Emma Cary, Quadrat PhD researcher in Geography & Environment recently published a review about how 'rewilding' is treated in policy in Scotland, Wales and England
On Rewilding Day, people across the globe raise awareness about wilder nature. Just in time for this year's Rewilding Day, the rewilding policy review by Emma Cary and Flurina Wartmann has been published in the Scottish Geography journal: Rewilding in the British policy landscape. A qualitative analysis of policy documents related to rewilding (available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/14702541.2024.2322653).
The article recognises that rewilding is an opportunity to fulfil national habitat restoration commitments. Nevertheless, there is a current lack of analysis concerning the policy landscape in Britain. To address this gap, as part of her QUADRAT DTP PhD research on rewilding, Cary employed qualitative document analysis to assess how rewilding features in national policy documents in Britain. She found that despite a growing level of public interest in rewilding, and a proliferation of projects across Britain, rewilding remains poorly articulated in national policies. The article outlines how different forms of engagement with rewilding at national level reflect divergent policy visions. The authors then consider how the current level of policy engagement may influence the future implementation of rewilding in Britain and propose potential directions for future research in this field.