Creating a Wetland from Scratch (with Belmont Estate)

[@GlobalRewilding]

What a brilliant first episode. A perfect example of how people, everywhere, are transforming hope into real, positive action through rewilding. Love the idea of a mosaic within landscapes and embracing the cyclical pattern of nature. Our team are looking forward to the future episodes and how this series evolves!

[@WildingEarth]

Thank you for watching and placing the channels first comment! It’s been a real pleasure so far getting to meet the people behind projects and I’m excited to share what we’ve been working on! I appreciate your support! Olly

[@belmontestateuk]

Thanks so much for spotlighting our nature recovery mission and Watercress Farm, one of our latest nature restoration projects. We're thrilled to be able to share our story with you and very excited to see more on your channel in the future - congratulations 👏

[@WildingEarth]

Thank you for having me and I look forward to returning to do a progress update at some point in the future! Olly

[@PeterColeman-Smith]

I did the first Riverfly survey in the new 're-wiggled' section of the river. Amazingly within just a few weeks olive (mayfly) nymphs, caddis larvae, fresh water shrimps and other inveterbrates had already moved in. Giving nature more of a chance works! We continue to monitor the river to check on it's health in case of pollution events (eg a slurry leak) from upstream.

[@WildingEarth]

Amazing! Thank you for your help and support on the project, I know how important the wider team is at Belmont. I can’t wait to return to see the changes!

[@PondLab]

I was wondering if it had been surveyed, certainly looks like I would be biodiverse :)

[@Electrat]

What a great story and lovely to see the vision of it's current owners. Hopefully it'll be another successful rewilding story like Knepp.

[@WildingEarth]

I hope so too!

[@p.f.9198]

What a beautiful place. Please more about this and other rewilding sites!

[@WildingEarth]

Will do! It’s a beautiful project

[@johnfrancis4401]

@@WildingEarthYes but is it a project only the really wealthy can afford to do?

[@RyanParle81]

I live very close to the Belmont Estate, and spent much of my childhood exploring the watercress farm area. I've taken quite an interest in the project and regularly walk around the project, although I've not got round to volunteering yet. I think the majority of the project is excellent especially the work done on the water course and surrounding meadows. The improvement of the biodiversity is quite noticeable especially in the flora and fauna. However I am more than a little upset about the condition of watercress wood, as it is now used as a kind of hub for the educational activities carried out, I feel the state of the woodland has suffered from over use. An area that used to be loaded with plants and fungi now feels somewhat bare from the higher level of footfall. Although I am a bit upset by the woodland I must admit I always dreamed of being able to create an area for bushcraft within these woods and I would have done almost the same as belmont estates have done in terms of creating a shelter / fire pit in the clearing, i also had the idea of hanging a canopy / tent from the same tree that they use.

[@WildingEarth]

Hi Ryan, I appreciate you sharing your thoughts on everything. From what I’ve seen the educational aspect of the project, inspiring and connecting children with nature has had a huge positive impact on many many young lives. This area in the woods is used for this education piece. At a time when young people seem so disconnected from nature I’m a big supporter of their work in this area. As you say minimising the impact on the woods should be a priority and having met the team all I can say is that they are very considerate and proactive to minimising the impact on the local natural environment from any activities. I’ve met other volunteers and would thoroughly recommend joining them!

[@damonchampion823]

Look forward to seeing more episodes. Knowing people are doing work like this makes me more hopeful for the future. Hope the channel continues to grow 💚

[@WildingEarth]

Thank you Damon!

[@osh736]

Love this - they're doing a fantastic job on that rewilding project.

[@WildingEarth]

Yes they are!

[@RussTillling]

Awesome video and brilliantly explained by Gil. Best I've seen 🤩🤩🤩

[@WildingEarth]

Gil is a fountain of knowledge! Such a privilege getting to meet the people spearheading these projects

[@daveburnham9111]

What a great project. I've been collecting a playlist of hopeful environmental projects for 4 years and glad to add your first 3 videos to the list.Great work ...keep it up.

[@WildingEarth]

Thanks for the comment and support Dave!

[@RandomsFandom]

I want to build a food forrest around this type of setup

[@novampires223]

Beautiful place, I would like to see it again in a few years.

[@WildingEarth]

That’s the plan!

[@dac545j]

The estate manager is very good. Hats off.

[@WildingEarth]

Gil is a superstar!

[@shaneemmerson4658]

We need this x100 all across the country, great work.

[@WildingEarth]

Momentum is picking up and I hope in a small way this channel can inspire others to follow

[@felipericketts]

Good news among all the rest! A little light can bring hope to the darkest moments! Thanks 🙂

[@WildingEarth]

We all need a little light sometimes!

[@fifib5992]

Love it!

[@TheRewildlife]

So impressive! Inspired me with my own rewilding project

[@WildingEarth]

I’m so happy to hear, where’s the best place to find out more info on your project, your channel?

[@TheRewildlife]

@@WildingEarth Yes Im going to document it over the next few months. My next video will be covering my plans for wildflower meadows, wetland, ponds, woodlands and mirco-habitats. Il be shooting it next week so about 10 days till its out!

[@WildingEarth]

@@TheRewildlife looking forward to watching!

[@RhysMitchell-er5bf]

There’s a wetland area by me in north Liverpool that might be worth a look at called Lunt wetlands I think. Lunt is the tiny village where it is.

[@WildingEarth]

Amazing, thank you for the recommendation, really appreciate it and will take a look

[@landtribe6258]

Brilliant work, well done

[@WildingEarth]

Thank you for watching!

[@peterpusey3206]

Wonderful project great to see nature allowed to regenerate, and that comes from someone who used to milk 350 cows intensively managed on a ryegrass sward. Must visit.

[@WildingEarth]

Thank you Peter!

[@Liam-t7u]

There are so many useful projects underway in the UK right now. I am happy to add Belmont's efforts to my list. Great work so far. Any chance of Beaver in Belmonts future?

[@WildingEarth]

Gil did mention they had beavers nearby. We’re just working on episode 4 at Coombeshead that features lots of beavers!

[@Liam-t7u]

@@WildingEarth Thank you for that news. I'm impressed at Belmont's efforts and the strong support shown by the local community. Thank you once again.

[@Britonbear]

I'd never heard of those field drains before.

[@WildingEarth]

It’s crazy to think they are literally all I’ve the UK under most fields

[@keithfryer3979]

Really interesting. I have been reading about projects to introduce Beavers back into the the UK. Surprised you have not considered doing that as well. Natures natural construction workers.

[@WildingEarth]

They have beavers nearby! We have around 1,000 beavers across the UK now

[@Britonbear]

Not enough trees for them is my guess.

[@MrChickenmilk]

Imma subscribe .

[@pauldukat5862]

This is great, but why is there no Vegetation next to the banks for shading the water and keep it cool on hot summer days? I expect a good reason for it, I just don't know jet. Thanks for this nice Video!

[@Bee-t8z]

Because the cows have eaten it all. I think this has been produced or influenced by the farming lobby. See George monbiot debate Allan Savory. People are desperate to cling onto farming and greenwashing it.

[@WildingEarth]

The banks have recently been created and in time the vegetation will grow, thank you!

[@tidtidy4159]

If we don't have farming, how will we eat?​@@Bee-t8z

[@novampires223]

They just did this, it takes time for the land to recover from years of farming.

[@Bee-t8z]

@@novampires223 how do you think the cows benefit the project?

[@archiewilkinson6413]

thoughts on using beavers to do this?

[@WildingEarth]

HI Archie, Gil mentioned there were Beavers nearby but that to 'kick-start' the wetlands process it really needed diggers to move Earth around to fast-track the development of the landscape

[@RussTillling]

@@WildingEarth and some tree planting at some point?

[@JohnDoe-ib3hr]

@@RussTillling Trees aren't always ideal, sometimes a more open landscape can be more beneficial to a wider variety of species. Mosaic landscapes with scattered trees and shrubs similar to savannah are much more productive in terms of biodiversity.

[@whowereweagain]

Municipalities should do this in urban watersheds in combination with communally managed raised field agriculture. To the extent that tax revenue makes the land tech and labor purchases required to construct such infrastructure before being handed over to the socius to be held in common. It would create jobs and food sovereignty, sponge cities, it would do what all the duplicitous SDG bullshit says it wants to do. the revolutionary implications might be too much for states to invest in without it being surveillance financed or forced by popular demand. Anyways I am convinced that realigning social production with the earths territorialities and fluxes is the way forward regardless of what the state and bourgeoisie decision makers want to repress for capital's sake.

[@WildingEarth]

Nice concept, definitely something there

[@ichdu3689]

Very nice. Will you also plant trees?

[@WildingEarth]

Thanks, potentially if the channel views grow and we can then allocate income from the views

[@philiptaylor7902]

What a great video, excellent quality. I look forward to more on this channel. Subscribed

[@WildingEarth]

Thank you for your kind words Philip, I appreciate the subscribe! Olly

[@sms3037]

No permaculture/food forrest in the surroundings? Any chance those pools will become wild salmon spawning grounds in the future?

[@WildingEarth]

I’m not sure about salmon but very excited to watch how it evolves!

[@sms3037]

​@@WildingEarth Recently i discovered through youtube that beavers are perfect for creating wetlands and with a much lower costs effectinious than artificial created wetlands. This option could be overviewed for upcoming projects or when this project gets expanded. Is planting bushes and trees the next step into this project?

[@billsmith5109]

Salmon, with few exceptions spawn in flowing streams. Their redds on a very small scale effect the stream flow. In the process of disturbing the gravel to cover freshly layed and fertilized eggs they create a low point the gravel came from immediately upstream. Below is a slight mound covering the egg pockets. The mound is expanded each time that female lays another set of eggs. The eggs end up covered. The gravel they are in has been washed of silts and most of the sand, increasing its permeability. The water flows through the low upstream spot, and mostly over the slight mound she has created. Hydraulic pressure causes some water to flow through that slight mound, hopefully providing oxygenated water to the egg pockets. Still water can’t do this. The whole process moves most of a cubic meter of spawning sized gravels downstream. So upstream supply of gravel is an inherent need. Spawning reaches tend to have adequate slope to provide this. On a small scale humans have built and maintained spawning gravel pads successfully in less sloped streams.

[@markgwilliam9498]

Wisdom!

[@WildingEarth]

Thanks for watching Mark!

[@katejackson7432]

i litterally dream of doing this most nights . lovley t see

[@oacho3]

Me too!!!

[@WildingEarth]

It’s a stunning project now, can’t wait to see what it looks like in a few years!

[@oacho3]

@@WildingEarth Biodiversity is going to skyrocket

[@rachelcomte8089]

I'm curious who is paying for all of this. When they say this is a model for others, I imagine there are many who would be interested but cost is always a hurdle

[@lobotomie66]

where are the trees which give shade to the water and prevent vom evaporation? some beavers wmay be helpful, but they need woods

[@WildingEarth]

The trees will return in time. Gorse bushes and thorny scrub will protect some tree saplings and allow them to develop

[@Greenmahn333]

👍

[@quikoucat]

🤘🤘

[@greedier-7661]

... currently all that water is useless. 1; like there is mostly only grass there. 2; it lacks any gravel in water ways, 3: it lacks near water plants that are needed for bugs and animals that would actually live there. 4; Water is to small for fish to live 5; water lacks plants to keep them alive if they were put there 6; it lacks bushes or trees for birds to enjoy the water or live there like this whole thing is as dead as if it was completely flat and we can even see that they cut down/destroyed trees for no reason.

[@WildingEarth]

This is the very beginning of this project and it will change and evolve over the years. I hope to do an update in time and it will be interesting to see which of those challenges you mention have been naturally resolved

[@gerardkiff2026]

I’m always amused when shows about the English countryside features American Appalachian music. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@WildingEarth]

We’re working on our music! Feedback noted 😂

[@MrNiuj]

BEAVERS!

[@WildingEarth]

Beavers incoming in the next episode!

[@novampires223]

You could just leave the music out altogether, birds make much better music.😊

[@WildingEarth]

Feedback noted!

[@vickileonard72]

?doesn't the stagnat water bread mosquitos=malaria

[@WildingEarth]

Luckily in the South West of the UK we are pretty much mosquito free 😅

[@adamsneath6976]

@@WildingEarthand malaria free!

[@justinschoon1359]

I'm surprised people actually think this looks good. Looks like a bloody golfcourse not a natural river and wetland system! 🤣. Not to try and spread negativity, but please, this should not be used as an example of how rewilding should be done - it is rigid, canal-like and artificial rather than dynamic, transitional and nature-like...

[@WildingEarth]

As it’s ’freshly created’ the banks look more uniform but in time it will resemble a natural ecosystem. From visiting the site they’ve done an amazing job and have involved many ecologists and specialists to do things properly. And for what it’s worth I love the look of it now and can’t wait to see how it evolves

[@greyroetcisoender8775]

Focus on me now understand opportunity cost😂. Go do. Like circles even more. Progress slow I know. Work on circles. Work for me. BIGGER PARADOX🎉

[@sigurd7088]

All i can se is a ruined field😢

[@WildingEarth]

They’ve done an incredible job. Increased the capacity of the landscape to reducing flooding, boosted biodiversity (river systems are a real hotspot) whilst involving the local community and educating local school children

[@charliedoherty5965]

U lads r a waste of good land..

[@WildingEarth]

I think you’re missing the point!

[@charliedoherty5965]

Not at all

[@olsim1730]

​@@charliedoherty5965"good" and "waste" are both highly subjective. Have a nice day 😊

[@Bee-t8z]

Farming lobby greenwash 🤢

[@WildingEarth]

Definitely not greenwash, it’s a brilliant project

[@Bee-t8z]

@WildingEarth can you point to scientific evidence that having a bunch of cows on the property eating all the vegetation improved the rate at which the rewilding occurred? Also cows = methane emissions The fertiliser polluting the water is mainly animal excrement. How are more cows helping with that situation? Vegan, locally sourced food is better for the planet. You should have turned that farm organic and introduced no till, improved the hedgerows, if you wanted to do something nice for it. Instead you reduced our viable agricultural land stock. Why didn't you rewild a livestock farm? They take up way more land per calorie than vegetable and grain farms.

[@NatenNWO]

​@@Bee-t8zlol never heard of Buffalo or bison?

[@Bee-t8z]

@NatenNWO cows are a major reason for the decimation of the bison population, so not sure how they'd feel about you using their name to support your argument (if they are capable of feeling affronted 🤔). In any case, apples and oranges. Bison herds are enormous, but so are their ranges eg. Yellowstone. Hardly comparable to their little fenced farm. Bison are very scary animals, but they still have predators to chase them around and stop them overgrazing and keep the population in check. Humans are not wolves. We do not chase our prey across vast plains. Cows are not bison. When was the last time a human chased a cow? I wouldn't want to see the results 😬

[@philippesails4973]

You guys should learn to make consiste videos.

[@WildingEarth]

I’m new to this so learning lots every episode we make. Hope to improve the consistency over time!

[@hobbabobba7912]

Ok, why are you doing this?

[@friedelpretorius9217]

To improve habitat and restore the land and raise healthier livestock. This helps the ecosystem come back, which makes the land more productive for farming or the natural ecosystem. Years of traditional farming depletes the overtime which then requires lots of fertilizer and effort to raise animals on. When you bring some of the natural services back, then the farmer doesn't need to provide them. The ponds just add more service and resilience to the land

[@hobbabobba7912]

@friedelpretorius9217 I'm not sure what you said there is all true. After all, farming is a business and business usually want to be self-sustaining and so would invest a lot of maintaining soil health and fertility. I don't see farmers championing these schemes, usually just activists (I may be wrong here and would love to see evidence on the contrary).

[@jameseden9380]

​@hobbabobba7912 maybe farmers have a vested interest in using the land to make a living. Hard to advocate for planting trees where you used to make crops to sell. Grants are helping though, and farmers are being paid to leave fields wild.

[@TheRoon4660]

You should turn up your background noise just a tad and no one will understand a single word you say.

[@WildingEarth]

Apologies! Future episodes will have quieter background music!

[@roberthopson2654]

👍