Bisons in Spain, otters in Hesse

Bisons are back in the Iberian Highlands north of Madrid. Rewilding Spain, an initiative within the European Rewilding Network, re-introduced the European bison to Guadalajara Province early this year. Projects such as this have succeeded in boosting the population of Europe’s largest terrestrial mammal from around 2500 to some 9000 animals over the past decade. This is good news – not just in terms of species protection. For through its grazing and trampling behaviour and the fertilising effects of its excrements, the European bison can make valuable contributions not just to reviving biodiversity but also to preventing wildfires and mitigating climate change.

It is examples such as this that give the restoration of nature such a strong appeal. For countless successful projects highlight that while humankind has definitely done great harm to natural systems if we give them an opportunity to recover plants and animals will return. In Germany, projects to restore peatland and river systems are good examples.

Unfortunately, restoration is often viewed narrowly in terms of nature conservation alone. In actual fact, it is a vital approach by which to preserve the natural bases of our lives, such as clean water and healthy soils, and by which to cope with the consequences of climate change. It follows that restoration is about protecting human lives, health and rights and is therefore a task of major societal importance. It poses challenges, beyond doubt. The price of land is one. Farmers who no longer use their fields to harvest crops, instead setting them aside for natural development, incur direct financial loss as the value of the land drops. This needs to change as a matter of urgency – the value of rewetting arable land, for instance, needs to be expressed not just in idealistic but also monetary terms.

We also need far more knowledge. About the current state of nature, but also about the options for improving it. For example, recently the German Scientific Advisory Board for Nature-based Climate Action, which I co-chair, received reports about action taken by a number of local conservation authorities against farmers who had cut the hedges planted in the course of agroforestry measures. Yet precisely such cuts are beneficial to biodiversity. Where cooperation is so urgent, conflict arose instead.

I would like to close with a thought about an animal much smaller than a bison: the otter. This has been regionally extinct in large parts of Germany for quite a while and is still classed as endangered. Now the otter is slowly returning. It values good water quality – definitely good news for us humans, too. It has been sighted in the German states of Hesse and Baden-Württemberg. Have you spotted one yet?

Yours,

Anke Herold
CEO, Oeko-Institut
a.herold@oeko.de