Key to Combating Climate Change

Trophic rewilding could be the key to combating climate change

1. A new study published in Nature Climate Change suggests that trophic rewilding—restoring and protecting animals' functional roles in ecosystems—is a neglected climate solution.
2. Reintroducing just nine species or groups of species (including African forest elephants, American bison, fish, gray wolves, musk oxen, sea otters, sharks, whales, and wildebeest) would help limit global warming to below the 1.5°C (2.7°F) threshold set by the Paris Agreement, the study says.
3. Animals play a significant role in the amount of carbon that plants, soil, and sediment can capture, as they redistribute seeds and nutrients and disturb the soil by digging, trampling, and building burrows.
4. The study highlights the need for a shift in thinking within science and policy to capitalize on the vast potential of wildlife, working closely with local communities to address social issues that may impact conservation efforts.

• When it comes to climate solutions, wildebeest might not first come to mind. But in the Serengeti, these buffalo-like antelopes are key to carbon sequestration.
• Wildebeest eat large amounts of grass, which they recycle into the soil as dung. Thus, when their population collapsed in the early 1900s due to a disease transmitted by domestic cattle, the loss of natural pasture led to more frequent and intense fires, turning the Serengeti into a carbon sink.
• Efforts to rewild or “rewild” the wildebeest population through disease management have been hugely successful, helping to reduce the frequency and intensity of fires and restore the Serengeti to its role as a carbon sink.
• Trophic rewilding , or restoring and protecting animals' functional roles within ecosystems, is a neglected solution to climate change, says a new study published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change .
• “Wildlife conservation, which allows species to fulfill their functional roles in ecosystems, offers untapped potential as a solution to climate change,” study co-author Andrew Tilker, species conservation coordinator at the NGO Re:wild, said in a statement.
• According to the study, the rewilding of just nine species or groups of wildlife (African forest elephants, American bison, fish, gray wolves, musk oxen, sea otters, sharks, whales, and wildebeests) would contribute more than 95 percent of the annual requirement to meet the global goal of removing 500 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by 2100. This would help limit global temperature rise to less than 1.5° Celsius (2.7° Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, as required by the Paris Agreement.

Wildebeest migration in the Masai Mara. The recovery in wildebeest numbers has helped transform the Serengeti ecosystem from a carbon source to a carbon sink. Photo by Robin Moore/Re:wild.

• "There's a huge untapped potential in considering wildlife conservation as a climate solution," study lead author Oswald Schmitz, a professor at the Yale School of the Environment, told Mongabay. "If you do some back-of-the-envelope calculations, the numbers rival what the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] is currently promoting in terms of switching to exclusively solar or wind energy generation… the numbers are very close."
• Reducing carbon emissions is an indisputable solution to addressing the global climate crisis, but even if we stopped burning fossil fuels immediately, the planet would continue to warm due to the excess carbon already trapped in the atmosphere.
• "Fortunately, we have the technology to remove CO2 from the atmosphere," Schmitz said. "It's called nature."
• Many nature-based climate solutions rightly emphasize the role of plants and soil as carbon sinks, but animals have a profound effect on the effectiveness of these sinks.
• Through their movements and behavior, animals distribute seeds and nutrients and disturb the soil by digging, trampling, and building burrows. All of these actions help plants grow and store more carbon and can even prevent wildfires. Wildlife can also help retain carbon in soil and sediment by modifying the way microbes and chemicals function within these systems.
• For example, an experimental study conducted in a tropical forest in Guyana found that carbon storage in trees and soil increased significantly, 3.5- to four-fold, when the number of tree species increased from 10 to 70. However, when the number of mammal species increased from five to 35 in the same plots, carbon storage in trees and soil increased four- to five-fold.

A Baird's tapir. Photo courtesy of Esteban Brenes-Mora/Re:wild.

Cacho de Danto (Parmentiera valerii) plant growing from Baird's tapir dung. Photo ©Michiel van Noppen.

• However, harnessing the vast potential of wildlife will require "a shift in mindset within science and policy," said study co-author Frans Schepers, director general of Rewilding Europe.
• The importance of natural climate solutions for achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and improving biodiversity conservation is recognized by several global initiatives, including the United Nations Climate Action Summit and the post-2020 Convention on a Global Biodiversity Framework. However, current natural climate solutions focus primarily on protecting and restoring ecosystems such as forests and grasslands, neglecting the role animals play in providing nutrients, reducing fire risks, and helping plants grow.
• “Wildlife, through its interaction with the environment, is the missing link between biodiversity and climate,” Schmitz said in a statement.
• As human activities continue to encroach on natural habitats, animals are increasingly unable to fulfill their roles in ecosystems. Livestock farming, extractive industries, infrastructure development, and poaching are among the numerous human-induced threats that have led to the decline of wildlife populations. Of the 150,300 species assessed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, nearly 30% are at risk of extinction, and many populations are in rapid decline.
• “We have an urgent need because we are losing populations of many animal species just as we are discovering the extent to which their role in ecosystems can enable carbon capture and storage,” Schepers explained in a statement.
• The study suggests that to successfully reintroduce wildlife into human-inhabited areas, it is important to work closely with local communities to address the complex social issues that can impact conservation efforts. This may include involving local communities in decision-making and governance processes, taking into account their knowledge, values, and attitudes toward reintroduced species, as well as their cultural heritage, land rights, and access to natural resources.

Blacktip reef sharks off Tetapare Island, Solomon Islands. Photo by Robin Moore, Re:wild.

“I think there is real potential for synergy between wildlife conservation and carbon storage, [but] I’m wary of such actions being touted as game-changing for global warming,” Yadvinder Malhi, professor of ecosystem sciences at the University of Oxford, who was not involved in the study, told New Scientist .

"The science isn't yet solid enough, and given the urgency of the climate crisis, the timelines are often too slow," Malhi explained. "Trying to incorporate this into international climate frameworks could even distract from the only real breakthrough in global warming: leaving fossil fuels in the ground."

Schmitz agreed, saying that "no solution should be overhyped."

“Animals by themselves certainly won’t solve our climate problem,” he added, but he’s certain that by looking at the climate and biodiversity as a whole, “we end up creating a broader range of possible solutions.”

One of the strengths of the rewilding solution , Schmitz explained, is that people feel a connection with the animals.

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