Wild woods

From Duncan Stone A key question on returning environments to their wild state  is to what are we comparing these environments (1 March, p 40)? There is a tendency to compare novel alternatives with an idealised natural or native ecosystem. However, especially  in terms of long-lived species, the impacts of environmental  change are likely to reshape the ecosystem with what we might term non-native climate,  weather, pests and pathogens. Thus, arguing against modifying the composition of ecosystems because of the danger of unforeseen problems needs to be set against the risk of unforeseen problems affecting our native status quo. We should not assume that novel is risky and native is safe – rather that novel and native both have risks that need to be taken into account. Inverness, Highland, UK