Friday essay: can rewilding offer us a brighter, greener future?

Researchers in Tasmania are reviving the giant kelp forests. These underwater ecosystems declined by ninety-five percent along the island's east coast in recent decades, devastated by warming waters and invasive sea urchins. But according to the Conversation, teams are now reversing that collapse by breeding warm-tolerant varieties and replanting them in the wild—trials show forests can recover within a year. The restoration even drew royal attention when Denmark's Queen Mary and King Frederik visited in March to see the work. The kelp project is part of a growing rewilding movement showing that ecosystems can recover. In England, white storks have returned to breed for the first time in six hundred years, thanks to restoration efforts at Knepp Estate in Sussex. Last year, nineteen nests produced forty-five fledglings. The estate is also hosting purple emperor butterflies, nightingales, and red kites—species absent from the region for centuries. These successes suggest a clear message: nature can heal when given the chance.

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