Monday 15 July 2013

Interview in Norwegian weekly Mandag Morgen on species conservation and reintroduction

May 24th (in no. 20/2013) an extensive article entitled "- Vil gi mer rom for villmark" [- Wants to give more space for wilderness] was published in the Norwegian weekly Ukebrevet Mandag Morgen. I am one of those interviewed in the 5-page article, referred to as Associate professor at University of Stavanger. In the 1 page or so that reiterates the interview with me, I support George Monbiot's stance with regard to rewilding, but emphasise that today's threatened species should be given priority. In the Norwegian context this includes the four large predators wolves, brown bears, lynx and wolverine, which I stipulate will only be close to universally accepted in a couple of generations. With these predators Norwegian ecosystems will be more complete and self-regulating. I further state that I generally support reintroducing species that have gone functionally or totally extinct in Norway during the last few hundred years but that are today present in other parts of Europe. I also refer to the Anthropocene notion, and state that in my mind exiting the Anthropocene in the long term (i.e., in the scope of a few hundred years) is an ethical imperative.

In 2008 I freelanced writing for the same publication (see searches on correct and incorrect spelling of my name), with a total of 5 articles researched and written.

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