Defining rewilding for Scotland's public sector: research findings

Footnotes

1. An ecosystem is a complex of living organisms, their physical environment, and all their interrelationships in a particular unit of space (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2023).

2. The Holocene began after the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago, and continues today (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2022).

3. Translocation refers to the intentional human-mediated movement of species from one site to another term. It is an overarching term that encompasses the reintroduction of extinct species, reinforcement of small populations, or introduction of new species. Seddon (2022) provides more information on the role of translocations in rewilding.

4. The Global Environment Facility, also referred to as GEF, is a multilateral environmental fund that provides grants and blended finance for projects related to a variety of environmental challenges in developing countries, and serves as the financial mechanism for the major international conventions including the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. See the Global Environment Facility website.

5. The International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN) has both governmental and civil society members, and describes itself as 'the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it'. It is perhaps most famous for its 'red list' of endangered and threatened species, but it also develops policy and guidance on many conservation topics and activities. The Commission for Ecosystem Management (CEM) is one of seven expert commissions in which individual scientists and other experts voluntarily collaborate to reflect and produce new guidance.

6. The Rewilding Thematic Group (RTG) was originally called the Rewilding Task Force, so both terms may be used in documents. More information can be found on the IUCN CEM Rewilding Thematic Group webpage.

7. Biota means the animal and plant life of a particular region, habitat, or geological period.

8. Charismatic animals are those deemed beautiful, impressive, or endangered (Albert et al., 2018).

9. This European Parliament webpage provides details of the proposed Nature Restoration Law.

10. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a means of drawing together, in a systematic way, an assessment of the likely significant environmental effects arising from a proposed development. The Scottish Government's EIA webpage provides more information.

11. A full discussion of Nature Based Solutions is beyond the scope of this review, but they are relatively-well accepted and internationally-recognised concept in nature management, supported in Scotland. They are defined in the Cairngorms National Park Partnership Plan 2022-27 as 'actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural or modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human wellbeing and biodiversity benefits' (CNPA, 2022 pg 94).

12. Muirburn is the intentional and controlled burning of moorland vegetation to encourage new growth (either heather or grassland) for the management of moorland game and wildlife or for improving the grazing potential of the moorland for livestock or deer. See Wildlife management: A Consultation (Scottish Government, 2022) for more information.