#86 Rewilding Expert: Why Britain Is Too Immature To Bring Wolves Back! episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 1, 2026 · 1H 32M

#86 Rewilding Expert: Why Britain Is Too Immature To Bring Wolves Back!

from Watson-Howland

Rewilding Expert Steve Carver Reveals Why Britain Is The Only Major European Country Without Wolves, How 1% Of People Block The Wildlife Coming Back, And Why He'll Be Dead Before We're "Mature Enough" To Live With Predators Again.Wilderness scientist Steve Carver has spent 30 years mapping the wild places of Britain and Europe, and he says we're failing in ways most people don't realise. He reveals why Britain and Ireland are the only two major European countries without breeding wolf populations, why the Netherlands and Luxembourg have wolves walking through their towns while we have none, and why he believes he'll be "dead and gone" before Britain reintroduces the wolf.Steve Carver is the Director of the Wildland Research Institute at the University of Leeds, co-author of the IUCN's globally recognised definition of rewilding, and a member of the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management Rewilding Thematic Group. He has mapped wilderness quality across Europe for the European Union and co-wrote the international guidelines for rewilding launched at the IUCN Congress.He explains: ◾ Why Britain and Ireland are the only major European countries with no breeding wolf populations ◾ How there are now more wolves in continental Europe than in the lower 48 US states ◾ Why wolves are not a wilderness-dependent species and live happily alongside humans in Dutch towns ◾ Why he says Britain is "not mature enough" as a nation to reintroduce the wolf ◾ How the "land, wealth, power nexus" of large UK landowners blocks rewilding progress ◾ Why lynx, not wolves, are the realistic reintroduction proposition for the UK ◾ How Rewilding Britain calculated that protecting 30% of land for nature would only impact around 3% of agricultural production ◾ Why the famous Knepp Estate is "rewilding light" and not true rewilding by the IUCN definition ◾ The truth about greenwashing and why he's "suspicious of anybody who gets into rewilding to make money"Follow Steve: Wildland Research Institute – https://wildlandresearch.org University of Leeds – https://environment.leeds.ac.uk IUCN CEM Rewilding Thematic Group – https://www.iucn.orgFollow Jacob: YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@jacobjwatsonhowland Website – https://www.jacobwatsonhowland.com Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/0r4v5xgyYz0rTFSLklk0Em Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/watson-howland/id1813625992

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#86 Rewilding Expert: Why Britain Is Too Immature To Bring Wolves Back!

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