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To Discuss or Not:
We are
not prepared to engage in specific online or email
discussions about the sense of the project. You
either like the idea or you do not. Feedback, in
order to improve this site or the project, is of course welcome.
Please send an email with your constructive ideas.
Obviously Naturepark UK follows two interwoven goals
since firstly the profitable use of land, whilst
aiming for a maintenance of biodiversity, would
then secondly lead to the reintroduction of formerly
native to Britain species as an increased biodiversity.
Profits will have to be the driving force in order
to guarantee sustainability. Arguments for the need for profitable
sub-companies have already been presented on this
site under
"The NPUK Concept".
We
have already received rather cautious feedback from
members of the farming community, partially born out
of weariness of yet another idea which might lead to
patronisation or straight away the assumption "They
want wolves in Britain". Since most farming
activities are
subsidised the farming community must accept
that the public hand, as
commissioner of farming services via
subsidies, is rightfully so in a position to
demand changes in working practices as part of the
product they commission. Hence a scheme that
explores possibilities of profitable diversification
of land use should indeed be attractive to farmers
and land owners since it opens a path to escape
patronisation from commissioning bodies whilst
equally promoting conservation.
The
Agroforestry Biodiversity Viability Study would
be the cornerstone of all Naturepark UK activities
and any further developments with regards to species
re-introduction will need to be guided by the size
of the project area and the possibility to integrate
the new residents profitably.
With respect to the reintroduction of wolves or
indeed any formerly native to Britain animal or
plant species: Any project supported by Naturepark UK
must also fulfil the criterion of profitability,
since this, in addition to maintaining or even
furthering biodiversity, is central to the whole
Naturepark UK concept.
Plenty an argument for and against,
especially the reintroduction of potentially
dangerous species,
can be found on the web, e.g. via
Wild about Britain,
Wisconsin wolf and wildlife management plan,
Walk Highlands,
The Ramblers,
grough and many other web sites. The most
common example concerning wolves is Mr. Paul Lister
with his
Alladale project. A nice train of thoughts can
be found here under the key words
“Rewilding in Britain”.
With respect to the reintroduction of potentially
dangerous animal species almost
all of the arguments against Mr.Lister’s and our
plans fall in the category of
“Little red riding hood”; it is a mixture of
frightening and amusing to hear arguments such as
“what if the predatory dangerous animals escape” or
“once a predator is extinct you can’t just
re-introduce it”.
The
Carpathian Large Carnivore Project produced
enough evidence that wolves and bears, even when
coming to town, cannot be seen as a noteworthy
threat to humans, and the
protection of life stock from carnivore activity
is more a question of management than of
possibility. Central to Mr. Lister’s plans at
Alladale is the fact that currently a surplus of
deer has to be to be culled regularly due to a lack
of natural predators and that hence sufficient prey
for large carnivores is available with certainty.
Non believers should check with the
Deer Commission for Scotland or the
British Deer Society; deer
overpopulation as food for bears and wolvers is
hardly a problem. More detailed information is
available in this report:
Wolf reintroduction to Scotland.
Why is it that
Germany is celebrating the
return of wolves to her lands and successfully
reintroducing wisent into the wild in 2010 whilst here in Britain similar
plans for secured enclosures are deemed
inappropriate and dangerous? How is it that in
Germany
wild boar is almost a pest in the forests,
often, but wrongly so, fed by walkers and visitors,
whilst a poor beast showing beside a primary school
here in Britain gets
shot for being considered a
threat to staff and children?
Why are there so many hypocrites who happily travel
to an African game park to marvel at living nature
whilst fighting tooth and nail against any such
project on their door step?
Lord Bath of
Longleat knows only too well how
scaremongering can produce hassle for no reason at
all. When he first voiced his plans for a
safari park at Longleat there was a near
public outcry from scaremongers who saw the local
population already savaged by marauding lions.
We are certain
all the “dangerous animal” critics ensure
that their children never walk to town,
never cross a road and certainly never
travel in a car.
Even if the
initial project area does not include
formerly extinct species, the concept of
profitable use of natural resources whilst
maintaining or even furthering species
diversity stands firmly at the centre of the
Naturepark UK vision. |