Rewilding in Scotland - Wester Tullochcurran in Perthshire - a Rewilding Project with a Difference

[@christianwach]

What a lovely film - brought a tear to my eye, that did. Miles, your mum & dad would be so proud of what you're trying to achieve. More power to you and Hannah on your journey onwards.

[@ETDibs]

" We can't possibly do better than nature " Such a breath of fresh air, fantastic ethos & project. Local collecting of seeds & planting is something we can all be getting involved in & making a part of our lives; whether we have space for trees/shrubs or there's a square metre down the road. It's precisely what I am wanting to inspire in my local community. Thank you so much for sharing this video.

[@THE_ECONNORGIST]

All the best on your rewilding journey, hope you manage to keep on top of the deer to allow those lovely woods to flourish. If only we could have lynx and wolves back. Great to see another rewilding project in my home county!

[@KhurshidsChannel]

Beautiful Place, Beautiful video. Thank you for sharing.

[@Pam501]

Good to see and hear landowners not only being true stewards of the land, but encompassing the whole of nature - this will truly make a difference and provide a positive example for other people in similar situations!

[@JonathanLynch-go6kq]

That's beautiful Miles! Love those baby happy trees, warm melodies and magical mushrooms. Quite the beast that was crunching up your tree trunks too. Hope to visit there someday...

[@nanapoppi3]

I love when he said he encourages someone with a small garden or large piece of land to let it be wild.

[@paulvallot]

This is an inspirational film. Well done Miles. Let’s hope many people see it and take hope, inspiration and guidance from it.

[@HannahGoodman-sb7cz]

Thank you Paul. Of yesterday that's all the seeds I gathered last year sown. If you want bring a group to help piling brash in the summer or sowing seeds in the autumn let me know...

[@joseenoel8093]

I'm a chick forest technician from Montreal, my mother in law was from Carradale, I've been 3 times (love the place) but couldn't comprehend how I could find it beautiful because it wasn't, keep going you're doing God's work!

[@pollypullar6092]

Superb film - beautifully made, and such inspiring, yet gentle commentary - loved it.

[@lettochfilms]

Thank you Polly. Miles and his family are doing some very special things with the land and it was a joy to film it.

[@GGG-b2z8l]

Wonderful to see changes. Maybe the Government should relabel land. Eg “Green Belts” , we should have more Rewilding Belts.

[@cresentiae]

Thank you #SaveSoil #Consciousplanet

[@mihaelapopescu4213]

Wonderful, thank you from rural Romania❤

[@marialuisaguardao9744]

🙏

[@philiptaylor7902]

Great to see what you are attempting. How are you planning to reduce the impact of deer on the natural regeneration of the woodland?

[@HannahGoodman-sb7cz]

Hi Philip, thanks for watching. For the deer we are using fencing and culling, the only methods I know of that are effective!

[@blue2mato312]

Watching from Norway I was just wondering the same. Without predators this is what you must do to ensure regeneration. I really love the rewilding projects of Scotland I hope you get much of your woods and ecosystems back ❤ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇳🇴

[@GGG-b2z8l]

Wonderful to witness change. Maybe Government should stop labelling “Green Land” and have “ Rewilding Land” .

[@DavurBeder]

Loved the video, one unrelated question, what is the brand on that flannel jacket, i kinda need it in my life 😅

[@MilesTulloch]

Swanndri, it's a good coat. I've decided to no longer buy any 'fleece' clothes as they release toxic microfibres. This is one wool with a cotton lining.

[@WaywardLifeSailing]

It's great to see someone actually talking about tree plantations not being true forests. The brainwashing worldwide about the value of tree plantations as forests is pretty disheartening. I hope he can successfully grow some native species!

[@natatherden1769]

How prevalent do you think the idea of plantations as beneficial forests is? And how rare do you think it is to understand that a true forest/ grassland/ etc is in fact indigenous/ native species diverse?

[@WaywardLifeSailing]

@@natatherden1769 it probably depends on where you are in the world, but I know both in western Canada and Ireland the idea that any trees are forests is pretty prevalent. There is very little education about the difference, and in Western Canada at least I'm sure that partially because of how strong the forestry industry is.

[@koholohan3478]

Downed trees and logs on the ground are very important. Fungal communities will thrive. This will create so much homes for insects and birds and everything. It will allow light to the floor and hopefully you can get natives in there. Don't be bummed when trees fall. When they are non-native, that is a bummer. When their energy and nutrients are exported, that is a bummer. But their downed bodies will begin a new life. If you harvest them, that's fine, but if left where they are, this will thrive. They will decay and host countless organism. They'll act like a sponge, retaining water. The ground fungal and root networks will tap into them and consume them over this coming century. Just leave them and plant natives throughout.

[@blue2mato312]

Yes I hope they left some dead wood, it’s essential for a thriving ecosystem.

[@peterdillon2628]

I wonder how many people in more conventional properties but with a reasonable sized garden admire but fear an attempt at rewilding due to devaluing their property from a financial point of view.

[@lettochfilms]

Hi Peter. Wouldn't it be nice to reach that tipping point when a 'rewilded' garden adds value to a property rather than detracting from it. I know it's not quite the same but we feel that we have added hugely to the value of our place here at Rewilding Lettoch, even if right now it's an emotional value rather than a capital value. To us the added value is priceless. We are lucky though and we realise that. Thanks for watching :-).

[@HannahGoodman-sb7cz]

We were drawn to our house because of its wild garden. I think more and more people are starting to share our taste in outside space...

[@peterdillon2628]

Hi Steve, thank you for responding. Standing out amongst the prim and tidy is presently akin to placing a black spot / plague sign upon a property in our region. At least it engenders many conversations. Please do continue with your visual presentations. Peter @@lettochfilms

[@peterdillon2628]

Thank you Hannah, I suspect those that share our visions are also having to move to particular parts of the UK to realise their objectives. Peter@@HannahGoodman-sb7cz

[@shamicentertainment1262]

I just wish people would stop looking at housing as a way to get more money, and instead view it as a place to live. In Australia this non stop growth of housing price makes it completely unaffordable.

[@ianspingle8865]

It's great planting all these trees but without predators to control deer numbers you're just planting deer food.

[@l2e9aL]

"We can't possibly do better than nature", then why are you planting trees? You mention you're controlling the movement of deer but how many deer are you actually culling each year? Have you surveyed to see what's there already? Sorry for the potentially quite brutal comment but I'm just a bit sick of the default to planting when the biggest issue is the deer, and planting is very, very often not required. Planting trees is nothing different to most rewilding projects, in fact the vast majority do plant trees, it's the ones that don't & actually address the real issue (deer) that are the most inspiring & successful. It's not like you've started with a wasteland, and planting those trees could do more damage than good & be a waste of resources that could be better used to reduce deer numbers. For example, field maple isn't native to Scotland & yet you seem to be planning on planting it? I guarantee the other species that are native to the area would be regenerating or even are regenerating, they just need the browsing pressure reduced. They'll also be regenerating in a much, much more natural way than you could ever replicate through planting, e.g. if you collected all your seed from trees in your garden, the genetic make-up of your planted trees is very, very limited. Naturally regenerated alder, birch, elm & ash could have blown in from elsewhere, acorns brought in from multiple trees by corvids, berries dispersed from far afield by birds... It's all there, you just need to get a handle on the deer. Doing that would set you apart from the vast majority of the rest of Scotland's landscape. Rant over. Apologies.

[@MilesGoodman-ql2li]

Thanks for taking time to reply. We are legally obliged to ensure that the area from which the sitka has been removed becomes a woodland again. We are doing this as naturalistically as we can by sowing seeds of native species absent from the immediate area. We are not planting any trees as such, though the Woodland Officer would probably prefer that we do. We cull 8-10 deer each year, quite a few on what is actually quite a small piece of land within the landscape. This is increasingly time consuming as the deer become more alert, nocturnal and nervous, but probably the most important part of what we are doing. After 4 years of this we are already seeing a big difference with a lot of young trees regenerating naturally, birch of course but also rowan, hazel, oak and willow. Field maple is fairly common in our area and though perhaps introduced I think it would likely have arrived here on its own by now had Britain remained untamed. I don't see it becoming a predominant species and it is not thuggish within a mixed woodland. With global heating and tree diseases widespread diversity is vital. Of course we have collected seeds much more widely than from our garden. Genetic diversity balanced with local provenance is something to which we are putting considerable thought. And yes, its all largely about the deer, I quite agree. Rest assured, we are on it.

[@l2e9aL]

@@MilesGoodman-ql2li Well, Miles, I am so glad you could reply with all you have. It sounds like you're doing everything I'd do if I were in your position. The legal obligation to "restock" is irritating because it does generally push people to replant but I'm glad you're holding out for the regen. I promise it'll come! I do a lot of herbivore impact assessment across Scotland & people would be amazed at how many trees there are on what looks like "barren, treeless ground". They're often just not getting away... And I agree diversity is key! I perhaps disagree somewhat on how we ensure our forests are resilient to ongoing changes. As far as I'm aware, none of our native, lowland trees are near their southern limit so should be able to cope quite well, and whilst studies show e.g. sycamore might be able to hold a few of the species ash holds, it really doesn't compare to ensuring the likes of aspen, hazel, goat willow, oak & rowan are regenerating freely. Also think ash would be more resilient to dieback if it had been regenerating into healthy forests for the past few decades or so... But I agree, field maple isn't thuggish so is probably the least of our worries. I wish you good luck with the deer! The state should be using its powers to ensure all landowners are bringing their deer numbers down, even if it's just to 10 per square km across the country, I'd imagine it'd make like easier for people such as yourself who are doing more than their fair share of culling! Anyway, thanks for the in-depth reply & I look forward to hearing more about how things are going at Wester Tullochcurran.

[@pianoman47]

How about letting a nice lynx family move in, raise some kids (or kits?) and start eating the deer? 😉

[@lettochfilms]

Oh golly now wouldn't that be nice...........one day maybe!

[@blue2mato312]

They need vast territories, so if these new habitats are connected throughout Scotland then maybe one day. The other thing is getting farmers on your side. I’m really sad about the lynx in my country Norway being culled because of the political power of farmers. This together with humans taking over land (housing, roads etc) has led to a small population of lynx at the same time we are (since climate change) invaded by roe deer, one of their favourite prey.

[@lettochfilms]

50% of Scotland is moorland & hill. Good only for sheep & deer. The equal number one biodiversity eaters. Much of this land would return to its natural state if we controlled the deer numbers without even touching farming land for crops. But that’s another story - more than 50% of the agricultural land used for crop production is for alcohol production. It would seem we have plenty of land that could rewilded, but we need the political will to do so.

[@blue2mato312]

@@lettochfilms Although with different starting points, political will is the crux of the matter in both our countries (and indeed globally) for preserving and restoring habitats and ecosystems. It feels so hopeless at times, but at the same time seeing a movement form in Scotland and some land returned to nature is heartening.

[@arkprice79]

I really hope we can see our native big predators like wolves, lynx, and bears be reintroduced to Scotland someday as they are just what the ecosystem of the Scottish Highland needs. They would hunt and kill Red and Roe deer, which would naturally control their blooming population and prevent overgrazing and restore the development of trees and forests as well as biodiversity. The real problem here would be farmers with their livestock, whilst the Eurasian lynx prefers to live and hunt in forests and woodlands. Wolves would cause them a few problems by feeding on animals like sheep and cattle. Measures like guard dogs could be required to solve this issue similar to mainland Europe.

[@MZig-rw7su]

As he rips up a toadstool and ruins it's life cycle next to an alien christmas tree....

[@kingy002]

Congratulations on finding the only negative in this story. It says so much about you as an individual that that is all you could come up with.

[@MilesGoodman-ql2li]

@@kingy002 Thanks for stepping in to defend us! Actually picking a mushroom does not effect its lifecycle any more than picking fruit effects that of a tree. As you carry a mushroom around the wood you are helping it spread its spores, as if it had managed to evolve to be over a metre tall and to move about! The 'alien Christmas tree' is a Sitka spruce. These are still coming up everywhere even though we've now removed the seed source and we are working hard to remove them. Rest assured that none will reach seed bearing age...

[@kingy002]

@@MilesGoodman-ql2li It was a criticism on my part either. Some people are just excessively negative.

[@johnbooth3073]

I think that the trees need you to buy a rifle !

[@Kiyarose3999]

Question, is the narrator of this vid a Vegan? Cos animal ag is the reason why 1/3 of the Earths(Ice free) Land Mass has been Deforested, for the 70 Billion animals bred for eating every year!. Without animal ag we could rewild 78% of agricultural land which would be enough of a Carbon Sink to sequester more CO2 than is currently emitted!. The vast areas of Scotland, Ireland, Wales & England that are wildlife deserts could easily be rewilded but only if people stop this unnatural use of animals as food!. ✊🏽🌎🌻

[@dbruce581]

Odd to specifically mention that sitka spruce plantations are not native and bad for biodiversity whilst glossing over the sheep pastures 🤔

[@koholohan3478]

Scottland needs predators.

[@drawyrral]

Wolves will keep the deer away. Pigs will do a better job of breaking up the surface of the land.