Rewilding Hill Farms

Diego: My family farms sheep in the hills, and the government's new rewilding scheme is paying neighbours to let their land go back to scrub and forest. I think it's a mistake; we'll end up importing food that's produced with lower standards abroad.

Elin: I study ecology, and upland sheep farming is one of the least productive uses of land in terms of calories per hectare. Restoring forest there stores carbon, reduces flooding downstream and brings back species that have been gone for a century.

Aisha: I'm less sure about either side. The ecology case is strong, but I grew up in a village where the school closed when the young families left, and paying people to stop working doesn't rebuild a community.

Diego: That's exactly it. The scheme treats the land as empty, when there are people and skills and traditions attached to it.

Elin: I take that point, and I don't think rewilding should mean abandoning places. Some of the best projects employ former farmers as rangers and guides, so the land still supports jobs, just different ones.

Aisha: If the scheme guaranteed that kind of employment, I'd probably support it. Without that, it's just paying rural areas to become quiet.

Diego: I'd still rather farm, but a scheme that kept people on the land is at least something I could talk to my neighbours about.