Keyword Rewilding

The film accompanies Flo, a young Scot from Glasgow, on an intensely personal journey, as she seeks out examples of nature recovery around Europe. Like many of her generation, Flo is concerned by the state of nature and fearful about an uncertain future. However, during her travels, she discovers places where nature is making a spectacular comeback, breathing life back into the landscape and revitalising human communities. Encouraged by these stories of hope and renewal, she is prompted to wonder: Why Not Scotland?

Robi Watkinson and Emma Hodson travel across Britain and the Netherlands documenting the story of the rewilding movement from its inception, to the return of the beaver, bison and perhaps one day, the lynx to Britain.

For 12,000 years wolves roamed Scotland. However, over three centuries ago, we exterminated them. This film reveals the rise and fall of the Scottish wolf and explores the question of whether they should be re-introduced. Wolves arrived as the last ice age ended, following the herds of deer and reindeer that crossed a now-lost land bridge from Europe. For thousands of years, wolves and humans shared the landscape as apex predators, with the wolf entering human art, myth and belief. However, farming put wolves and humans on a collision course, and, after centuries of persecution, wolves became extinct in Scotland. Since then, deer numbers have exploded, and many of Scotland’s woodlands have been stripped bare. Some argue for the wolf’s return. Could we, and should we, hear the howl of the wolf once more in the Highlands?