DEBATE TIME 12 read these newspaper articles and use them as food for thought for debating the following motions. 1. Wind farms do not help agriculture. 2. Rewilding implies more risks than bene ts. The Mutual Bene ts of Wind Energy and Agriculture Should we or shouldn t we rewild landscapes? Wind and agriculture pair well. According to a survey conducted by the University of Michigan, landowners with wind turbines on their property invested twice as much money in their farms over the last 5 years compared with their neighbours without wind turbines. Farmers in the Great Plains and the Midwest are well-situated to bene t from installing wind energy. Research suggests that wind turbines do not have a negative effect on crop yields if anything, they can increase yield by reducing temperature extremes. Urbanisation, biodiversity loss, climate change human impact has undeniably taken its toll on the planet. We ve lost hundreds of species. Can we rewild landscapes and bring back species that are no longer here? Rewilding means bringing back qualities that have been lost, restoring an area of land to its natural state and possibly reintroducing species that had been driven out or exterminated. There is a basic difference between conservation and rewilding. Conservation focuses on protecting and restoring current habitats and wildlife populations: it s almost like hitting pause for these species. On the contrary, rewilding emphasises the restoration of habitat and wildlife species that have been driven out. There are many questions that need to be asked when rewilding landscapes with species that have been long gone and many will be unanswered, as we simply do not know everything. Adapted from: https://guidehouseinsights.com/newsand-views/the-mutual-benefits-of-wind-energy-andagriculture Adapted from: https://blog.cwf-fcf.org/index.php/ en/rewilding/ 114 Ecology And forEstry