How to Bring Wilderness Back to Britain | Rewilding UK | Back from the Brink
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- čas přidán 6. 05. 2021
- ↠ Check out our 'Back from the Brink' series for more incredible wildlife conservation stories: • Back from the Brink
In the past, the UK was full of wilderness. It was home to brown bears, lynx and wolves, all of which are now extinct in the country. ↠Subscribe: czcams.com/users/TerraMaterO...
Instead, around 70% of the UK’s land area is currently used for agriculture, which has decimated large parts of the ecosystem. Is the UK’s land area being used effectively? And, on an island so overpopulated by humans, might it be possible for a huge rewilding movement to restore those lost ecosystems?
We follow rewilding initiatives across the UK to learn how various approaches to rewilding the British Isles work, and find out whether there could soon be wolves in the Scottish Highlands again…
Thanks for watching and, while you’re here, don’t forget to subscribe to our channel and sign up for alerts to be the first to hear about other important conservation topics!
#terramatters
Rewilding initiatives in this video:
Wilder Blean
The Wilder Blean project made possible through a partnership a between Kent Wildlife Trust and the Wildwood Trust and thanks to funds raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery looks to introduce bison to a woodland in Kent.
Links:
www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/...
wildwoodtrust.org/conservatio...
www.postcodelottery.co.uk/
Support this project by Texting WILDERBLEAN to 70470 to give £5 now
Woodland Valley Farm
Woodland Valley Farm footage all courtesy of Nina Constable Media.
(@ninaconstablemedia)
- Website: www.ninaconstable.co.uk/
- CZcams Channel: / @ninaconstable
To find out more about this project please visit the following websites:
- Cornwall Wildlife Trust www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org...
- Cornwall Beaver Project
www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org...
- Woodland Valley Farm woodlandvalley.co.uk/
-Beavers without borders: www.beavertrust.org
Alladale Wilderness Reserve
Find out more:
- Alladale Website alladale.com/
🔗 Sources & Quotes:
1: UK Agriculture Statistics. Time: 00:56
GOV.UK, 2019
assets.publishing.service.gov...
2: Agricultural Land Abandonment. Time: 01:24
EU Science Hub, 2018
ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publicati...
3: Types of Rewilding. Time: 01:45
True Nature Foundation, 2020
truenaturefoundation.org/what...
4: Woodland Valley Farm. Time: 03:12
Cornwall Wildlife Trust, 2021
www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org...
5: Wilder Blean. Time: 04.10
Kent Wildlife Trust, 2021
www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/...
6: UK Rewilding Project Overviews. Time: 04:40
Rewilding Britain, 2021
www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/r...
7: Yellowstone Rewilding TED Talk. Time: 04.50
George Monbiot, 2013
• For more wonder, rewil...
How wolves change rivers
8: Trophic Cascade Infographic. Time 05.52
Earth Justice, 2021
earthjustice.org/features/inf...
9: Alladale Wilderness Reserve. Time: 06.04
Natural Habitat Adventures, 2019
www.nathab.com/blog/bringing-...
Yosemite National Park
Check out our 'Back from the Brink' series for more incredible wildlife conservation stories: czcams.com/play/PLZ3CjNbCdQe8V_y7HK_LzZL6lLv11cx_3.html
Look at your thumbnail... what's missing? The animals that are *always* missing - HARES. Why do you neglect hares? Speaking of ECOSYSTEM ENGINEERS 🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰
@Jack Sparrow Well most of Britain was under ice during glacial periods so not a lot of anything at that time
@Jack Sparrow The way you worded the statement was weird, there have been tons of animals in Britain at varying times but they all leave when the Ice Age hits. And during glacial periods Britain becomes connected to the continent
So good to see that UK is doing this. I have been saying for the last 50 years that the UK and other European countries cannot simply cut away their forests, pour concrete and expect Africa and South America to hold up their end of this ecological seesaw. This is good, needs to go much further.
Yep i remember long time ago seen the Brazilian president Lula da Silva( BTW I'm not Brazilian, I'm Nicaraguan) saying the same in a conference in Rio about climate change. all of Europe bashing Brazil due to deforestation of amazon and he replied back with a statement that can't be literally translated but it went like this: " such big words about conservation coming from the continent that cut down all their forest and only kept 2% of it". 🤦
Big True
Maybe if the UK stopped importing millions of people from the Middle East and Africa they could have more wild lands
@@txaggievet Most migrants to the UK come from Eastern Europe, Greece and Italy. Those are the ones crowding UK.
@@belvedere92 Most come from Africa,Pakistan and Middle East.
People: lynx is coming back to UK!
UK rabbit: Crikey!
We need them. I grew up in a small country village where you would often hear a shotgun being fired in the surrounding fields, and rabbit was regularly on the menu. In the 1970's 'city people' started to move into the village in their search for country life, but were squeamish about the locals killing rabbits and nervous about seeing us with guns, sometimes calling the police about it. In those days the coppers were usually local people who understood the need to control the rabbits, so they'd just have a quiet word with you and ask you to be a little more discreet.
Nowadays it's become much harder to get a shotgun license and any copper you meet is unlikely to have ever met you before or know anything about you, and being seen with a gun is likely to result in you being surrounded by the Armed Response Unit rather than spoken to calmly. (Unless you're a drug dealer, who the cops seem happy to ignore)
Inevitably, the rabbit population has got beyond control - on a recent short walk across fields I counted 128 rabbits before I got bored with it. Foxes are not the answer because they're primarily scavengers and not stealthy predators, so something like the Lynx is needed.
"bloody bastards!"
‘Crikey’ is Australian
@@kjdempsey its british
@@dusk2dawn0 Australian, I’m British, no one says crikey
I am a Canadian who visited Scotland 3 years ago, I swear almost every person I met asked me what my thoughts were on wolves. I had more conversations about wolves in those 5 days than I had the rest of my life combined! Lots of questions about safety, effects on farms and about other wildlife in Canada. I grew up in the Canadian Shield and my wife on a farm on the Prairies, so we felt like we were able to answer most of their questions. I really hope the do this one day, I can't imagine living somewhere without such biodiversity! But something tells me the majority won't be ready for bears to be reintroduced anytime soon :)
what were your answers?
Maybe the return of wolves will mean the return of gun rights in the UK when the wolves predictably start eating cattle and attacking people
as a montanan I am against reintroduction of wolves anywhere. it is cruel to the wolves. it affects farmers negatively. and the government uses a published release to secretly release more. I know of 2 packs that were completely destroyed at least 3 times in 10 years. one pack would die out just to be replaced by another. so crule.
@@shadowknightgladstay4856 did the packs die out of starvation? how did they die out?
@@claires9100 If the story of 'secret releases' is true (MAGA conspiracy theorist warning) then one would suspect 'human predation' as the cause.
Would love to see a more "wilder" UK. I believe we've really turned the UK into a concrete jungle, nature is so important to us not just physically but mentally as well. We really can make the difference if we try, but we must start soon before it's too late..
Only about 5% of the UK has been built on you know
That's a false and misguided view, most of the UK is taken up by farmland.
It even tells you in the video it's majority farmland.
Uk is small country that’s why
I think you misunderstand. These rewilding communists dont care about concreting over the wild. They are silent on the 1million people who cameto the uk last year and the 300,000 houses needed each year and additional infrastructure. They are after farmland to starve the working class. They also want to introduce dangerous animals to ruin the countryside as a gentle escape for families. You wont see them talking about the red squirrel or sparrow.
As a Brit who is going into studying ecology, i am *so* appreciative of this video
Awesome choice! Ecology enriches our world & is crucial for human wellbeing and prosperity. It provides new knowledge of the interdependence between people and nature that is vital for food production, maintaining clean air and water, and sustaining biodiversity in a changing climate.
Good luck with your studies! 🍀
@@terramater Thank you! I'm entering as a mature student (currently 30), and was originally inspired when I first learnt years ago of the wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone and the trophic cascade it caused. I did study in animal management in my late teens, but life took me down a different path. But, it's never too late to learn, i thought, and so here i am, following my dream.
@@MotoHikes Following your dreams is always the right choice and it's even better if your dream work does include preserving our beautiful planet. :)
Hope to be your future colleague one day! I’m in conservation biology. :)
@@JA-xv3qp Likewise! conservational biology is especially what i'm interested in, as i'd love to be a park ranger. I hope our paths cross one day!
Biggest re-wilding effort I've seen in my area is the reintroduction/resurgence of the Red Kite to South/west Wales. When I was a child I don't remember seeing one at all. I started noticing more about 5 years ago and this year, they're everywhere.
I agree! I love seeing Red Kites. That's a success story I was hoping to see mentioned here..
Also this video listed only 1 current re-wilding programme for Wales? I'm pretty sure there's a few more going on than that.
They have expanded their populations greatly, love seeing them around the Chilterns :)
I have a friend from Poland who told me that the issue people have with beavers is that farmers don't know how to deal with them, and I think this is a global problem: Shepherds from Spain want wolves gone for good, but sheep herding is the most ancient form of economy in the Iberian penninsula, and clearly shepherds from the past used to deal a whole lot more with wolves than in modern times. Farmers everywhere in Europe hate beavers cuz they flood big portions of arable land, but what they don't get is that these flooded areas are great for fishing, and channeling the waters that beavers had locked in dams could prove benefitial to create irrigations systems.
We simply forgot what is like to live among other animals.
Agriculture is the worst curse to ever befall humanity. We would be much better off enhacing all natural ecosystems for maximum productivity and harvesting plants and animals accordingly .
@@dubistverrueckt Good luck with that, why not take your clothes off and head on into the woods and tell me how great that goes for you.
Beavers cause flooding but they prevent rivers bursting their banks by restircting the waterflow which is way more devastating
“ We would be much better off enhacing all natural ecosystems for maximum productivity and harvesting plants and animals accordingly” this is also agriculture
@@hermetix7231 you don’t get to redefine stuff to make up lies, bozo
This was terriffic! As a person not far from Yellowstone, I've been reading much on the trophic cascade that occured when the wolves were reintroduced into the national park. IT WAS STUNNING! what a success for nature.
Regarding the Oostvaardersplassen: A few years ago, the park was subjected to an ecological crisis. Due to the absence of large predators, and human hunting, the horse population grew so much that they weren't able to feed themselves, and a lot of them died.
Super Julienx
If there are not natural carnivores to keep herbivores in balance with the ecosystem, man has to step in to reestablish and maintain that balance.
Yeah Oostvaardersplassen is a bad example for this, they are behind a fence and are point of discussion every winter when there isn't enough food left for such a big population of horses. If only the wolves would enter that area..
There used to be a plan to connect the Oostvaardersplassen with the bigger Dutch forest of the Veluwe. But due to some politicians (Bleker) they never developed it. That caused the problems
I hope that they will do it in the near future though, especially since the wolf has returned to the Netherlands
@@RUBPROMAL You do realise that the Hoge Veluwe is private property? They are paying huge amounts each year to have a healthy balance of animals and actively allow for hunting. They don't want to take in the deer and horses from this failed experiment, as this would result in even higher costs. Blame the politicians for allowing Oostvaardersplasses to continue to exist. Its like zoo where the stop feeding the animals in November and then call the starvation "nature"...
@@minecraftpro110 It would solve the wolf problem the farmers are having, by keeping the wild herbivore population down while protecting the cherished domesticated one
Thanks so much for this easy to digest educational video for rewilding!
It's content like this that can help the projects pick up speed and secure widescale support 😍
Thank you so much for your kind words! We really appreciate your feedback! 🤗
@@terramater I cant work out your accent? I know you are not from the United states as you have put , well not originally lol
The first step to rewilding is to make @@terramaterlive outside from now on
Seeing one of your favorite CZcamsrs commenting on a video you knew they would appreciate
American here; you can have some of our wolves if you'd like. They would perform the same ecological role that European wolves would, and American wolves don't have the same odd habit of attacking humans that European wolves do. It's very rare for an American wolf to attack a human.
You can also have some of our brown bears if you'd like, but... Well, I can't say the same thing about them that I said about American wolves.
We also have plenty of coyotes, but as they were never native to Britain, they would cause more headaches than you are probably prepared for.
As someone living in Scotland, this video gives me so much hope for the future. Not only is it great for the environment, but it makes the outdoors so much more interesting than just spectacular views up north.
You don't go munro bagging then
Bring back the PICTS first!
I’m from a place called Solihull by Birmingham and I work as a grounds maintenance operative in my area we have a Solihull in bloom project on a big scale. We’re currently planting wild flowers everywhere for them to encourage Bees and other insects and wildlife because we lost most of our natural meadows and woodlands. The U.K. has some lovely woodlands and meadows but sadly have declined over years. It’s up to us to protect them we plant them around the towns and in the summer the wild flowers look beautiful 😍
Want to support your local flora & fauna? Here you go: 👩🏽🌾How to rewild your garden in 5 easy steps :
🌾 allow the grass to grow long
🐝 plant a mini meadow to welcome insects
🤲🏽mulch instead of digging
🌻leave a few undisturbed corners
🦔reduce hard landscaping & fencing
How to mulch
@@andy-kg5fb Glad you asked!
By constantly digging over soil in our beds & borders, we destroy and disturb the vital micro-organisms that sustain plant life. So when it comes to rewilding your garden, regularly mulching instead keeps things in balance. How to mulch? Just add organic matter such as compost on top of the soil.
@@terramater thanks. I will certainly follow your advice.
@@andy-kg5fb Awesome! Looking forward to your wild garden update! 😉
We started mulching our garden so the soil won't dry out as quickly and we got a bumblebee nest in the first year already!
Mulching is also really good as a slow release fertilizer for Perennials and shrubs :)
Underrated channel... this channel deserves a million subs
True
Yes it does and it will.
Agreed
Rabbits were introduced by the Romans.
Rabbits were introduced by the Romans.
Deers: “it’s free real estate” 🤣 until wolves and bears come back.
This is exactly what I've been looking for!! I'm so glad that the UK is working to restore the wildlife! 😌
so how much of wolves and bears have they brought back
@@crackedsnickel65330 😢
I absolutely love the idea of bringing wilderness back to England, it's the one thing about the continent I envy most. However, my concern with the statistics on agricultural land usage is that, in my experience, as soon as a bit of land isn't being used anymore then building firms are all too eager to snatch it up and throw up a few dozen copy and pasted housing estates. It's happening in my own village and I've seen it happen all over the country. If the land is being used then it is at least kept out of the hands of people who would wreck it and the local communities even more.
Rewilding requires depopulation.
@@chrisbaylis9039 ew
@@chrisbaylis9039 The Uk has a decreasing native population, it just needs to stop mass migration
@@chrisbaylis9039 than I'll pass. We don't need bears or wolves or silly pointless cats like we do people.
@@chrisbaylis9039 Or just end mass migration and start remigration.
Also, a lot of crops can be grown within wilderness areas without damaging the ecosystem. A great variety of native fruits and vegetables would be healthier if surrounded by a diverse ecosystem, and food production would increase.
Absolutely. In my local woodland (Scotland), there are currants, gooseberries, raspberries, sloes, damsons and apples all growing wild, much to the benefit of birds, insects and foxes.
When I lived in Norfolk, the number and variety of fruit trees/shrubs growing wild along road verges was far better than that, much of it going to waste (from a human perspective, but I'm sure the animals made great use of it).
@@debbiehenri345 you're lucky to have currants and gooseberries! We're not allowed to plant them here (New York) because they carry eastern white pine blight.
So so true, it is animal agriculture that is destroying our wilderness. Merely 16% of the land used for farming in the U.K. is for plants, the basis of all of our diets. We need to rid ourselves of the cruelty and instability of meat, dairy and eggs in order to move on sustainably 🤷♂️
Please by all means try harvesting fruits and berries commercially from your local woodland. The supermarkets will be so pleased.
@@r_travel4306 if meat eating is so unsustainable how come its sustained us for the tens of thousands of years mankinds progression from ape to space-faring race has taken? Perhaps also the fact that the british isles have been farmed for thousands of years is also irrelevant. We should all buy our spanish avovadoes, our saudi arabian potatoes and our south american chilies because that really help us reintroduce lynxes just in time for the climate change youre causing to kill them off again.
There are a lot of beavers in Leicester. You can see them on a Friday and Saturday night.
I am not a native English speaker. I presume the OP means those eating wood at the end of the working week? xD
There used to be a lot of beaver in my local pub on a Saturday night but I've gone too old for all that now!😟
@@catfunt9213 thanks mate
And Cougars
Super cool! I've a 40acre farm in Suffolk that I'm gradually rewilding. Its not big enough to fully rewild, but with rotational grazing and using permaculture techniques wildlife has boomed! Eventually when we have the money we want to ring fence the entire lot and let the sheep/goats/pigs etc out.
I really wish my country Norway would take a page from this. Every time a wolf appears in a norwegian forest, all the farmers brig out their guns with or without permission. Even though it's proven that wolf counts for only 1% of sheep deaths, they are all anti-wolf. Pluss our prime minister is best friends with the president of Brazil, adding insult to injury.
It makes me happy to see that not all countries are like that. And that people really want nature to return
Ugh what monsters lead our societies…
I live in the UK, I full intend to have wolves reintroduced if it becomes a public matter. I think it would provide astounding ecological benefits and bring back luscious forests all across the UK which we so desperately need.
@@JA-xv3qp sad but true
more wolf = more sheep death
@@mylesanthony8672 but also more people = more sheep death 💀
To quote “It’s no good rewilding the world if we don’t rewild ourselves.”, from ‘Bone Music’ by David Almond.
Brilliant quote. And thanks for book idea!
Plenty of people are becoming primitive and savage.
It's so amazing how our eco system is connected each and every life has it's own worth.
In Germany we have experience with wild boar in Berlin, one crazy bear in the alpes, and more and more wolves. I used to live in Britain for some years. I cannot imagine wolves being introduced into Britain.
We'll never get the British isles completely back to its natural state as we've lost many species forever, but to get it as close as possible will be just awesome.
Let us know if u need some bears. We're being overun.
Signed: a Romanian
We could use more bears
Hello from America
No thank you!
England..
Yes please! I think those fluffy little cute balls of murder should be allowed to reestablish themselves all over Europe. Greetings from Germany.
I'll do without!
Deer...
Are you sure the bear numbers aren’t staying the same, but human development is encroaching on their habitats?
As a brit this makes me so happy to see natural flora and fauna come back to the country
Actually, it's the Lynx which are being introduced into Scotland. The grey wolves haven't quite had that level of acceptance yet
Honestly there's been big cats here for years. Gotta be really small numbers though. I'm from a wee village in the west and back in 2009 there was a large black cat stoating about the countryside. Saw it twice myself. Once along with the rest of my class as it walked through the playground while we were in school and once with my mum and sister in a nearby field. We actually thought it was a statue until it moved. Weird stuff.
(Edit to add - I know it sounds like bullshit I don't care I'm not trying to prove anything, I saw it along with others and that's cool for me)
@@bawbag8903 I know that there was escaped Pumas on Authers Seat a few years ago
@@malcolm1148 ah I'm not surprised. Some answers would be good though right? Like what the fuck!
Wow of course they won't bring them back just bring back wolves innit like why can't these farmers bring fences and guard dogs simple
I wish I had a house that was designed in harmony with nature. For example creating a "nature zone"
By today’s standards though, you could argue that Iroquois longhouses were not in harmony with nature because or their lack of insulation and the fires they kept burning inside all the time... but they weren’t fenced off I believe (at least not so separate from nature, altho I think fences and walls are necessary at times) and they were made of natural materials. I think simply allowing yourself to be a part of/surrounded by nature might be a good compromise, even if homes aren’t completely up to code in terms of other aspects (carbon emissions etc). I don’t know though. I think you have a very nice dream though as well and that you’re on the right track :)
good idea
Do the best with what you have. Plant a native tree, varied types one will suit. Dig up a little patch of grass plant wildflowers. Every little helps.
A pond and food forest would already make a difference. Unfortunately, even that little land has become expensive...
People need to understand that redirecting water, removing dead wood and mowing grass harms the environment more than they realize.
Also, I've seen old buildings that were far better without AC than most modern ones... Taking prevailing winds and sunshine into account can make a huge difference...
I am so glad and relieved to hear about the rewilding project of the UK. I lived in America for 20 years, surrounded by incredible landscapes, and returning to UK was a visible, visual shock to the system. I hope very much that this idea will grow exponentially and restore some of UK' s "green and pleasant land".
Have you been to Scotland or wales
@@donkey392 of course..
@@carolinehaythornthwaite2965 so you would know they have incredible landscapes aswell, even better. You evidently haven't travelled much
@@donkey392we have 50,000 wild cats in just California tho
The UK should definitely pursue more rewilding efforts and begin to restore the needed natural habitats for these amazing creatures
We so need these projects and for people to appreciate what we have lost.
I live in the U.K. and I have a huge interest in nature, I love the idea of more wildlife but we never talk about the impact of outdoor cats. Most pet cats in the U.K. roam freely, killing millions of native birds. They have also near wiped out the Scottish wildcat. But no one wants to talk about how damaging outdoor cats are.
I hate cats. Cute pets, but ngl they are destructive and smelly. Too many people have them. Also, crows do the same, so maybe hunting crows should be an idea as well
Yes, cats can be cute but they are a big problem when not handled properly. Crows on the other hand are a native, natural predator of songbirds, keep them.
@@aduantas nah I’m just sayin that people like that packham idiot can’t complain about the amount of songbirds going down if they were the people that promoted their hunting
How many birds badgers lot of animals are killed by cars lorries vans nobody talks about that 🤔
@@ianmace1964 I’m not denying that wildlife killed on roads is not a huge problem, because it definitely is. We should also drastically reduce if not stop the amount of wildlife killed on roads.
All I want to do in life is rewilding. In my area, that means Indigo Snakes, Pumas, and Red Wolves. I hope this video inspires more people.
in our mountain home that means more bobcats and mountain lions as well as rattlesnakes
My area that means Red squirrels, Otters and beavers. I have literally NO idea what the natural apex predator for my region is, because there haven't been any for centuries. I'm in South west England btw.
@@chatteyj Eurasian Lynx, or maybe Grey Wolf?
@@buzz5695 I really don’t want to get into an argument, but I would recommend researching a lot about human-wildlife conflicts and animal behavior before saying something like that again.
Apex predators are a nightmare in today’s modern world. There’s a lot more to rewilding then just dumping an apex predator into the mix. 23,000 acres may sound like a lot to someone from England but a wolf could run the whole width of that estate in an hour. Nobody with that small of a property should have the right to bring wolves in.
I live in Canada where predator management has all but ceased and the devastation it’s causing is horrific. Human created factors such as roads and walking trails have given predators such an upper hand that they’re exterminating our wildlife.
Rewilding needs to be done very carefully and the return of apex predators is the very last step if one that’s done at all.
These goofs just want a glorified zoo and that’s going to spell devastation for what ecosystems are left in Britain.
I can imagine wolves or lynx being brought back but the first child munched by a brown bear would see them all eradicated if they were brought back.
Gonna be honest with you, if you're letting literal children roam forests unsupervised then you're a bad parent.
@@JellyLocke ~ You honestly think an omnivore like a brown bear is going to stick to the countryside?
@@fablewalls yes
We dont have issues with em in america. And we have much harsher bears that europe ever had.
@@scythescythe884 probably because you don’t keep sheep or cattle on the highlands where bears are being proposed by hard rewilders. We are already seeing overpopulation in the beaver population so that the have to be relocated, they might in the future be a culling program if they are so successful. The difference between the UK and the USA is you can’t tell me a single place in the UK that isn’t totally wild - where bears have most of their massive territory. You also have guns far more accessible in your defence of a bear attack. And I’m guessing killing a species that is trying to be reintroduced would have a police investigation. And if your a farmer who’s yews are being predated not by fox and crow whilst they are lambs but by bears whilst fully grown; well there is no other phase other than ‘your fucked’ if you don’t take action -especially as sheep tended to on the heathland is the least profitable (you want to be on a pasture near sea level full of ryegrass, somewhere like Lancashire or Dorset). Probably why bears won’t be coming here especially after the nightmare in Europe - a top predator with a territory too small and no where to go with loads of people will start getting ideas about his newest prey item.
If your interested there was a study done by ecologists in New Forest that allowed local tenant farmers rights to graze cattle, sheep, pigs, donkeys and ponies semi freely in a wood pasture. It also hired gamekeepers to control deer, and for the public to shoot wild boar, alongside traditional farming (rotational farming with spring serials) and traditional tree maintenance (pollarding and coppicing) whilst leaving other areas untouched and the whole thing unimproved, the only fertiliser being faeces. It was you could say, how it used to be farmed in the Middle Ages, with an idea similar to common land, and the results where impressive. The grazing and trampling controlled invasive and aggressive plants, which created areas of new growth, the controlling of deer increased songbird populations, the control of the hogs encouraged saplings to grow, whilst the pigs overturned the topsoil. This gave life to rare woodland plant species, and the was in general more biodiversity with in the project than outside this part of the wood. There were more species of fauna. I think that’s it. If we want a healthier countryside rewinding isn’t the answer - we’re too far gone to allow wolf, bear and elk and perhaps lynx into the countryside to ruin the agricultural economy for the sake of an ideal world, but it is somewhere in the middle. Too many people forget humans are part of the ecosystem also - you only need to look as far as how heathland was created to realise some animals have a symbiotic relationship with us for their existence.
This movement restore humanity in my heart. Thank you for those involved to this restoration of wild life.
this channel has the best cinematography and research team then most of infographic channels across CZcams..
keep growing. Thanks for giving us this type of videos during this hard times..
Wow, thanks so much Aman, your kind comment made our day! 🤗
We're happy to have such awesome & nature-caring subscribers like you!
@@terramater Do you know how I want Scotland To look after rewinding
I want it to look as it would’ve looked in 300 BC
Wow scotland is beautiful
True that!
Ikr
Sometimes the algorithm throws up a gem
and this is one of those moments! Enjoy
Up in the forests of the Cairngorms it would be awesome to have Lynx around. In places like Abernethy and Glen Feishe there are already great rewilding projects but Lynx would make it amazing
A pack of wolves isn't gonna keep you from wandering around, they'll be gone by the time you come anywhere near that reservation and they're not going to hunt you because wolves don't eat things they haven't seen another wolf eat (unless they're absolutely starving, which isn't gonna happen in a reserve full of red deer and other animals).
Kids though they would just be too easy.
Agreed
Wolves are fine as they are shy and don’t naturally see humans as potential prey, but bears should absolutely not be introduced
@@josephrobinson6171 I fully agree bears would cause too much destruction to the small country
How about no? We can control the Deer population fine if the government wasn't such big assholes about it. We don't need dangerous animals on the prowl that can cause damage to livestock.
I like everything about this except the evaluation of agriculture in the beginning. How many people are employed in agriculture and what share of the GDP it makes up is not really relevant. It produces the food we need to survive. There are many issues with agriculture, but you can't look at it as economically unproductive when it forms the very basis of human society.
I kind of agree, except for the idea that relying even ore than we already do on foreign imports for food isn't exactly the wisest of ideas.
@@stephencrompton4352 yeah and basically all that means is that we are "rewilding" our country by forcing other countries to creat more farmland to support us
@@ninjacell2999 Don't get me wrong, I'm still kind of in favour of 'rewilding', but not so much that we start getting rid of existing agriculture.
@@stephencrompton4352 yeah a lot of the comments on this video are pretty unrealistic
thk you, the video is right on a lot of things but not that part
As a Resident of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, I do believe it is possible... People across the Country from the north of Scotland to the White Cliffs in the South are moving more and more towards these efforts.
I have seen such attempts first hand in the south in the area of the New Forest, this entire region of forest and open fields is beautiful with herds of horses roaming freely, so much so that I actually witnessed some standing outside a Pub, grazing on some plants in its garden. Yet the workers in the Pub didn't shoo them off but left them be.
If people think we can't live with nature, forget your mistaken concepts, the problem doesn't lie with Nature, it lies with us.... the Human belief that we are better than the animals around us. We can live alongside nature, we can learn to live with them and we can enjoy it and feel better in the knowledge that not only are we seeing such natural beauty but that those who come after us will see it.
This makes me so grateful that we have all of those species still in Poland
It's tragic to think that we lost all these amazing species.
Lucky you and the forests to give them shelter and you clean air etc., Enjoy
This video was so informative and I find it so fascinating how impactful beavers are to that ecosystem.
Thanks a lot for your kind words!
Right? Beavers are a pretty cool keystone species.
I am doing agric at collage and am glad to hear people thinking about helping and all of what you said i can back up and wish more would see this video
Something like this is needed in every country ❤️
These things really do give me hope and that's just wonderful.
Amazing. Love to see it. And really cool of you guys to not only put this information together but also to provide links for people to get involved and gardening advice. Been trying to convince my extended family to do some of those things and build hedgehog corridors for a while now.
Glad you enjoyed it!
And thanks for your kind feedback! 🤗 We always try to encourage as many people as possible to preserve the beautiful places around us, or within this case built new ones.
What do you think? Should we support and amplify rewilding initiatives around the globe? Can we find a balance between agricultural needs with protecting & reviving wilderness? Let us know!
Absolutely! We just need governments and corporations to stop being greedy/incompetent/careless bastards!!
I believe that in the near future humans will be able to live in harmony with nature.
It’s proven that if farmers turn the edges of their fields (the parts next to the hedge that aren’t plowed anyway) into wildflower meadows then the crops on the inside of them will produce higher yields, plus you won’t need to spray any chemicals, saving you from having to buy them. Working with nature is more benifial to farming than working against it.
Then reintroduced wolves and eagles started to smother livestocks
Why did you pick the Oostvaardersplassen as an example of passive rewilding? It's nice to see it mentioned in a positive way but everything I know about it, from controlling waterlevels to feeding animals in the winter, seem to be examples of what passive rewilding isn't.
Hey there, thanks a lot for sharing this amazing video and highlighting such an important topic. Your efforts to raise awareness about rewilding are truly commendable, and I really hope that it inspires more people to get involved in similar efforts in their own communities. Keep up the great work! ❤
That's such an amazing and inspiring for us to hear! ❤️ We will def continue posting videos like this, we recently did one about the return of the American Bison, maybe you would also like it: czcams.com/video/WVJuAL3s7Hc/video.html
Thanks for watching our videos!
this video makes me unbelievably happy and hopeful.
Thank god Teddy Roosevelt had the foresight to keep wildlife in America with his national parks plan. He really is the reason a culture of conservation exists so much more in the USA than other countries.
Well this sure was a nice Terra Matter video about how we can bring back the animal of Britain.
Also I wish y'all a good day.
Tarras Valley is a nature reserve located in Langholm, Scotland. The reserve spans over 10,500 acres of land and is one of the biggest projects of its kind in the UK for people, nature, and climate 12. The reserve is owned by the community of Langholm, which purchased the land from Buccleuch estate in 2021
This made me so happy, Im not even a huge animal and nature person but it makes me so happy to see more animals coming back
8:13 onwards!! I read about reforestation earlier, it is soo nice to see rewilding here on video!! Much love xxx
Yeah I mean I live in the PNW. The lack of wilderness in all of Europe, including the UK, is mind boggling.
There's definitely concerns that are valid when introducing apex predators into an environment, especially in a country where you're not allowed to carry a firearm or self defense. But the wolves will definitely kill livestock. We did the same thing here and yeah, it sucks. But it's necessary to help control the deer population and the knock down effects as you states are valid.
However; the whole bit at the beginning about the farmers employment and overall gdp is an absurd point to make. Every country, Especially and island nation absolutely NEEDS the ability to be self sufficient. Bad shit happens and when rather than if it does, you need to be able to fend for yourself. Food is not magically appearing on store shelves. War happens. Natural disasters happen.
With all of that said, people making private land into wilderness sanctuaries is beautiful. I applaud those efforts.
Farmers are not only able but also forced to protect their lifestock. It must not be farmers keep their sheep, goats etc. without caring for it. Fences and guard dogs are one way to manage. You should not forget: Nature was there in the first place. It's an honour we as humanity are "allowed" to use its crop. We can't expect everything out there belongs only to us and our lifestock.
Why is it mind boggling? This is the old world. You live in the new one.
@@kekistanihelpdesk8508 Because you still choose to live there. I couldn't imagine living that detached from nature.
@@kekistanihelpdesk8508 Wrong. America is the new world, we're the old one.
@@kekistanihelpdesk8508 pretty sure wild life is the oldest thing on earth 😂
Awesome video! There's a fantastic rewilding project in Norfolk, where I live, called Wild Ken Hill (pretty sure it was on the map). They've reintroduced beavers to their land (amongst other species) and have plans for a whole lot more :)
Excellent overview about the different types of rewilding!
A large part of mainland Europe is farmland, I hope rewilding projects will spread throughout the continent and then the world as it brings positive environmental impacts.
Doesn't look that good here in Austria. Wolves and bears are often killed by the hunters/farmers because they kill their sheep. Lynxes are also very rare, as well as sea otters. There are some beavers tho.
@@gery8218 farmers need to learn to protect their animals better then so they don’t get attacked in the first place.
@@theworthysoul you tell them:/
We need MORE pockets of wilderness STAT. I wish the UK had more wildlife/wilderness!
We already have lots of Wildlife you moron, ever go outside?
@@britishgamer666 You clearly don't see the potential we can have. Stop being a prick and keep your rude comments to yourself!
@@britishgamer666 yeah stfu
@@thanib7796 Provided it doesn’t damage food security or is not paired with the classist politics that George Monbiot pedals the reimagine farmers as ‘the problem’ which of course they are not and only ignorant morons would argue such a thing.
@@suburbanyobbo9412 it’s because your densely crowded island can’t farm or sustains itself so it uses up nature for farmland which is pointless because you aren’t self reliant anyway. Here in Spain we produce enough food for everyone to eat with enough space to fill all bellies.
I want, I hope, I pray that there can be more efforts like this around the world to help replenish what we've taken during our species growing pains. Other rewilding projects such as pleistocene park are also very exciting.
Gods blessing to all those who venture into this ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
There's a small population of beavers in Scotland now as well, not far from where I stay! This project restores my faith in humanity somewhat
I heard even in the time of Stonehenge, lots of the UK was already cultivated. What seemed to help in “rewilding” the UK was actually the Black Death, which made whole swathes of the countryside depopulated and killed off once thriving villages allowing the small remaining pockets of wilderness to thrive for a time.
I'd really like to see more content about some of these projects and what happens over time in a lot of detail.
I’m in love with bison and how the live and what they do . I cannot wait until they come into the wild
cool now how much have came back then is it still only like 1%
Its incredibly rare for wolves to attack people, just take sensible precautions such as not letting small kids and pets out alone. Livestock guardian animals often protect a herd from all kinds of predators better than any fence could, and its not like there aren't any fences in the UK. Livestock needs to be contained in a field.
Or you have to get shepherd dogs back again, think back in history the dogs from Celtic tribes
In Spain mastiffs guard the sheep. Anyway, in the mountains of Wales and Scotland sheep exist only because of money from the state. As Monbiot explains in "Rewilding" , it would make more sense to use that taxpayers money to rewild their lands, that would prevent the destructive floods in the lowlands caused by the destruction of the highlands
Anything bigger than the wolves should be fine as long as you have enough of them, you just need to make sure they’re not out numbered by a large pack
Yall know nothing of wolves, they'll get through any fence and kill any animal if they're hungry. So it might not be a good idea to introduce them to an island where they have not too much wild to eat and plenty of farm animals to get.
I can't believe we used to have brown bears and wolves in the UK really hope they get reintroduced sustainably soon
We hope that too Megan! 🐻
Are you French ?
I believe they were discussing lynx the other day, but knowing the government they probably won’t.
i wonder if there is a way to tag these apex predators with gps or something so people can avoid them when doing their "right to roam" thing.
As an avid hiker I certainly have mixed feelings about this.
Ecologically amd environmentally, it would be a blessing without a doubt.
Though, I do like being able to camp in the wild and go for hikes by myself, in moors and forests and at night, without needing a firearm or a sword, especially seeing as you can't really get those here.
This is so up my street❤️. I'd say people need to learn how to be in nature as part of it, and to reexamine their relationship to fear.
GDP is irrelevant when it comes to farming. We need it to survive. Our sewage system brings no GDP, but it’s still essential.
Farming often requires welfare payments to the farmers in one way or another. The price of a lot of crops cannot sustain the farmers. The percentage of agriculturalists their are in a country is a pretty good indicator of how developed a country is.
you can get food from some other country that can produce it more economically and with less damage to the environment.
@@ratandmonkey2982 usually speaking if a country produces something more economical it means they are either ignoring the enviromental impacts on the region or they are paying workers horrible wages.
@@xxjr8axx Might as wel accumulate all farming land under government ownership to cut out the middle man farmer you’re bitching about
@@kanesmith8271 why are you presenting this as black and white
Recently subbed cause your videos are very interesting, not too long and really makes you think about nature /environment
THIS NEEDS TO HAPPEN ALL ACROSS THE GLOBE!
Yes! That's the spirit! 👏🏽
It is, although some countries are not so happy about it and are more resistant!
Yes, just kill a few billion people :D
@@saffa2326 it's fine, more oxygen for me :D
@@saffa2326 No. Just make fring more efficient and rewild the left over area.
As a man who did both forestry and geology in Canada's north for 14 years, I can attest that being in true wilderness will change anyone. Shinrin-yoku is a fascinating concept which is worth a long look. I'm not saying that wilderness is an option in modern life, I'm saying that every modern human needs wilderness. All you need to do is just go and sit out in the bush and listen, watch, breathe, observe with all your senses as nature comes alive all around you. In Canada, we refer to wilderness as a place where you could quite conceivably be eaten. It pays to be situationally aware, but life is empty without wilderness. Rewilding a place is a worthwhile project for anyone. Plant trees, clean up rivers, do whatever needs to be done but just get out there. Believe me Britain, you need this.
I love all of nature and appreciate my connection with her.
I hope Britain will recover to it's natural state of nature
Bears, wolves etc... are monsters. They destroy everything they eat all the food in an area then move on. Places that put restrictions on hunting of wolves and bears have only seen numbers explode as they kill off everything or until they (other animals) move away. This is a fantasy of people who watch to much Disney.
Amen to that! Enjoy
@@yagsipcc287 humans are monsters
@@theworthysoul no were not. Were exceptional.
@@yagsipcc287 not true
For my dissertation I designed a wireless smart sensor for the rewilding project at Mar Lodge Estate in the Cairngorm national park.
They faced the same issue with red deer eating saplings. So I designed a working prototype device that used various sensors to detect deer entering the area and then used a light strobe and sounds from an array of different sound files via an amplifier to scare away the deer.
The main challenge was that because deer have no natural predator in the UK, they become desensitised to stimuli very quickly so a large range of sound files were stored in each device and then played at random.
The device then sent a data stream back to an end server and this data was displayed on an app I created for the ecologist team.
So, did you find something that worked against deer?
I live in South West Scotland, with Roe and Red Deer regularly eating my trees (mainly just nibbling apple, birch and cherry, but absolutely decimating the pears and willows - stripping bark and chewing through the wood).
I did get a dog, hoping that the odd 'woof' would send them on their way. However, he turned out to be a big, fuzzy coward (scared of rain - let alone deer).
So next I tried human urine. That worked for a while, but the deer soon returned. I've just put up lots of shiny, sparkly things (made from old crisp packets and string). This seems to be holding out for now, although a fellow permaculturist reported that they get used to this as well.
Lately, I bought some 'Irish Spring Soap' (original scent), as a lot of Americans report that this is very effective in scaring off 'their' deer.
I haven't put it out yet, as I'm trying to devise the best way of hanging bits of soap in trees without the rain washing it away too quickly.
I’m missing this kind of documentary video about animals, you got a new sub keep up the good work
Do hope I see this come to fruition in my lifetime.
Amen to that! Which actually means something like 'in truth, honesty and trust'! Enjoy
Well in Germany we always have a lot of trouble with wolves, bears or lynx coming through our eastern and southern borders. I don’t think having larger predators would function in the UK where the population density is even higher and on top of that they don’t even have half the percentage of forests.
Although in Germany we managed to sustain a small number of Wolf packs. Lynx aren’t that uncommon in bigger forest areas anymore. Bears are still only visitors from the Alps.
t-bone , Don't worry they are working on reducing the Human Population of the UK , just like all over the rest of the World ! WEF want Half a Billion maximum world Human Population !
I would one day love to be able to go onto a hike and be able to hunt out animals I would have never seen if non of this happened.
I’d love to one day be able to hear a wolf howl without having to leave my own country.
Theres a lot of worry’s and I completely understand that, but I believe in the long run stuff like this will help, if we just take our time, and not rush anything
Beautiful project...... all other countries should follow this method.
All for it. We should be proud of the UK.
It's weird to hear the UK being called overpopulated when you're from the Netherlands. They have ao much nature compared to us.
Agricultural use might not make up much of GDP but I’m sure it makes up quite a high percentage of what we eat! Would love to see more rewilding but I’m also concerned about UK food security which is poor as it is.
Wholeheartedly enjoyed this video! Thank you for putting this together and giving hope to idea of living in a more wild UK, in the not so distant future
Thank you for watching it! 🤩
They reintroduced red kites (a bird of prey) into Reading a while back and they're now extremely common there
Love this video. I'm a passionate supporter for rewilding. I'd love to see my country's Caledonian Forest be revived and have our extinct species brought back.🏴💙💚🌱
Inspirational. Eye opening. Spectacular. I loved every second.
I’m happy America’s wildlife is expanding. Where I live the black bear population and bald eagle population is increasing. For the first time ever I saw bears in my neighborhood. I love that wildlife is returning
I just want to hear your opinion on this. So, in my country, wolves are reintroduced to the ecosystem, but they are a bigger then before and they don’t fear people since they were bred in captivity, there was even a rumour that those were siberian wolves, and reintroduction of lynx is happening.
Here in my local community, sheeps and goats are a big part of protecting the woods from wildfires by eating lower leaves. Since the reintroduction and protection of wolves began, the number of wildfires has increased rapidly and the holly oak woods completely disappeared. Now that there is no oak, no sheep and goats, no hares, deers and wild sheep, wolves are getting closer to small villages, even attacking humans and regularly killing guard dogs.
I have an issue with the approach, because in my opinion, deers, hares and such animals should be reintroduced to the system, and then the number of carnivores normal for this ecosystem should be increasing naturally. I feel like ecology doesn’t go in the right direction. Please let me know what do you think about that, I am willing to discuss.
I think the best is that we humans play the role of an apex predator through well regulated hunting. Reintroducing long gone species can have a lot of negative impacts since the environment is not adapted since a very long time for predators such as wolves
@@PG-3462 exactly my point 👍
I think the new wolves aren’t the same sub-species as the one that lived in your area because humans wiped them all out.
@@PG-3462 The problem with that is we humans tend to pick off the biggest and healthiest animal. Predators don’t go after healthy animals but the young, sick and old. Unless the government gives permission to do an annual culling but that might get backlash from the public. I think it’s better to let Mother Nature run her course.
@@KhanMann66 What you're talking about is trophy hunting, which probably represents less than 1% of total hunters. If a hunter gets a permit for a male deer, then he will hunt any male deer, he will not be looking specifically for the biggest male deer in the entire forest. And actually, the healthiest and most fit deers will probably flee the area far before any hunter can see them, leaving only the "less healthy" for the hunters
If UK agriculture only employed that many people, I would imagine it is quite efficient.
Studying zoology these last 2 years, this really excites me as I cannot wait to support these ecological organisms into the wild with a chance that they will survive and I cannot wait to survey whether they will be able to survive or not
Then you will see how many other animal deaths you're responsible for.
easily my favorite video in youtube, thanks Terra mater
Damn I live in the UK and had no idea this was happening. Great video btw!
Britain is an extremely artificial environment. Even the few national parks that remain are not wild. They’re continuously pruned and maintained so as to appeal to humans. Everywhere else is just farmland, or cities. Makes me jealous of beautiful countries like Canada and Australia, and the US, which all have vast untouched areas of wilderness.
@@cretinousswine8234 We are literally a tiny island with 66 million people. I'm happy we have any national parks such as the Lake district.
@@cretinousswine8234 Artificial is the wrong word, it is heavily managed. I know what you mean Moorland like Dartmoor would return to forest if left unmanaged, but there are very few areas like it in the world and our patchwork field network is quite unique and not totally bad for wildlife either. (its better than having no hedgerows like some countries) But that said the UK could do with more forests I think.
Wow, we used to have some awesome wildlife.
Great idea. We need more wilderness everywhere and more urban planning to avoid moving into the wild areas. There needs to be a balance. I hope the UK will be able provide for food production as well.
This is so awesome, learning about this happening! I am very worried for the bumble bees who badly need back the wealth of wildflower fields there used to be. Right now they have to rely on private gardens a lot, it is not ideal at all. They are my favourite animals, so adorable.