Disenchanted Natures: A Critical Analysis of the Contested Plan to Reintroduce the Eurasian Lynx into the Lake District National Park

ABSTRACT

There is a need to analyse the environmental conflicts that arise out of species reintroduction proposals and what these conflicts can tell us not just about rewilding as a form of “conservation,” but also the broader societal conditions in which the conflicts occur. This paper analyses the emblematic nature of the contested proposal to reintroduce the Eurasian lynx into the Lake District, where a complex history has resulted in both a distinctive landscape and unique economy. It is within this context that the emblematic nature of the reintroduction conflict must be analysed. The author argues that the spirituality of the Lakes, conjured through the artistic expression of the Lake Romantics, was within the context of the industrial revolution and the processes of industrialisation, urbanisation, and rationalisation. On the other hand, the proposal to reintroduce the lynx and the focus on personal redemption and “wildness” are a product of the capitalism of late modernity, defined by global capital and information flows, individualism, and the extension of rationalisation and financialisation into the social and natural world.

KEYWORDS:

• Disenchantment
• rewilding
• conservation
• Eurasian Lynx
• Lake District National Park

Acknowledgements

I want to thank Dr Darmon and Professor Bomberg for their support throughout this project, as well as the anonymous reviewers at CNS for their swift and detailed feedback.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.