What can early human farmers teach us about rewilding today?

clock • 5 min read
Yuanyang Hani Rice Terraces in southeastern Yunnan province, China | Credit: iStock
Image:

Yuanyang Hani Rice Terraces in southeastern Yunnan province, China | Credit: iStock

The very first farmers hundreds of thousands of years ago often made landscapes even more biodiverse, which may offer lessons for rewilding efforts today, argue Jonathan D. Gordon and Brennen Fagan from the University of York

You don't need to read the news or scroll through Instagram for long to stumble across the latest example of a rare and beautiful species that has gone extinct. Since AD1500, at least 705 vertebrate species...

To continue reading this article...

Join BusinessGreen

In just a few clicks you can start your free BusinessGreen Lite membership for 12 months, providing you access to:

  • Three complimentary articles per month covering the latest real-time news, analysis, and opinion from Europe’s leading source of information on the Green economy and business
  • Receive important and breaking news stories via our daily news alert
  • Our weekly newsletter with the best of the week’s green business news and analysis

Join now

 

Already a BusinessGreen member?

Login

More on Biodiversity

Profitability improves with shift to regenerative system

Profitability improves with shift to regenerative system

The motivation for the move to regenerative farming was both altruistic and financial on one Shropshire family farm - Wendy Short finds out more

Wendy Short, Farmers Guardian
clock 19 September 2025 • 6 min read
Defra warned of possible 'serious failures' to comply with marine environment laws

Defra warned of possible 'serious failures' to comply with marine environment laws

Office for Environmental Protection uncovers evidence of potential failure to meet 2020 legal deadline to improve the state of marine habitats

Michael Holder
clock 19 September 2025 • 5 min read
Bee-killing pesticides: Defra tightens guidance on emergency use of neonicotinoids

Bee-killing pesticides: Defra tightens guidance on emergency use of neonicotinoids

The government said the updated guidance marked 'another step towards stopping the use of bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides'

Michael Holder
clock 12 September 2025 • 3 min read