[D66] Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the Frontiers of Rewilding

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  /Feral/ (Monbiot book)

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Searching for enchantment on the frontiers of rewilding
Author 	George Monbiot <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Monbiot>
Language 	English <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language>
Subject 	Rewilding 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rewilding_(conservation_biology)>
Genre 	non-fiction
Publisher 	Penguin Books <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin_Books>
Publication date
	October 2013
Published in English
	October 2013
Media type 	paperback
Pages 	316
ISBN <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)> 	978-1846147487 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1846147487>

/*Feral*/ is a book about rewilding 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rewilding_(conservation_biology)> by the 
British environmentalist George Monbiot 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Monbiot>. It was published by 
Allen Lane <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Lane> (a hardback 
imprint of the Penguin Group 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin_Group>) in 2013 with the full 
title /Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the Frontiers of Rewilding/. 
The book has also been published as /Feral: rewilding the land, sea and 
human life/ (paperback and American editions).^[1] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_(Monbiot_book)#cite_note-Penguin-1>

Monbiot looks at rewilding 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rewilding_(conservation_biology)> 
projects around the world. However, he pays particular attention to the 
scope for rewilding in the United Kingdom. He argues that overgrazing 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overgrazing> is a problem in the British 
uplands and calls for sheep numbers to be reduced so that areas can be 
rewilded.^[2] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_(Monbiot_book)#cite_note-i-2> Such 
ideas received criticism from organisations representing farmers, for 
example the Farmers' Union of Wales 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers%27_Union_of_Wales>.^[3] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_(Monbiot_book)#cite_note-3> On the 
other hand, the book received favourable reviews, including in 
publications normally hostile to Monbiot's work, such as /The Spectator 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spectator>/^[4] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_(Monbiot_book)#cite_note-4> and 
/The Daily Telegraph 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daily_Telegraph>/.^[5] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_(Monbiot_book)#cite_note-telegraphreview-5> 
Many reviewers were impressed by the lyrical nature of the book's prose 
style. According to the /New Statesman 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Statesman>'/s reviewer "something 
about the charm and persistence of Monbiot’s argument has the hypnotic 
effect of a stoat beguiling a hapless rabbit".^[6] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_(Monbiot_book)#cite_note-NS-6>


    Origin and Definition of ‘Rewilding’ Concept

By Monbiot's own account, rewilding was a fringe interest at the time he 
published the book.^[7] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_(Monbiot_book)#cite_note-NP-7> 
However, there had been attempts at rewilding in Britain such as "Wild 
Ennerdale" at Ennerdale, Cumbria 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ennerdale,_Cumbria>, a project which 
Monbiot finds limited in scope.

The word ‘rewilding’ entered the dictionary in 2011,^[6] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_(Monbiot_book)#cite_note-NS-6> with 
its definition greatly contested from the start.^[8] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_(Monbiot_book)#cite_note-8> 
Initially, it was defined as releasing captive animals into the wild, 
but the definition was soon expanded to describe the reintroduction of 
animal and plant species to habitats 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitat> from which they had been 
excised. In other circles, the term is used to indicate the 
rehabilitation of entire ecosystems, instead of particular species only. 
The definitions preferred by the author differ slightly from these, as 
they entail permitting ecological processes to resume (without human 
intervention), and embracing the fluctuations in the physical 
environment (instead of attempting to keep it in a state of arrested 
development). In summary, Monbiot defines the concept as follows: 
“Rewilding, to me, is about resisting the urge to control nature and 
allowing it to find its own way.” ^[9] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_(Monbiot_book)#cite_note-9>

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