Promoting grazing or rewilding initiatives against rural exodus? The return of the wolf and other large carnivores must be considered
Summary The human abandonment of rural areas facilitates rewilding, which is also supported by European projects and initiatives. Rewilding often implies the return of iconic predators such as the wolf ( Canis lupus ), leading to human–wildlife conflicts. To reverse human depopulation, initiatives s...
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Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2020
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0376892920000284 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0376892920000284 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0376892920000284 2024-09-15T18:01:19+00:00 Promoting grazing or rewilding initiatives against rural exodus? The return of the wolf and other large carnivores must be considered Recio, Mariano R Sand, Håkan Virgós, Emilio 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0376892920000284 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0376892920000284 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Environmental Conservation volume 47, issue 4, page 269-276 ISSN 0376-8929 1469-4387 journal-article 2020 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0376892920000284 2024-08-14T04:02:59Z Summary The human abandonment of rural areas facilitates rewilding, which is also supported by European projects and initiatives. Rewilding often implies the return of iconic predators such as the wolf ( Canis lupus ), leading to human–wildlife conflicts. To reverse human depopulation, initiatives such as the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidize extensive grazing of areas unsuitable for intensive agriculture. Therefore, rewilding and reversing depopulation initiatives seem to be mutually incompatible, and further insight into controversial aspects of the return of apex predators is needed when considering the reform of the CAP for post-2020. To develop understanding of these different objectives in the context of large carnivore recolonizations, we analysed wolf attacks on livestock in central Spain, where livestock is managed differently between the plateau and the mountains. As with other European regions, this area is undergoing rural abandonment and is subsidized by the CAP. Free-roaming cattle at higher elevations were subject to increased attacks irrespective of the abundance of wild prey. Efforts to subsidize human repopulation of areas experiencing recolonization by large carnivores require consideration of a model of cohabitation with these predators assisted by mitigation and compensation measures. Rewilding could bring alternative sustainable income based on the values brought by the presence of large carnivores and associated ecosystem services. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Cambridge University Press Environmental Conservation 47 4 269 276 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Summary The human abandonment of rural areas facilitates rewilding, which is also supported by European projects and initiatives. Rewilding often implies the return of iconic predators such as the wolf ( Canis lupus ), leading to human–wildlife conflicts. To reverse human depopulation, initiatives such as the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidize extensive grazing of areas unsuitable for intensive agriculture. Therefore, rewilding and reversing depopulation initiatives seem to be mutually incompatible, and further insight into controversial aspects of the return of apex predators is needed when considering the reform of the CAP for post-2020. To develop understanding of these different objectives in the context of large carnivore recolonizations, we analysed wolf attacks on livestock in central Spain, where livestock is managed differently between the plateau and the mountains. As with other European regions, this area is undergoing rural abandonment and is subsidized by the CAP. Free-roaming cattle at higher elevations were subject to increased attacks irrespective of the abundance of wild prey. Efforts to subsidize human repopulation of areas experiencing recolonization by large carnivores require consideration of a model of cohabitation with these predators assisted by mitigation and compensation measures. Rewilding could bring alternative sustainable income based on the values brought by the presence of large carnivores and associated ecosystem services. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Recio, Mariano R Sand, Håkan Virgós, Emilio |
spellingShingle |
Recio, Mariano R Sand, Håkan Virgós, Emilio Promoting grazing or rewilding initiatives against rural exodus? The return of the wolf and other large carnivores must be considered |
author_facet |
Recio, Mariano R Sand, Håkan Virgós, Emilio |
author_sort |
Recio, Mariano R |
title |
Promoting grazing or rewilding initiatives against rural exodus? The return of the wolf and other large carnivores must be considered |
title_short |
Promoting grazing or rewilding initiatives against rural exodus? The return of the wolf and other large carnivores must be considered |
title_full |
Promoting grazing or rewilding initiatives against rural exodus? The return of the wolf and other large carnivores must be considered |
title_fullStr |
Promoting grazing or rewilding initiatives against rural exodus? The return of the wolf and other large carnivores must be considered |
title_full_unstemmed |
Promoting grazing or rewilding initiatives against rural exodus? The return of the wolf and other large carnivores must be considered |
title_sort |
promoting grazing or rewilding initiatives against rural exodus? the return of the wolf and other large carnivores must be considered |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0376892920000284 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0376892920000284 |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_source |
Environmental Conservation volume 47, issue 4, page 269-276 ISSN 0376-8929 1469-4387 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0376892920000284 |
container_title |
Environmental Conservation |
container_volume |
47 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
269 |
op_container_end_page |
276 |
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1810438473285369856 |