. And troubles at a NSW sanctuary for the threatened parma wallaby is a stark demonstration. During the COVID-19 pandemic, businessman Peter Piggott, who famously saved the small wallaby from extinction, and his family took to the media asking for help with the translocated parma wallaby population that had been living at a reserve in Mount Wilson for half a century. According to his daughter, Heidi Piggott-Irwin, the animals had bred up to 300 individuals and the fence keeping them safe from predators had fallen into disrepair. "Dad's 88, so, it is just too much for him now," Mrs Piggott-Irwin says. Luckily the family has received help from WIRES and NSW National Parks, which are relocating some of the animals into official state government safe havens. "The breeding would not stop … It's best they go to sanctuaries that are managed by national parks," Mrs Piggott-Irwin says. Professor Kingsford says longevity is a major issue for private sanctuaries. "If you have a private sanctuary and things go pear-shaped for the animals or even personally and you can't afford to do it anymore, what happens?" 'Dragging the chain' Ash (not his real name), another rogue rewilder, says the Victorian government doesn't care about wildlife. "They're dragging the chain. "It's a department [Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action] made up of bureaucrats. That's all they are. They have no actual moral investment in what they're doing." Ash created his sanctuary in 2016 and like Mr Pails used his pet licence to obtain endangered Australian animals, releasing them inside a feral-proof fence encircling 56 hectares. Richard Kingsford says longevity is a major issue for private sanctuaries. ( ABC: Che Chorley ) It can be difficult to keep count of animal numbers in private sanctuaries. ( ABC: Che Chorley ) Ash has evaded the state environment department because the department does not conduct routine in-person checks on every licence holder. He is advocating for an entirely new licence that allows private individuals to rewild. "We can't just have cowboys doing stuff everywhere." Ash doesn't see himself or Mr Pails as one of those cowboys. "If Roy's story was taken to a public vote, everybody knows what the answer would be." Do you know more about this story? You can securely contact angelaheathcote@ Good intentions, bad consequences Mr Pails's advanced wildlife licence has been cancelled by the state environment department, placing him on a retention permit while it works out what to do about Sunset Sanctuary. "They're protecting them to extinction because you can't do nothing," he says. Roy Pails began building Sunset Sanctuary in 2018. ( ABC: Patrick Stone ) Chief conservation regulator Kate Gavens says the Victorian government did not approve Mr Pails's application due to significant concerns about animal welfare and the conservation value of the activities at the property. The regulator also says it has concerns about feeding regimes and the genetic health of the population, which makes them "unsuitable" for any breeding program. Richard Kingsford argues rewilding is a complex science that needs checks and balances. ( ABC: Bill Ormonde ) Professor Kingsford says he's got problems with any kind of rewilding project that is not scientifically rigorous. "My problem with some of this guerilla rewilding is it's just happening and people are throwing things in. No-one's actually looking at whether it was a success or failure." One of the many creatures released at the Wild Deserts sanctuary in north-west NSW. ( ABC: Bill Ormonde ) But he acknowledges the good intentions behind these acts. "It's probably a response by people wanting to do the right thing for the environment and not realising just how complicated it is. Professor Kingsford has concerns about private sanctuaries. ( ABC: Bill Ormonde ) "How do we actually get that right so that individuals can do the right thing, it doesn't cost them an arm and a leg, and they understand the long-term consequences?" Watch ABC TV's Landline at 12:30pm AEST on Sunday or stream anytime on ABC iview. Credits
The Independent
4 days ago
- Science
- The Independent
Return of white storks to the UK described as 'emblem' for nature recovery
White storks, once common in Britain, disappeared centuries ago due to hunting and habitat loss, but conservationists are working to reintroduce them. A reintroduction project in southern England, started in 2016, uses rescued storks to establish breeding colonies and attract wild birds. The Knepp Estate in West Sussex, which has been "rewilded" since 2000, provides a habitat where storks thrive due to healthy soils, diverse insect life, and suitable nesting trees. The first chicks were born in 2020, and in 2024, at least six birds born at Knepp returned from migration to nest in the colony, indicating a healthy ecosystem. The success at Knepp demonstrates that habitat restoration can lead to the return of species, with white storks serving as an "emblem for nature recovery" and positively impacting other wildlife.
BBC News
4 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Ilkeston golf course rewilding project nears completion
A new nature reserve created on the former greens and fairways of a municipal golf course will be opened to the public later this ribbon is set to be cut on the 25-acre Pewit Coronation Meadows rewilding project on 24 June followed by a guided to Ilkeston's disused Pewit municipal golf course began in August 2023 to create a patchwork of "open mosaic habitats" to encourage a variety of Erewash Borough Council-owned course had shut in 2022 due to "substantial financial operating losses". More than 1,500 trees and shrubs have been planted including oaks and sweet chestnuts, said the council. A network of new paths and picnic benches have been installed, and wildflower butterfly and bug banks will link to the wider Nutbrook Trail plus the green spaces of Straws Bridge, Manor Floods and Pewit £500,000 project has been funded by central government and businesses involved in the redevelopment of the old Stanton council said Natural England and Derbyshire Wildlife Trust had both backed the February 2024, the council had planned to sell a nine-acre slice of the site for housing but after a campaign said the development proposal "ignored the wishes of local people" a decision was made to rewild the entire site.
Forbes
5 days ago
- Health
- Forbes
Urban Rewilding Makes Cities More Biodiverse And Better For Our Health
Two new studies show that successful efforts to bring animals back into global cities come with widespread benefits The reintroduction of kākā to Wellington is just one of several successful programs designed to ... More re-wild the world's cities. Other research suggests that easy access to biodiverse regions improves human health The kākā (Nestor meridionalis) is a large parrot found only in Aotearoa New Zealand. Its olive-brown plumage, grey head, and red-orange underwing and belly mean that it can easily blend into dense forest canopies. Its agile wings allow it to weave silently through tree trunks and branches. And thanks to its strong beak and claws, the kākā is a skilled forager, eating everything from insects and seeds, to nectar and fruit. The first time I ever saw a kākā in person was not in a native forest, as you might expect. It was in a hilly part of New Zealand's capital city, Wellington (Te Whanganui-a-Tara), a short walk from a busy road. Their presence is the result not of luck, but of a decades-long conservation effort that's a story in itself. At the heart of it is a fenced, 225-hectare sanctuary called Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne. In 2000, it became 'the world's first zone in an urban environment free from introduced mammals.' Two years later, less than ten captive-bred kākā were introduced to the sanctuary with the aim of breeding them – the first time the birds had been seen in the city in close to a century. By 2018/19, that population had swelled to over 1,000 kākā, and it spilled out into the wider city. Today, it's relatively common to see (and hear) these intelligent parrots socializing in flocks, or if you're very lucky, on your balcony. Looking after our urban native birds* has become a city-wide obsession. Alongside Zealandia, the department of Conservation, the city council, and national organizations like Predator Free NZ, volunteers work to restore native plants in the city's numerous reserves and parks, to provide habitat and food for the birds. Traps to catch rats, possums, and stoats are scattered across key parts of the urban landscape, with hundreds of locals offering their gardens as trapping sites. All of their effort is paying off. Between 2011 and 2024, annual counts of kākā increased by 170%, and for kererū (the NZ wood pigeon famed for getting 'drunk' on fermented fruit) the increase was a staggering 243%. In the same period, populations of my two favorite birds, the tūī (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae) and pīwakawaka (NZ fantail) have increased by 93% and 37% respectively. In other parts of city, kiwi are successfully being reintroduced. The remarkably effective 8.6km-long fence that encloses the Zealandia sanctuary is made of tight, ... More mouse-proof wire mesh which extends into the ground. Its height (2.1-2.4m) and rounded cap help to ensure that introduced mammals and predators cannot enter by climbing, either. At 25 years old, the fence is nearing the end of its lifespan. Plans are underway to begin replacing it Wellington is not the only city working to reintroduce animal (fauna) species to its urban jungle. A new paper from a group of Australian ecologists, published in the journal Bioscience, looked specifically at efforts to reverse unprecedented biodiversity decline through urban rewilding. While there is no singular definition of the term 'urban rewilding' – it has been adapted and changed over time – these authors offer their own rather wordy version: 'the reintroduction of locally extirpated, missing, or surrogate faunal species into habitat patches, parks, and reserves within or adjacent to human commercial or residential areas.' With that description in mind, the ecologists searched existing scientific databases for real-world examples of successful urban rewilding. Of the 120 relevant studies they identified, two-thirds focused exclusively on vegetation, and just 17 'documented active terrestrial faunal species re-introductions into urban environments.' Wellington's work with kākā was one of them. Some of the other successes include a project to reintroduce beavers to London for the first time in 400 years, peregrine falcons now nesting on Chicago high-rises, the oriental pied hornbill breeding in Singapore, and a baby platypus spotted in a Sydney park a few months after five pairs has been reintroduced. The aim of urban rewilding typically goes beyond the recovery of particular species. Community engagement, education, and cultural restoration all play roles in these projects, as lead author Dr Patrick Finnerty explains, 'They reconnect people with nature – an antidote to what researchers call nature deficit disorder. In today's urban environments, many children can name hundreds of brands but often not a single native bird or mammal. Bringing wildlife back into daily life improves mental health, fosters environmental stewardship, and reminds us that nature isn't something 'out there'.' A family of 5 beavers, 2 adults and 3 kits, were released back into Paradise Fields reserve in west ... More London, for the first time in 400 project is part of the London Mayor, Sadiq Khan's, 'Rewild London' fund. (Photo by) There is a group of social scientists in China who would agree with Finnerty's conclusions on health. Their (unconnected) paper, published in the journal Nature Cities just a few days after the Australian one, looked not at urban rewilding, but at the accessibility and mental health impact of 'biodiversity-rich recreational areas' close to cities. There have been a large number of studies which show that having more green areas in a city comes with physical and mental health benefits to its residents. And there's some evidence that the quality of that green space matters, with, for example, wooded areas linked to lower levels of hypertension than a grass lawn. However, understanding the relationship between nature experiences and mental well-being is complex, and is likely influenced by how easily someone can 'access' nature – is it on their doorstep, or do they need to travel long distances to reach it? This study, which looked at 9,034 cities scattered around the world, aimed to 'bridge [the] divide between biodiversity conservation and public health research.' In each city, the researchers analyzed how accessible and affordable it is for residents to reach biodiverse regions. Their second research question was around the mental health impact of visiting biodiversity-rich recreational areas – they wanted to know how cost-effective such access can be as a public health intervention in the treatment of anxiety and depression. Having easy access to lush, green forest can improve city-dwellers' mental health (photo from Long ... More Bay Coastal Okura Track in Auckland). They found that 96.7% of cities are within a two-hour journey to a biodiversity-rich recreational area, but that accessibility was not evenly distributed. Cities in Europe, Oceania, and North America had the best access to such areas, with 85% of them able to reach one within 15 min. For the majority of cities in South America and Asia, travel times were closer to an hour. The lowest accessibility (and highest travel cost ratios) was seen in cities in sub-Saharan Africa, West Asia and Southeast Asia, where many residents are more than 4 hours away from one of these areas. In terms of using biodiversity-rich recreational area visits as a public mental health intervention, the researchers found that it would be 'very cost effective' in 242 cities and 'cost-effective' in 1206 cities. Most of these cities were in high-income countries in Europe, North America and South America. But they say that if travel costs were excluded from the analysis, the benefits of accessing biodiversity-rich recreational areas would be a cost-effective mental health intervention in every city they studied. In other words, if these areas were easier to reach, everyone would benefit. The authors conclude, 'Realizing the untapped potential of accessible biodiversity-rich recreational areas to cities could substantially enhance their benefits via a number of interventions. For instance….the restoration and rewilding of degraded areas near cities…[and] progressively expanding protected areas.' --- * The focus is on birds is because New Zealand's only native mammals are bats and marine mammals (like seals, dolphins and whales).
BBC News
6 days ago
- General
- BBC News
People asked for views on protecting nature in South Kesteven
People in Lincolnshire are being asked for their views on protecting Kesteven District Council is consulting on its biodiversity plan, including setting aside land as wildlife authority said the feedback would help it "refine and develop its future direction and actions".The consultation runs until 30 June. Councillor Rhys Baker, cabinet member for environment and waste, said it was a chance for residents, landowners and organisations "to have your say"."I would encourage anyone who has an interest in wildlife and their habitats to take part in this consultation on biodiversity and rewilding," he said."We would like to know what you think of our existing rewilding sites and if there are any other areas of council-owned land you think might be suitable for a biodiversity scheme. "We are also keen to establish how best we can support other organisations and community and voluntary groups to set aside areas of their own land for the benefit of nature."Your feedback will help us measure public support for existing council locations and will also inform us as to how we can best support other organisations to promote biodiversity."Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
