CBC The Nature of Things - Manufacturing the Wild (2015)

Manufacturing the Wild

For generations, we've tried to preserve wilderness, and the amazing creatures that live there. But what if we could make new wilderness? Even new wild creatures? What if we could bring back the wild of the ancient past? A radical new movement called Rewilding aims to do just that.

Just outside the bustling city of Amsterdam lies a new wilderness – the Oostvaardersplassen – where thousands of wild horses, cattle and deer roam free. On the Earth's largest artificial island, the Dutch have manufactured a new Serengeti. In terms of rewilding, it's been a spectacular success. Many birds that were very rare in the Netherlands have now returned. Most impressive has been the return of the white-tailed eagle – an animal not seen in the country since the Middle Ages. But when many animals died during a particularly harsh winter, the Dutch demanded something be done. And yet, if this refuge is really a wild space, should people intervene? Or should Nature be left to run its course? Rewilding has a way of bringing to the fore these tricky questions around our relationship to the wild.

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