Scientists say that even in urban environments, when we create the right conditions, things get better environmentally, and native species come back. Detroit’s sprawling metro area illustrates how such human actions can boost rewilding. In five points, let’s look at how urban rewilding happens and what its benefits are
WHAT IS REWILDING?
Rewilding generally means reviving natural systems in degraded locations -sometimes with a helping hand. That might mean removing dams, building tunnels to reconnect migration pathways severed by roads, or reintroducing predators such as wolves to help balance ecosystems. But after initial assists, there’s little human involvement. The idea might seem best suited to remote areas where nature is freer to heal without interference. But rewilding also happens in some of the world’s biggest urban centres, as people find mutually beneficial ways to coexist with nature.
DETROIT IS AN EXAMPLE
Hundreds of thousands of houses and other structures in Detroit, the U.S., were abandoned as the struggling city’s population fell more than 60% in the 1950s. Many were razed, leaving vacant tracts that plants and animals have occupied. Non-profit groups planted trees, community gardens, and pollinator-friendly shrubs. With this, urban rewilding in Detroit has been more organic than strategic.
THE BENEFITS
Conservation projects reintroduced ospreys and peregrine falcons. Bald eagles found their way back as bans on DDT and other pesticides helped expand their range nationwide. Anti-pollution laws and government-funded clean-ups made nearby rivers more hospitable to sturgeon, whitefish, beavers, and native plants such as wild celery. The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge, just a half-hour drive from downtown, consists of 30 parcels totalling 6,200 acres, including islands, wetlands, and former industrial sites. It’s home to 300 bird species and a busy stopover for ducks, raptors, and others during migration.
AN OPPORTUNITY FOR LEARNING
The project in Detroit connects wildlife with local residents, some intrigued by coyotes and raccoons in the neighbourhood, others fearful of diseases or harm to pets. But people can also learn about proper trash disposal, resisting the temptation to feed wild animals, and the value of healthy, diverse ecosystems. It is also a chance to prepare communities and environments and societies to anticipate the presence of more and more wildlife in urban areas as we’re changing their habitats. Studies also show that time in natural spaces improves people’s physical and mental health.
OTHER EXAMPLES
The German cities of Hannover, Frankfurt, and Dessau-Rosslau designated vacant lots, parks, lawns, and urban waterways where nature could take its course. As native wildflowers have sprung up, they’ve attracted birds, butterflies, bees, and even hedgehogs. In a 2.7-km stretch of the Kallang River has been converted from a concrete-lined channel into a twisting waterway lined with plants, rocks, and other natural materials and flanked by green parkland. In the U.S., Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium and the non-profit Urban Rivers are installing “floating wetlands” on part of the Chicago River to provide fish breeding areas, bird and pollinator habitat, and root systems that cleanse polluted water.
Picture Credit : Google