Olve Krange at NINA led a study that sheds some light on this.

“Results show that lack of trust in environmental institutions is strongly associated with ACC denial…and is partly a function of anti-elitist attitudes, opposition to migration and views of nature.”

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Olve Krange at NINA led a study that sheds some light on this.

“Results show that lack of trust in environmental institutions is strongly associated with ACC denial…and is partly a function of anti-elitist attitudes, opposition to migration and views of nature.”

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This report is worth a look, if you haven’t already seen it. It examines lynx reintroduction in Switzerland and approaches to conflict management. Evidence from other countries also suggests coexisting with lynx is not as straightforward as you suggest.

www.scotlandbigpicture.com//Images/2025...

It’s not unspoken, it’s the central message of this piece and the project. The #GreenToGrey website highlights western consumerism as a key driver and the way “wealthy countries develop not only essential things, but unnecessary things, from golf courses to artificial ski slopes.”

greentogrey.eu

If economic growth and a healthy environment truly go hand in hand, why are N. Ireland’s land, air, and water in such poor condition? It’s time to stop repeating win-win myths and start acknowledging the trade-offs between pursuing growth, protecting the environment, and ensuring social well-being.

Agree with most of Ray’s piece. But I’d argue the real challenge isn’t shifting from research to scaled-up restoration efforts. Restoration practices should be guided by research and knowledge that, ideally, is co-produced with local communities to ensure their needs and interests are centred.

Yes, and some prominent ecologists have also been making similar arguments for even longer - hence the importance of mutual respect, which was somewhat difficult to detect in the rather dismissive initial comment.

The authors rightly emphasize the need for greater engagement between ecologists and political ecologists, though this is not a new insight. However, productive interdisciplinary engagement requires mutual care and respect, so the tone of this particular remark strikes me as being counterproductive.

Agree that the actual *impacts* (livestock depredations, attacks on people etc) of wolves in Europe are relatively minimal.

However, as the evidence clearly shows, conflicts over wolves is a very different story.

Really enjoyed this one, particularly the discussion about the different ways people engage with nature. This is often neglected or simplified in debates about conservation and rewilding, when it should be central given how they increasingly shape and frame how people interact with nature.

That’s quite a bold statement. Are there examples of wolf reintroductions that resulted in minimal human-wildlife conflict?

Thanks Fintan. I think the wolf’s conservation status in the bio regions is based on data from 2013-2018, so I wonder if it’s still reliable given the latest population data (2017-2023) shows a 35% increase in the overall population and positive trends for 7 of the 9 sub-populations?