The voice for rewilding and its knock-on effect

Holly Gillibrand is 16 and an ambassador for rewilding organisations Scotland: The Big Picture and Heal Rewilding.

I used to live in Australia, which is where my love of nature began. We’d walk for days and see no one, just trees to climb and fantastic wildlife like wombats and echidnas. Experiencing the wild connected me with nature, and moving to the north tip of Scotland, where we’d see owls and foxes, dolphins and orcas, strengthened it. Nature was accessible, and by the time we reached Fort William in the Highlands, my love was sealed.

I started taking part in the Fridays for Future school strikes [the youth-led movement started by Greta Thunberg] when I was 13. At about the same time I became involved with Scotland: the Big Picture, which uses photography and film to tell the story of Scotland’s nature and what it could be, rewilded. I went to a presentation and during the talk I brought up the topic of young people’s involvement in rewilding. The following day, they got in touch to ask if I’d be interested in having a role. It’s about raising awareness in any way we can, for example through social media, to try to get more young people involved. The project is rooted in communities; rewilding isn’t about getting rid of people, it’s about working with nature in rural and urban areas, allowing it to recover and go forward with as little human interference as possible. But to rewild nature, we first have to rewild people. Many people love nature, but we view ourselves as separate from it. That needs to change – as soon as we see ourselves as part of this intricate web of life, it’ll change how we treat it. It’s something I’m still working on myself.

You can rewild whatever space you have. In our garden we’ve sown a wildflower meadow and built a pond – even a tiny bucket helps – and at this time of year I love to look for bats and watch the changing landscape. During lockdown people enjoyed nature more, but I’m worried we’re going to lose that and miss this opportunity to change.

“As soon as we see ourselves as part of this intricate web of life, it’ll change how we treat it”

Individual actions are important –

I’ve given up flying and eat a plant-based diet – but they’re not going to create the deep political change that we need; that’s why it’s important to get involved with local movements and activism.

I’m an optimist. The climate movement is full of amazing young people, I think change is possible if we keep pushing. There’s a documentary I find so inspiring, The Serengeti Rules, about nature’s ability to bounce back. When a keystone species goes, the ecosystem changes, because that species keeps everything in balance. Take it away and the ecosystem collapses – but bring it back and it restores itself. That’s so hopeful. I love writing, creating worlds that could become reality. I think about the society we could become, and imagination is crucial if we’re going to create the system change that we need.