Reintroduction of large carnivores in Europe: a case study on frictions between rules of law and rules of nature

Scientists have announced the Anthropocene as a geological epoch in which human impacts have become dominant, and the human/nature dichotomy seems to have been transcended. This article examines if, and under what conditions, the obligation to maintain or restore natural habitats and species of wild fauna at favourable conservation status under EU Nature protection law (Habitats Directive) includes obligations for EU member states to reintroduce species against the dynamic backdrop of the Anthropocene. The dynamics of the Anthropocene pertain to time (past or historical versus present or current presence of a species within a particular habitat), space (native or indigenous ecosystem versus human-induced or anthropogenically changed ecosystem or habitat) and ontologies (‘natural’ versus ‘human’ reintroduction). Focusing on the particular issue of the ‘restoration’ and ‘reintroduction’ of populations of large carnivores – so-called keystone species – in the EU, these temporal, spatial and conceptual dimensions (nature/human dichotomy) of the Habitats Directive are explored in the context of three concrete reintroduction scenarios. Considering this setting, what have the obligations to maintain and to restore come to imply, and is a disconnect emerging between the relatively static ‘rules of law’ and dynamic ‘rules of nature’?