by Scientists have proposed to reintroduce dozens of wolves into the Scottish highlands to help the United Kingdom reach its climate goals.
Researchers at the University of Leeds have proposed that the reintroduction of gray wolves in the Cairngorms and the southwest, northwest and central courtyards could contribute to this.
The scientists predicted that a population of 167 wolves would thrive if it were reintroduced into the wilderness and would be sufficient to reduce red deer populations to a level that would allow the trees to regenerate naturally.
This could expand the native forest, which could absorb and store a million tons of carbon dioxide every year, which corresponds to about five percent of the carbon removal target for British forests, says researcher.
Each wolf would lead to an annual CO2 recording of 6,080 tons of CO2, which would make the esteemed researchers “value” depending on the recognized current reviews of carbon.
It is the first time that the effects of reintroduction of wolves were evaluated on the expansion of forests and carbon storage in Great Britain.
The wolves were exterminated from Scotland about 250 years ago and left deer without natural predators. The wolf population in Western Europe is approximately 12,000. In the meantime, the number of British deer has increased from 450,000 to two million.
The research results published in the peer review journal Ecological Solutions and Evidence Journal recognized that the idea is controversial, not least with the farmers who are worried about the cattle.
The researchers recognized the potential controversy of the idea when it comes to the cattle of farmers. The growing number of wolf numbers in Europe previously led to their protected status downgraded in 2024, which was obvious but environmentalists.
Lee Schofield, co-author of the study, said that they realized that “an essential and far-reaching stakeholder and the public commitment would be clearly essential before reintroduction of a wolf return could be taken into account”.
He said the goal was to “provide new information in order to inform continuous and future discussions about the possibility of reintroducing Wolf in both the UK and elsewhere”.
The main author of the study, Prof. Dominick Spracklen, said: “There is increasing recognition that the diversity of climate and biodiversity cannot be managed in isolation.
“We have to examine the potential role of natural processes such as the reintroduction of species in order to regain our degraded ecosystems, and these in turn can provide co-benefits for the climate and nature restoration.”
