"Rewilding Pine Martens" A Talk by Peter Burkill

"In this country, all the top predators have been decimated by man. They have been considered a threat to our livelihood and sometimes even to ourselves. Yet we live at a time when 'rewilding' is being actively pursued. 

The focus of rewilding has so far been on the habitat (plants) and herbivores; yet sooner or later we need to consider predators. How far up the natural food web should we go in the rewilding process? Let me consider Pine Martens. 

Pine Martens are incredibly photogenic and I have spent 3 summers photographing them in Scotland. 

Some of my talk will be an introduction to Pine Martens and some will be a discussion on whether they could be a good candidate for reintroduction here on Dartmoor."