Rewilding: Regenerating the Treescape, part 10 of Wood for the Trees

[@iseriver3982]

If natural England had a guys like this running it then the country wouldn't be suffering so much.

[@dolphinliam888]

Fantastic information. I've just bought a 5 acre part of a 125 acre wood. We are really enjoying rewilding what is effectively a dead over planted spruce wood. We are thinning trees to create holes where we are planting mixed native trees. We need more help!

[@gabrielg.2401]

This was surely a great discussion. I will say though that we human beings are meant for so much more. It's all too common these days for people to think that they themselves have no significant role in the health of the land but, in fact, our species has some very unique skills and abilities to enhance the planet that animals do not. You surely must check out the book Tending The Wild by M. Kat Anderson as it is a real paradigm shifter to the prevalent mentality. The native people of California had a profound understanding of the rule of reciprocity in nature and carried out a multitude of land-care practices that have been almost totally forgotten in mainstream conversation. When a plant or animal was taken, a specific act was carried out in return to encourage that which was harvested. For example, many of the once widespread native grasslands and savannas of what is now called California were regularly burned at specific times of the year for a multitude of purposes, one of them being to recycle dead vegetation back into the earth in the form of nutrient-rich ash, in turn attracting animals like deer and pronghorn to the newly fertilized forage. If not for this incredible use of fire, the flora and fauna which so depended on those environments would have been drastically less prolific, and nowhere near the numbers so remarked of by European settlers. Did you know that the seemingly endless hills of wildflowers that the Spanish first encountered upon reaching California were the direct result of generations of cultural burning? The magnificent redwoods and giant sequoias as well are, believe it or not, the product of the masterful tending of California Indians. Yes, you read that right! The largest and tallest trees in the world exist the way they do all thanks to centuries of Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Consequently, they have since been in decline due to decades of abandonment. This desperately needs recognition, most of all in the field of conservation. Knepp has shown us the wonders of having large herbivores back on the land - all that's missing is our understanding that people are truly the ultimate keystone species and that we too are of vital importance to the wellbeing of our beloved Earth. This is really a story of remembering who we are.

[@WoodForTheTrees]

That sounds like a really interesting book. Thanks for highlighting it.

[@richardthornton3775]

Fantastic! And 30% one day would be fantastic also!

[@paulahermes4941]

Brilliant, more please.

[@WoodForTheTrees]

Thanks. There are 9 others on this channel, all about trees and land use. And I’d love to keep making more! Please share and help get this film out to more eyes. And if you’d like more comment on what topics you’d like us to cover or alternatively hire me the film maker...

[@kevinb8558]

The Old BeeKeeping Books pre 1940s would mention the Clover Fields . The Bee Keepers would place their Hives close by. Now you would have a job to find a field of wild Clover. With a infinite demand for Greenbelt and six Million plus People coming to live here invited by a Government intent on driving wages down. We need a enlightened Leadership with a different approach to our Home.

[@iseriver3982]

I'm lucky, last year there was a few clover fields near me. The skylarks nesting in them weren't so lucky.

[@dolphinliam888]

We've lost our way but it's not too late. I'm really enjoying rewilding a 5 acre wood!

[@dolphinliam888]

My wood is on Honey Wood Hill! Originally worked by monks making honey and mead!

[@theaveragecomment1014]

@Charles White Oh god mate that's just eco-fascism. We don't need people to die to solve things. What the hell is wrong with you?

[@carolinejayes157]

This country Needs more planting of trees and plants friendly for butterflies and insects ,and more volunteers ,from schools colleges cub,scout and brownie groups ,any one with an interest in gardening .

[@upulaherath7204]

Look at Japan,how they manage tree coverage and food production really well, they must be used as model

[@frenchpotato2852]

A lot of japan’s woodlands are single species. I learned this from a video about the sika overpopulation. I don’t think their success should be taken to heart.

[@RaniVeluNachar-kx4lu]

Thanks for mentioning the need for Predators. Problem with Human culling is that it's not usually ecologically structured. It's based on some statistical model. But predators don't really understand statics, they understand hunger. And they have only their adaptations to give them a very slight advantage over their prey. It's the physical competition that governs the populations. The ability to be alert and sense danger, and to move and defend against an aggressive yet smaller population of wolves or bear that forces out the very young, or injured and sick or very old individuals. That physical pressure is necessary to insure survival of healthy individuals and herds.

[@WoodForTheTrees]

Yes the need for predators and for management of Rewilding projects to act as if they were predators seems to be key. As Alastair says, Rewilding is a "spectrum" and there are very few Rewilding projects that are high up on that spectrum in the UK.

[@Zero_Reaper13]

We need a paradigm shift in how we think to consider the more logical options rather than what we want. Would it be nice to have a Big house and garden yes is it logical no.

[@WoodForTheTrees]

Yes, I agree we need more conversations that acknowledge our interconnectedness, with each other, with all life. I hope this series adds a little to the conversation.

[@harveytweats2119]

Great video!

[@RussTillling]

Great interview. Needs more views😢.

[@WoodForTheTrees]

Please Share!

[@alexandergomez7334]

I think he takes for granted the unseen management indigenous communities around the world do to their surrounding areas

[@iseriver3982]

Hahaha hahaha, yeah sure. Funny how magical humans are when you give them the label indigenous.

[@theaveragecomment1014]

The two people above me really have never heard of things such as controlled burnings...

[@marr123n]

@@theaveragecomment1014 but it is not because people sometimes somewhere manage the natural area it menas that nature is incapable of managing herself right? Besides, controlled burning is merely destroying one habitat to create a new one thus depending on the perspective controlled burning is either 'management' or 'destruction'. If I go burning down ancient woodlands or scrublands to create open hunting grounds so me and my mates could go deer hunting more easily, would you call it "nature management" or "nature destruction"?

[@theaveragecomment1014]

@@marr123n Do you think controlled burns are burning entire forests down to create something completely different..? Because that’s not what I’m talking about.

[@marr123n]

@@theaveragecomment1014 obviously it doesn't but size is irrevelant. The fact that humans do sometimes somehere burn down, as you rightfully say, small pieces of forest or brush does not mean that natural processes or thus nature is incapable of managing herself. And my second point is that in all management we do, we decide to either destroy or prevent the regrowth of one habitat in favor of another and thus we decide that our intervention is better than letting nature run its course.

[@josemartinezgonzalez2450]

Genial, gran proyecto.🇪🇸

[@GG-ch1hm]

The government should stop build so many houses n every bit of land that becomes available.

[@RaniVeluNachar-kx4lu]

England was once a massively forested countryside. Only the higher elevations of Scotland had reduced forestation.

[@Kurtlane]

I am a big fan of rewiliding. However, I am concerned about inflation of this term. There is a point where a tree farm or a planted field is no longer rewilding. If we don't stop using "rewilding" for everything, any pet rock will become rewilding. Correct me if I am wrong, but I cannot see tree cutting (except on really small scale) as rewilding. One can grow a forest, but when it's cut -- what then? Where is the wild?

[@marr123n]

I'm a bit on split edge on this. I think as humans in nature restoration we have just two main jobs: restoring natural processes that are lost or degraded and replicating natural processes that can't be restored (yet). in a lot of forests both grazers and predators are often missing meaning that grazing animals such as boar, deer, ox, horse, bison, moose, ... who all have a certain impact on forest growth and thus biodiversity no longer serve this ecological role possibly resulting in a less biodiverse woodland.

[@esmaistuu]

More

[@mike02439]

Re-wilding - maybe. But first what about ash dieback raw sewage in our rivers , poaching and the spread of bracken . Tackle these problems first . Yes I know it is not "glamorous " to deal with these problems

[@ia8018]

Overpopulatuon is a huge problem too.

[@ia8018]

@Charles White what a breath of fresh air, wonderful comment and ecologically sound approach!!

[@RonaldL.MAngela.vaught17HH]

Some effort to bring about Organic foods herbs cafes would be nice to on local level

[@RaniVeluNachar-kx4lu]

Hopefully, Humanity will resolve it's need to overpopulate itself, and adopt a slower individual and societal metabolic rate of growth, or possibly even a slight decrease. I am not alarmed when I hear about the "demographic timebomb" ticking in various places, Americas, Europe, China and Japan. I am encouraged. Maybe with some additional education especially for girls and women, families will be a more patient and pragmatic process where women are often combining career with motherhood and choosing to delay and reduce their family size, and invest more into education and economic and ecological stability of human society? It might be ok if Humanity were half or even a quarter of it's current population? Less pollution, less greenhouse gas emissions, maybe less Nationalism and competition leading to less conflict and war.

[@colinharbinson8284]

It's all too late.... it will not stop the urbanisation.

[@RaniVeluNachar-kx4lu]

Plus people don't need to eat massive amounts of meat and poultry. These energy intensive crops are responsible for the over-farming of many regions including North America and Brazil. The truth is Humans can live quite well on a whole grain and fruit diet supplemented with nuts or limited dairy (yogurts) for the essential amino acids and vitamins. Meat contributes to poor digestion and overweight conditions. That old food pyramid was described by the industries that benefited from the consumption that it advocated. So, they had a vested economic interest in promoting a high meat and poultry diet. It's not necessary and it's beneficial for our health and the reduction of crop land needed to feed these unnecessary herds and flocks.

[@henkheemskerk4437]

Why timber production a wild wood does not need timber production If you cut all t5he tax on a Forrest that is not used for timber production then it would be a lot cheaper and it wil go quicker.

[@RaniVeluNachar-kx4lu]

More "deerkins" and less beer cans.

[@RaniVeluNachar-kx4lu]

Martins and wolves. They like to eat grey squirrels and deer.

[@WoodForTheTrees]

I think there are Pine Martin reintroductions happening in many places in the UK for this and other reasons. Wolves are also being talked about too. Derek Gow has a book out about them and a conference coming up soon.

[@wagibototrapo]

ecosia