If we want to stop the loss of species, we have to let nature look after itself. This is the opinion of two researchers at Aarhus University who would like to make room for more wild nature in Denmark, especially large, wild animals – perhaps even elephants.

2013.06.06 | Ida Hammerich Nielson

[Translate to English:] Foto: Colourbox

Nature needs space. And peace and quiet. If we set aside sufficiently large areas where nature has absolute first priority and humans therefore withdraw, there will be more room for large, wild animals. And the wild animals are essential if nature is to look after itself – and if we are to stop the loss of biodiversity. Rasmus Ejrnæs, senior researcher in biology, explains:

“If humans cut down on all their space-consuming activities such as agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing, there’ll be room for large, wild graminivorous (grazing) animals such as red deer, bison, wild ox and wild boar. These animals can create the open areas in the woods that many species need – without human interference,” says Senior Researcher Ejrnæs. That is not what is happening in Denmark’s national parks, and it annoys the biologist.

“There’s plenty of agriculture, forestry and traffic in Mols Bjerge National Park. In Thy National Park, there are lots of conifer plantations, planted to hold back the wild nature and produce timber, neither of which support the role of the national parks in stopping the loss of biodiversity,” says Senior Researcher Ejrnæs.

“Human interference is relevant for nature protection when it comes to remedying the destruction caused in the past, such as stopping drainage and abolishing plantations, and when grazing livestock is the only option in the many small nature areas. However, there’s also a need for large unbroken nature areas that are left to themselves,” he says.

He therefore suggests that we create national parks according to the international model in which we protect nature in the national parks against harmful human activities. In his opinion, the political ambitions with the national parks in Denmark are simply not high enough. The politicians have not seriously decided that the primary purpose of the national parks is nature, and the lack of clear objectives results in doubt and disputes.

“The national parks were created to meet the wishes of the local population and the mayor. This does not fit in with the use of the national parks as a tool for nature protection. The national parks are used as local cooperation projects designed to make the population more aware of nature, but that doesn’t stop our loss of fauna,” he says.

We need to reintroduce the large animals
A number of Danish projects aim to reintroduce the large animals, such as the bison project on the island of Bornholm and the water buffalo project at Vorup Enge near Randers. The projects were inspired by the idea of rewilding – restoring nature to what it originally was before humans began interfering.

Originally, Europe was full of large animals such as moose, bison, aurochs, wild horses – even elephants, rhinoceroses and lions roamed the European countryside. Humans drove the large animals away, and now they are missing in our ecosystems. The result is a loss of biodiversity, according to the proponents of rewilding.Professor of Biology Jens-Christian Svenning is studying the phenomenon:

“The main argument in favour of rewilding is that the large animals belong in our countryside and can perform important roles in our ecosystem. It’s also about protecting the large animals – we may see lots of lions and elephants in nature programmes, but things aren’t looking good in real life. We need to think about how we can make room for these animals in the world,” says Professor Svenning.

That does not mean that we should let lions loose in the Danish countryside. There are many things to consider – for example population density. However, the lion is relevant in a European context, according to the biology professor. There were lions in Romania as late as during the Bronze Age.

“They could easily be part of the plans for large nature areas,” he says.

That might require fencing, but it is no different from Africa and Asia where the lions today are largely confined to nature reserves.

Back to nature
Biologists disagree about whether rewilding is a good idea. One of the arguments against the idea is that there is a risk that the ‘new’ species could destroy some of what we currently have. However, Professor Svenning regards this risk as extremely low.

“The wildlife species we currently have in Europe existed side by side with animals like bison and straight-tusked elephants during the greater part of their history,” he says.

But does it not go against nature to start moving the animals around? To that Professor Svenning says:

“What you end up with is more natural than what we have now. We’re talking about species that actually belong in our ecosystems – they’ve just been missing for a few thousand years. It’s the current situation that’s abnormal.”