George Monbiot – Rewilding: How Wolves Changes a River

In the 5th episode of Planet A’s second season, Dan Jørgensen talks with the British writer, activist and environmentalist, George Monbiot. 

Monbiot has been a regular columnist for The Guardian since 1996 and authored ten books on social justice, climate change and other environmental issues. 

He achieved global acclaim for his award-winning book “Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the Frontiers of Rewilding”. In the book, Monbiot advocates that humanity must “rewild”; that society must free nature from human intervention and allow it to resume its natural ecological processes.

In the interview, Monbiot uses the example of how the introduction of wolves into the Yellowstone National Park helped regenerate the park’s ecosystem and in turn changed the flow of its rivers.

To Monbiot, it is pivotal to promote what he calls “positive environmentalism”. That we need to show how environmental action can make the world a better place, not just “a little less rubbish”.

He argues that we should double down on natural climate solutions, such as the flooding of peatlands and restoration of oceans, to help mitigate climate change. 

Furthermore, Monbiot points to the deployment of offshore wind as an example of how renewable energy can promote ecological reserves for fish and marine life. 

The offshore wind farms not only creates artificial “reefs”, but also protects the seabed and thus sequesters carbon.