Succession star Brian Cox backs call for Scotland to become world's first 'rewilding nation'

Actor Brian Cox
-Credit: (Image: Getty Images)


Hollywood star Brian Cox has backed calls for Scotland to be declared the world’s first “rewilding nation”. The Succession actor, 78, is urging people to support a charter drawn up by the Scottish Rewilding Alliance calling for nature to be restored across 30 per cent of our lands and seas.

In a letter published in the Guardian, Dundee-born Cox wrote: “Scotland is a beautiful country – but all is not what it seems. Scotland is one of the planet’s most nature-depleted countries.

“Centuries of over-exploiting the country’s natural resources have left us with somewhere that looks beautiful but is dwindling day-by-day.” But he hailed Scots currently involved in more than 150 rewilding projects across the country.

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Cox is backing calls for more rewilding in Scotland
Cox is backing calls for more rewilding in Scotland -Credit: Maja Smiejkowska/PA Wire

The award-winning stage and screen actor, best known recently for his portrayal of Logan Roy in hit HBO drama Succession, continued: “Scots are modest, so shouting about our achievements doesn’t come naturally. But we should be proud of our rewilding progress…

“Hundreds of people working to put things right again. Thousands more who know that rewilding can transform Scotland’s future for the better.

“My appeal to readers is to stand with your fellow Scots and support the Rewilding Nation Charter – urging the Scottish Government to declare Scotland the world’s first Rewilding Nation, together with urgent action to make it so.” Rewilding means the restoration of nature on a large enough scale that it can then take care of itself.

Glen Affric in the Highlands is set for a huge 30-year rewilding project.
Glen Affric in the Highlands is set for a huge 30-year rewilding project. -Credit:Grant Willoughby/Trees for Life/PA Wire

Scotland’s rewilding success stories include the reintroduction of beavers - considered ecosystem engineers - in areas like Argyll, Tayside and the Highlands. However, the species’ return has been controversial with some farmers who say they can wreck and flood farmland

Rewilding efforts have also boosted red squirrel numbers in woodlands along Scotland’s west coast. The iconic but endangered Scots animal has an incredible ability to help pine forests regrow - because they are notoriously forgetful about where they bury their winter nuts and seeds, unintentionally planting new trees.

Other schemes including oyster restoration projects in our seas - a species which filters pollutants and chemicals from our waters - and restoring a “birch belt” of birch woods across our mountains to nourish soils, provide a haven for wildlife and even help to reduce landslides.

Red squirrels have been carefully reintroduced to forests in the north-west Highlands.
Red squirrels have been carefully reintroduced to forests in the north-west Highlands. -Credit:Trees for Life / Drimnin Estate

More controversial proposals include bringing back apex predators such as lynx or wolves to Scotland’s forests. Cox isn’t the first celeb to throw their weight behind rewilding in Scotland, with Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio backing the call in April.

The Wolf of Wall Street actor and environmentalist told his 62million Instagram followers that Scotland could become “a world leader in rewilding its landscapes, ensuring clean air and water, storing carbon, reducing flooding, restoring wildlife, and improving the lives of locals”.

It comes as the Alliance, a coalition of more than 20 green groups, presents its vision for a Rewilding Nation to SNP ministers at a reception in Edinburgh next week.

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Leonardo DiCaprio -Credit:Getty Images

Steve Micklewight, alliance co-convenor and CEO of Trees for Life, said: “We are hugely grateful to Brian Cox for adding his voice to this vision of hope. Rewilding 30 per cent of Scotland can be achieved by restoring habitats including peatlands, native woodlands, wetlands, rivers and seas, while maintaining and benefiting productive farmland.

“This would help tackle the nature and climate emergencies, while creating a wealth of benefits for people including jobs, health, sustainable food, clean air and water, re-peopling, and thriving communities.” We previously told how eight in ten Scots want to see more action to boost rewilding to help nature recover.

However, the Scottish Government and public bodies have been accused of acting too slowly. SNP ministers previously pledged to halt decades of habitat and species by 2030 by ensuring at least 30 per cent of Scotland’s lands and seas have legal protections.

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