Guerrilla rewilding, the unsanctioned release of species into the wild, is a controversial activity criticized by most conservation professionals. In this Forum article we argue that despite this criticism, it has played a significant but underexplored role in the UK’s rewilding movement. Using examples including butterfly species, goshawk Astur gentilis, wild boar Sus scrofa, beaver Castor fiber and lynx Lynx lynx, we argue that examining these guerrilla rewilding acts provides valuable insights into public preferences for certain species, their perceived acceptability, and the ways in which they shape knowledge and practices of human–wildlife coexistence. However, our analysis also suggests that in some cases guerrilla rewilding can undermine the very species it seeks to restore. Animals released without preparation or monitoring, particularly those habituated to human presence, often lack the ability to survive independently, leading to welfare issues, human–wildlife conflict and wider ecological impacts. Furthermore, by circumventing the social and collaborative dimensions of rewilding, these actions risk deepening divisions among stakeholders, which are critical to ensuring long-term success. Nonetheless, this type of rewilding can also potentially trigger more positive emotions of recovery whilst raising the species’ profile. We find that guerrilla rewilding has in some cases influenced formal rewilding practice and the broader discourse in the UK, in stark contrast to the official government position on nature recovery. This paper draws together some key learning points and highlights areas for future research on guerrilla rewilding.

The opioid overdose crisis has become a global public health emergency, claiming more than 100,000 lives each year. In North America, shifting opioid prescribing practices in response to the crisis have profoundly affected people living with chronic pain, who now face reduced access to prescription opioids. Against this backdrop, pain stakeholders have become increasingly active in policymaking arenas to shape how opioids and pain are understood. This study examines the Canadian Pain Task Force (CPTF) — a federal advisory body charged with creating a national pain strategy — by analyzing its reports, public and patient consultations, and internal documents. Through qualitative framing analysis, we find that stakeholders overwhelmingly depicted the overdose crisis as the result of illicit and irresponsible opioid use, while positioning stigma as both a driver and consequence of the crisis that compounded the challenges faced by people with chronic pain. From these problem definitions flowed policy proposals centered on expanding opioid access, reducing stigma, and advancing patient-centered care. These findings demonstrate how pain stakeholders shape, and are simultaneously shaped by, opioid policy debates — with consequences for both overdose prevention and chronic pain management.

Animal welfare awareness (AWA) during transportation and in markets is a critical concern in livestock production, influencing the health of animals and other outcomes for stakeholders. Nevertheless, it remains understudied in many developing regions. This study investigates the level of awareness and practices regarding animal welfare during and after transportation among primary stakeholders — sellers, drivers, and buyers — in three livestock markets in Nigeria: Achida, Ikorodu Sabo, and Amansea. A structured survey focusing on the stakeholders’ familiarity with the concept of animal welfare, the Five Freedoms, the Animal Diseases (Control) Act, and encounters with veterinary control posts was conducted across the selected markets between February and July 2024. Furthermore, stakeholders were also questioned about barriers to improving practices. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were performed to explore associations between the dichotomised awareness of animal welfare and key variables. A significant association between AWA and market location was revealed, but not with occupation. Further analysis showed that dichotomised awareness of Veterinary Control Posts (VCPs) and the Animal Diseases (Control) Act had significant negative associations with AWA, suggesting complex relationships between legal knowledge and familiarity with the concept of animal welfare. Additionally, transport-related mortality was reported by 70.7% of respondents, with overcrowding and sickness identified as primary causes. However, significant barriers, including economic constraints and a lack of authority to mandate standards, were the leading challenges often faced by stakeholders. The findings underscore the need for targeted interventions and policy reforms, including increased enforcement.

While research shows that public preferences across policy domains tend to move in parallel, the mechanisms behind this dynamic remain unclear. We examine four explanations: (1) alignment in preferred policy levels; (2) parallel policy movement combined with domain-specific thermostatic feedback; (3) feedback to global policy across domains; and (4) responsiveness to presidential partisanship. These mechanisms matter for how we interpret public opinion change and policy responsiveness. We develop and test a theoretical model using data on four social spending domains in the USA. Our findings suggest that spending mood reflects both parallelism in preferred policy levels and responsiveness to overall social spending and presidential party affiliation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a significant health threat to people in corrections facilities due to communal living, inability to social distance, and high rates of comorbidity among incarcerated populations. Combined with the First Step Act of 2018, which granted incarcerated individuals seeking compassionate release access to the courts, the pandemic increased the number of people in federal prisons petitioning for early release due to health risk. Analysis of federal compassionate release case law throughout the pandemic reveals inconsistent judicial reasoning related to COVID-19-based requests. Inconsistently interpreted compassionate release factors include vaccination status, COVID-19 reinfection, and the “degree” of extraordinary circumstances considered. Varied application among federal districts produced inequitable access to compassionate release. Therefore, this analysis provides insight into how an unclear policy can create disparate public health outcomes and considerations for compassionate release determinations in future times of uncertainty, such as a pandemic.

Despite the recognized importance of older adults ageing in their own homes, the role of public financing in mitigating unmet and under-met home care needs remains under-explored. This study addresses this gap by examining the impact of public financing on home care adequacy among English adults aged over 50, utilizing data from waves 6–9 (2013–2019) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Longitudinal fixed effects and pooled cross-sectional modelling are used to explore the impact of public financing of home care on the unmet and under-met needs of older people. Findings show that individuals with greater limitations in activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), as well as those experiencing cognitive decline, are more likely to receive home care. Importantly, while receipt of publicly financed care is associated with a reduction in unmet needs, it does not necessarily translate to fully met needs, resulting in under-met need and highlighting a crucial distinction between access to and adequacy of care. Comparatively, transitioning from use of publicly financed home care to exclusively informal care is linked with lower odds of reporting under-met needs, suggesting variance in the quality of care provided across funding types. This study not only enriches the existing literature by describing the specific impact of different home care financing mechanisms (publicly financed care versus other types of care) on the unmet and under-met needs of older adults but also underscores the need for policies that ensure care adequacy, not just accessibility.

The 2007 adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) marked a critical juncture in the area of Indigenous rights. As a nonbinding agreement, its adoption is at the discretion of each state, resulting in significant state-level variation. Importantly, within-state variations remain underexplored. These differences are potentially significant in federal, decentralized countries such as Canada. This article examines why some provinces and territories lead in implementing the key principles embedded in UNDRIP, whereas others have dragged their feet. We collected 230 Canadian regulations introduced at the subnational level between 2007 and 2023, and assessed the impact of three key variables (i.e. political ideology, resource politics and issue voting). We found that none of these variables explained within-state variations on their own. To further explore the role of these variables, we subsequently compared two provinces at different stages of the UNDRIP implementation spectrum (Québec and British Columbia).

There is strong evidence that children are particularly vulnerable to the persuasiveness of marketing, and that their exposure to marketing of unhealthy food products influences their preference for and consumption of these products(1). In New Zealand (NZ), marketing is self-regulated by the industry-led Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The ASA has two relevant codes, the Children’s Advertising and Food and Beverage Advertising Codes; however, product packaging is omitted. We investigated child-appealing marketing techniques displayed on packaged food products in NZ. We also assessed the potential impacts of different nutrient profiling systems to inform future policy design to restrict child-appealing marketing on food products in NZ. This research was conducted using the 2023 Nutritrack dataset, which contains data collected via photographs of packaged food products available in major NZ supermarkets. We focused on product categories that were shown to have a high prevalence of child-appealing marketing in a similar Australian study(2): confectionery, snack foods, cereal bars and breakfast cereals (n=2015 products). The images of products within these selected categories were assessed and coded using the “Child-appealing packaging” criteria developed by Mulligan et al.(3). Mann-Whitney U tests were used to assess differences in nutrient composition between products with and without child-appealing packaging, using information extracted from Nutrient Information Panels. In addition, the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Nutrient Profiling Scoring Criterion (NPSC) and the World Health Organization Nutrient Profiling Model for the Western Pacific Region (WHO WPRO) were applied to all food products identified as appealing to children to determine which products would be ineligible to be marketed to children under these two potential policy options. Overall, 724 (35.9%) of the 2015 products examined had child-appealing packaging. Snack foods had the highest proportion of products with child-appealing packaging (44.5%), followed by confectionery (39.3%), cereal bars (23.3%) and breakfast cereals (22%). The most common type of child-appealing marketing technique used was “child-appealing visual/graphical design of package” which featured on 513 food items. Overall, compared with products without child-appealing packaging, the median content of energy, protein, total fat, and saturated fat was lower, and the median content of sugar and sodium was higher in products with child-appealing packaging (all p<0.05). Of the 724 products that were found to have child-appealing packaging, 566 (78.2%) would be considered ineligible to be marketed to children when assessed using the NPSC and 706 (97.5%) would be ineligible using the WHO WPRO.Our research shows that a considerable number of food products available in New Zealand supermarkets are using marketing techniques on their packaging that appeal to children. If policies were introduced to reduce the use of child-appealing marketing on food packaging, the WHO WPRO would provide the highest level of protection for children.