Radical Re[wild]ing

The Earth is a constantly changing, continuously evolving superstructure of hyper-complex systems and processes, yet who are we as humans to think we can make a difference? Well, we already have. Human behavior was the first invasive species, and it has forever altered the planet's landscape. This isn't to say that humans are necessarily invasive, but it couldn't hurt to invoke some changes. Maybe these changes aren't completely atrocious and just indicative of the circle of life. Species are falling off the face of the Earth faster than they can be saved, but why is it our job to save them? Because we drove them to extinction in the first place? Perhaps, but those who have been left behind (medium sized predators who have suddenly jumped to the top of the food chain) are now running rambunctiously across the globe. It is these species who are the embodiment of "kill or be killed," evolution's motto.

Then there's radical rewilding. It has somehow become our job as a "superior" species to facilitate the introduction of native and proxy species into historic landscapes to re-create a nostalgic image of the past. There is, however, capital importance in maintaining the integrity of an ecosystem. Sometimes a species will be hunted to dangerously low levels by its natural predators, and this will in turn have an effect on all interrelated species. By limiting the diversity of species, ecological and evolutionary potential is lost. I don't believe that proxy species are the answer to restoring ecological function. The world and its ecosystems should be allowed to change and evolve on its own terms without interference from any species. The only reason humans haven't been hunted by our Pleistocene predators is because we have succeeded in cheating evolution. Or maybe it is written in our biological code to rape, pillage, and plunder our surroundings.

A diagram highlighting the most common synanthropic species in Los Angeles