2023-10-19 17:18:00
“Rewilding”, or “rewilding” in English, consists of aiming to restore the complexity of ecosystems, which we know are highly degraded in our long-standing industrialized and densely populated regions. This rewilding can involve a multitude of actions or non-actions (for example, leaving dead wood in the forest), and can be done actively, as when we reintroduce (illegally at the time) the beaver into our regions. , or passive, as was the case with the natural return of the wolf from neighboring countries.
In recent years, several emblematic and/or so-called “keystone” species have reappeared in Wallonia, whether the beaver, the otter, the wolf or the lynx. However, this should not mask a sad environmental reality. “Of the 45 natural habitats in our region, only one is in a favorable state of conservation: underground cavities,” recalled Corentin Rousseau, from WWF Belgium. “And the bird population in Belgium has fallen by 40% since 1990,” he further illustrated.
While Wallonia now has two national parks (Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse and Vallée de la Semois), several rewilding avenues were mentioned on Thursday in Namur, such as a reintroduction of the European bison, once present. “According to preliminary studies, four to six sites in Wallonia would be compatible with the presence of bison and might accommodate 10 to 30 individuals per site. These figures should not be taken at face value but it shows that it is not impossible. There is room to talk regarding a bison in complete freedom in Wallonia,” explains Sébastien Lezaca-Rojas, of the non-profit organization “Forêt et Naturalité”.
Of course, a hypothetical reintroduction of the bison here would not be without challenges, given the density of the Belgian road network and the insufficient connectivity between the Walloon and European forest areas. In general, “we would have to relearn how to live with the bison”.
The naturalist also mentioned the crisis of bark beetles, these small beetles whose populations are boosted by global warming and dry springs and which have decimated in recent years a number of spruce stands in Wallonia and in several regions of Europe. For Sébastien Lezaca-Rojas, this crisis can be used to allow natural regeneration of the forest and promote a more diverse and therefore more resilient forest. The non-profit association “Forêt et Naturalité” has also long advocated for the establishment of a large integral reserve in the Walloon Region of 5,000 hectares.
WWF Belgium did not fail to invite, at the end of the conference, a panel of political leaders, including the Walloon Minister of the Environment, Céline Tellier (Ecolo), several parliamentarians from the Engagés, the PS and the PTB and the president of the MR, Georges-Louis Bouchez. Subjected to various questions from the WWF, the representatives of the five parties notably all spoke out in favor of protecting ancient deciduous forests in Wallonia and to increase the surface area of nature reserves to 5% of Walloon territory by 2030.
As for the reintroduction of certain animal species in Wallonia, Ecolo, PTB and PS spoke in favor, Les Engagés and the MR being more circumspect. “In principle, I am in favor of it, but we must be careful regarding coexistence with man and with certain activities, particularly agricultural activities,” explained Georges-Louis Bouchez in substance.
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