Scotland's Lost Mountain Forests Are Coming Back - here's how

[@montecarlo1651]

Iceland found that once the sheep were removed, the trees returned. The seeds were there in the soil all the time and the sheep kept browsing the trees down. So not only did the greedy rich denude Scotland of people in pursuit of wealth (I am part of the Highland diaspora), but they plundered the landscape until a virtual desert as well.

[@Northcountry1926]

🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸

[@davidbarnes241]

@montecarlo1651 There is a section of such land in Cape Wrath. The area under the stewardship of the John Muir Trust has drastically reduced grazing and the scrub species are regrowing slowly but surely from existing habitat. Cross the fence and the land is denuded by grazing.

[@montecarlo1651]

@@davidbarnes241 Good to know. Thanks.

[@denislaminaccia1]

"Sheep are woolly maggots who trash our countryside"

[@prvg7851]

Tell me more about the highland people before the wealthy caused an exodus, please.

[@JeffBilkins]

Reforesting Scotland could add a map that shows all the relevant areas and links them to projects, owners/governers, rewilding status etc.

[@George-gg1ny]

Funny money exchangers want our support and donations but want to keep us in the dark where the projects are taking place!? hmm 🤔

[@molecatcher3383]

In Norway, deer hunting is a much bigger sport than it is in Scotland, and the eating of deer meat is part of the culture. There are many more people with gun licences there who hunt deer than there are in Scotland. The hunters must pass shooting and safety tests before they get their licences. There are only low numbers of wolves and bears in Noway, and Lynx are generally too small to take on Red deer, so man is the main red deer (and roe and reindeer) predator. Shooting is organised mostly at a local community/council level and they issue shooting permits. Much of the land is publically/community owned and local hunters can usually get access to the land in the area to shoot for a very low cost. Unlike in Scotland, Norway does not have vast areas of land owned by rich people who exclude local people from deer shooting, and who are free to allow their deer numbers get too high for natural woodland regeneration.This has helped Norway to manage their deer numbers better and to allow much more natural woodlands to exist than does in Scotland. Scotland would do well to adopt many of the deer/land management methods that are being used in Norway. Norway also has much less sheep grazing on it's hills.

[@joshhoppring5051]

I think bow hunting should be legal in the country famous for the longbow. We have a very high population and an almost silent bow is preferable to contant gun shots in the countryside. But I agree

[@Payteer]

In Scotand and the whole of the UK, the gun laws changed after the Dunblane massacre. It ain't going to happen

[@SaorAlba1970]

that is all good and well , but Scotland has traditionally been a beef eating culture with our Aberdeen Angus beef cattle (called Black Angus in America)

[@molecatcher3383]

@@SaorAlba1970 The grazing damage done in the Scottish highlands comes mostly from deer and sheep. Cattle are much less of a problem there. Also cattle are mostly reared on the lower ground where the grazing and climate are better.

[@75willo]

A reason for the low number of wolves in Norway might be, that they are hunted extensively. We have a higher wolve population in a circle of 50 km around Berlin, than Norway has as a whole country.

[@tomasa-m5643]

I live in the Pennines, another moorland range. Haslingden in Rossendale used to mean "Hazel Den" for the hazel trees that used to line the hills. Hell, Rossendale used to be known as the "Forest" of Rossendale. All along the valley you see trees lining the hills from the Glen to the Irwell through Stacksteads, Crawshawbooth, and the valleys of Britannia that stretch into Bacup. The Forest of Bowland used to be a continuous woodland, from moor top to valley floor. The Peak district is the same story. Trees below, but not above. My homeland of the Pennines has lost its' moors, much the same as my beloved Scotland has. We need a _new_ green belt, not yet more encroachment into it. It is a dream of mine to rewild the moorlands near my home, to see them grow into forests using newly created reservoirs to trap water, create bogs where needed, and woodlands where possible, with the new water deposits used to prevent wildfires and turn the expanse of heather into an expanse of unhewn hazel, birch, pine, oak, fir, willow, aspen, ash. I want to look out of my window and see forest stretching both ends of the valley, not just hidden patches where the land developers couldn't reach.

[@Nick-vs5wl]

It would be so lovely to see this come back

[@LeaveCurious]

Hopefully in our lifetimes!!

[@Nick-vs5wl]

@@LeaveCurious I'm only in my twenties but i dream of going for a walk in the highlands at the end of my life seeing them transformed

[@HisameArtwork]

@@Nick-vs5wl hope so. II always thought it looked weird to be baren. it's not siberia, why is it bald? I'm in the balkans and only places that look like scotland are places destroyed by deforestation. we've even started to have deserts. and no, it's not normal. we had our first tiny tornado two years ago. it caused a minibus to crash. ppl were lightly injured.

[@dhschneider7945]

I live next to Vermont in the USA. Vermont had a very intense phase of sheep grazing in the 1800s I believe. There was an exodus of farmers and sheep production dropped and now the mountains (the Green Mountains) are covered with trees. I don't know if the deforestation was as extreme as Scotland but there is a big difference in the landscape from what it had been. And what this KZbinr was saying about how humans can just accept the present as if it had always been that way. Which underlines how useful studying history can be in dealing with the present.

[@sarantissporidis391]

Although I am not Scottish, neither do I live in the Uk, I would like to add this : it's not grazing that's actually bad, but the way that's been happening. I mean, with the apex predators absent, herbivores can graze really relaxed of danger, they stay in a spot for too long, eating everything there is to eat, just depleting the place of any vegetation. With the presence of predators, herbivores tend to graze with anxiety, they are always on the look out, they eat as much as they can and then they move to a different spot. They do not deplete the vegetation. Actually they are mostly benefitial, because they fertilize the soil and carry seeds in the dung or in their fur, thus dispersing new vegetation. On the old days, we use to mimic this behavior here in Greece, with the traveling herds of sheep and goats that used to roam the countryside. The shepherds were taking them up to the mountains during summer and down to the plains or to the seaside on winter. The presence of huge shepherd dogs ensured that wolves or even bears would stay away. Nowadays there are less than 2000 of these herds moving around and unfortunately this is one of the reasons that my country appears on the news each summer due to the wildfires we get. In my opinion predators are the best solution for Scotland.

[@lazygardens]

That's called the "wolf effect" in the USA. With wolves present, deer and elk don't hang out at the water, grazing everything to the dirt. They drink quickly and leave, and the riparian plants thrive.

[@deanfirnatine7814]

Yep, mob grazing then they move on

[@deanfirnatine7814]

@@lazygardens As do the fish with shade

[@NoirMorter]

The same tactics were mimicked all over Europe and the USA until “Big Agra” came in. The price of meat was linked to weight and not quality. Sadly it’s making all of us sick. Even starting to develop a similar trend in China.

[@daniellemurphy9755]

If the grazer does NOT belong in a habitat then the grazing is BAD unless they're a proxy species brought to an ecosystem to replace the original that has gone extinct.

[@ingvar1996]

Are there any initiatives reintroducing the wolves? Here in the Netherlands they were reintroduced about 3 years ago. Now we have 20 wolfpacks of up to 20 wolves. More and more they are managing the dear population in our forests.

[@slozenger9000]

None. The UK is a long way behind in Continental Reintroductions. As an island it can't happen naturally either.

[@ndrichardson6217]

You could say we have the same problem in the Lake District and all the other national parks with hills and mountains in the UK

[@lesterstanden2435]

No. The lake district is a lost cause. It's in a worse situation than if it had been nuked. The political situation with sheep ensures there will never be change, and they will not let even heather grow except on inaccessible cliff ledges.

[@louislamonte334]

Thank goodness for your hard work, dedication, enthusiasm and love, my friend! Your videos are always a great inspiration and hugely enjoyable!! Bring back the Wolves!!!!

[@LeaveCurious]

Thank you so much for your continued support L :)

[@yosefkorn]

Peak District, Yorkshire dales, Lake District and wales is also lacking trees. It's everywhere in the uk.

[@meganm1074]

When I watch British TV it’s a shock, to see so many landscapes bare of trees.

[@judischarns4509]

Yellowstone is a good example of the rewilding that happens when wolves are introduced.

[@Parker_Douglas]

No time for wealthy landowners who only use their land for the hunting brigade only . They don’t care about the land only their bank balance.

[@LeaveCurious]

Agree

[@kupariseppo7566]

It's interesting because hunting could very well be done in the forest. Making the landscape bare helps you to see the animals but also helps the animals see and avoid you.

[@GordonDonaldson-v1c]

I think the pattern of land-ownership in Norway and Sweden will be quite unlike that Scotland. Not to mention wealth distribution in general.

[@BiscuitGeoff]

Historically, forests were just the place to hunt deer.

[@LeprechaunGinger]

You are hilarious, I own a stewardship forest 1,200 acres of preserved an maintained land that I am restoring. Grow up!

[@tomesplin4130]

Recently toured Scotland for the first time. I fell in love with the Scots Pine and the small ‘rewilded’ areas. Would be great to see abundant and widespread growth of the native forests.

[@ImpossibleSolution-k6w]

We have exactly the same problem going on all along the West coast of Ireland , mostly from overgrazing from sheep. I always find it funny how people always assume that trees can’t really grow in boggy land and are confused when you ask them where all the bog oak once came from. And if you have ever seen a fenced off piece of bog land left to its own devices, ends up covered in tall wonderful birch within 5 years. And now instead the West coast, has become a nursery for the invasive Rhododendron and Giant Rhubarb, which the sheep don’t appear to be interested in.

[@frankthetank5708]

If there's wild Rhododendron there will be oaks soon , too.

[@ImpossibleSolution-k6w]

@@frankthetank5708 I don’t see it happening any time soon, I have been watching one small field of Rhododendron for about 2 decades now and nothing has happened other than it has gotten taller and denser.

[@damionkeeling3103]

@@frankthetank5708 How will the acorns get there?

[@frankthetank5708]

@damionkeeling3103 In case there are no trees around and no squirrels too it's a question I cannot answer.

[@someblokecalleddave1]

I've known about this 'Shifting baseline syndrome' since being a kid in the 1960's. At my primary school there was a book that may have been published by OS and was an introduction to map reading and was illustrated beautifully, it was kind of Enid Blyton-esque. But it was a vision from possibly 20 years previously and it struck a chord with me - how different the countryside had looked previously to then (1969). I knew that what I was seeing around me in my part of Essex hadn't always been like that. Interestingly, still interested in maps and local history I found a whole series of RAF reconnaissance images of the town I lived in between 1960 and 1988. The images were taken towards the end of WWII 1944-45 and revealed the world from the book - an utterly different world - pre the post war population explosion. Probably more akin with the late 1930's when everything was probably put on hold because of the war effort. The changes that happened to our countryside at the end of the 1950's through to now are enormous and you can see why we're one of - if not the most bio-diversity depleted countries in the world. It's staggering how much the landscape has changed.

[@damionkeeling3103]

The UK has more trees now than in the 50s. Hedgerows have been lost but overall there are far more wooded areas. UK has been devoid of trees since the late 19th century. Using a German example, the Black Forest was cut down by the middle of the 19th century. The ancient oaks that had created the deep woods which gave it its name were gone. Pines were planted instead and now the Black Forest is associated with dark pine forests and the name is assumed to come from those.

[@someblokecalleddave1]

@@damionkeeling3103 I'd guess in that case, that's down to the fact that there's so many forestry commission plantations? It's certainly not the case in terms of my local areas in Essex (Tilbury and Basildon) both have been impacted by both urban and industrial sprawl?

[@TheGravitonVon]

I watch every video, share on my socials almost always. Thank you for the work you do, amazing!

[@LeaveCurious]

Thanks for your support :)

[@givemigstyrka]

I wonder if the author has visited Morrone Birkwood which is partially fenced, fairly big and has a glorious down birch juniper woodland.

[@owen7495]

saw this on mossy earth, really cool ppl in charge of the project, exciting!

[@bjornkallander1825]

Just one small issue. You state that in Norway, Sweden and Denmark you can find the three layers of woodland cover from Caledonian forests in the valleys, Mountain Birch at higher altitudes and scrubby shrubberies stride on the peaks. I believe that you are in principal correct, but please note that the highest mountain of Denmark, Himmelsbjerget (The mountain to the heavens), reaches an impressive altitude of 147 m (482 feet) above sea level and can only be seen from one direction since the view from the other side is blocked by the growing wheat in the fields. Mountain Birch is too proud to grow in Denmark.

[@mikemyers7721]

Still need Lynx and wolf to bring balance back to where and how it should be.

[@thomaszanzal7846]

Here in the USA there is an ancient mountain range called the Appalachian mountains. This mountain range extends up the eastern side of the USA and it is completely forested form Georgia all the way up to Maine a distance of about 2, 500 miles.

[@piotrberman6363]

I live near Allegheny Plateau, and it seems that without sheep (and a healthy number of hunters), deer and forest get together very well. A bit more interesting are forests in Colorado where they go waay above 7000 ft. Of course, much further south than Scotland, but much higher as well.

[@christoffussenegger9377]

Many people, also friends of mine, love to go to Scotland. When they come back they talk about the beautiful landscape. But despite my sympathy for the country and the people, I personally do not want to go there, I would mainly see a devastated land, the local population in the Highlands expelled by greedy landlords in the 19th century, the forests destroyed. I hope Scotland can recover one day!

[@Stevie-L-n8g]

About bloody time. I once heard some bobble-hat english person against reforestation to 'Leave it the way it's always been'! Glen Garry was once a Holly forest and we had Aspen and birch everywhere. They go on about the necessity to keep peat bogs but those are fairly new in the time span. Ireland too has been taken over by a lot of peat bogs, entire villages have been covered over by sphagnum moss, which makes it's own acidic environment. You also forget the invasion of the Wax Reeds. They block out grass and other plants and are very invasive, like Bracken and Sphagnum Moss.

[@pm1136]

I am so excited about the thought of forest returning to Scotland. I want trees everywhere except where there are bogs, because they can sequester HUGE amounts of carbon!

[@wolfenstein6676]

😂

[@pm1136]

@wolfenstein6676 ?

[@richardjones2006]

Get out and plant some then. There are many projects ongoing, some of them by the villefied rich landowners, that require a great deal less virtue signalling hand wringing and a bit more graft.

[@pm1136]

@@richardjones2006 yes. I don't live in Scotland but I will look out if there is ongoing project where I live. I already, with my family, done planting of a few trees with some bearing fruits. Where I live, forested areas have extended back after being chopped down historicaly fortunaly. I'm higly supportive of UK's effort to preserve wild areas. And when I said that I wanted trees everywhere, I meant where they were once present, with letting some spaces for agriculture and livestock

[@pm1136]

@@richardjones2006 And I will try graft method. For a while, I was just collecting seeds when I wasn't studying, and a few have germinated. I didn't plant everything I got, for now. Thanks you

[@yancgc5098]

Getting a few good hunters to reduce the number of herbivores there should be an easy option to implement, I’m a bit surprised someone hasn’t done it yet

[@alun7006]

The problem is that hunting is done on a permission system. And those permissions are limited and competitive. The big estates in Scotland (and the rest of the UK) make a lot of money selling hunting trips to rich people. This is a huge part of why rewilding is so difficult - pushback from the landowners who don't want to see their profits impacted.

[@13threemc]

I bought a pair of forest tracker escs when you first recommended them, they have served well so far, though they could do with a rubber toe guard, thanks for the recommendation.

[@LeaveCurious]

Yeah that would make sense, no worries

[@tonychinnery]

I was in the highlands recently, after many years, and unfortunately I saw an awful lot of sheep. I had forgotten how beautifil the scots pine is.

[@falcolf]

Watching this I kept recognizing familiar places in Scotland where I've been hiking the SNT. Honestly it ashames me (as a massive fan of Scotland) that until perhaps a decade ago I had no idea that bears had ever lived in Scotland. When I watched the animated movie Brave the first time I remember being tremendously confused why the heck they chose BEARS as the animals instead of wolves or lynx which at the time would've made more sense to me. Another note about Scotland's highlands: the heather is bloody EVERYWHERE. And yes, heather is very pretty, but it's also really bitey if you are walking through it and there's so much of it that it honestly feels like a monoculture. It's the dominant plant on the landscape and I feel like it probably has at least a little bit of a choking effect on other plants (but don't quote me on that as fact, it's merely what I observed while walking 600 contiguous kilometres across the country. Hopefully someday I can finish the remaining 295.)

[@jimroberts3009]

Forests weren't originally an area covered with trees. It was anywhere that the nobility could hunt and was often fenced in, to keep out the riffraff. A grassland, scrubland or even a marsh could be called a forest if used for hunting.

[@philiptaylor7902]

Great video Rob, lovely to see the nippers enjoying wild places.

[@jamessaunders7931]

Are there any considerations that need to be made for promoting saplings in such windy and remote regions? Would they need to be grown 'in mass' together to provide shelter for each other - or do you believe lone trees can propagate and grow solo?

[@LeaveCurious]

In my mind planting groups together to mimic natural regen would make sense. And doing this in strategic areas so they could then naturally colonise together. In really exposed areas they might struggle to establish… that or you’d get some seriously funky looking trees

[@Solstice261]

Following the succetion by making sure there are low land trees and bushes are commonly done, ironically mountain birch and it's capacity to grow in a bush form means it's used a lot to help regenerate mountain lands

[@martynhaggerty2294]

About 600 families own half of the highlands. It's time scots got back their own land and treat it with respect, not just as a rich man's playground.

[@bartholomewdicaterina2039]

We as a species need to rewind, save and restore our planet. And this is proof that it's beginning to happen.

[@Matty002]

we havent been to scotland yet but i would love to visit a scotland where the mountains are not bare rock but fuzzy and full of new young trees

[@swonder2245]

Always love your videos, please keep em coming

[@RichardTongeman]

Why are the trees not able to grow? In the mournes people tell me we used to have large forests but wildfires took them out and they never grew back. We even have the Mourne Wall to keep the sheep out of the water source, but they still don’t grow?

[@trottiscliffe]

Wet desert. I am leaving my estate to the restoration of the Caledonian forest.

[@Laus_D._Joergensen]

Pretty sure Denmark (my homeland) does not have any mountain birch, no mountains/cold areas where they prosper. I saw a lot while going through Finland though.

[@Parker_Douglas]

That’s why highlanders preferred choice of clothing was the long Kilt . Lose yer trousers & spawn a kilt next time your in Scotland lol 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@LeaveCurious]

Haha the ticks can have a feast too!

[@glohare]

The Mournes in NI are very degraded with one pocket of ancient oak forest. Mainly given over to commercial forestry. So sad, I would love to see it restored too.

[@nl4064]

lost forests is a bit exagerated for a few scattered trees on boulder scree, but great message. Birch conditio0ns soil and enables divesity after 20 od years so hazel, oak, hawthorn will grow on land previously only fit for heather . we just need to cleare the deer with zero toleranace for a decade over as large an area as possible and nature will respond as she does

[@aaronkent1741]

Another note. It's so refreshing walking through the mountains in Norway and Sweden and seeing all of the different floral species. It's definitely ruined the UK for me.

[@piotrberman6363]

I visited Scotland once, we rented half-a-cottage in Glen Lyon. Indeed, very few trees, if any, on the slopes, but near the cottage was a cute grove of old oak trees with delicious edible chanterelle mushroom. I guess oak woods could be expanded too, and landowners could get high quality timber (if the land value includes timber potential much earlier than full desired growth), and a little nudge with modest subsidies and tax rules would improve the variety of ecosystems and may be even aesthetics of the landscape.

[@c.i.demann3069]

well done, Rob.

[@Alasdair37448]

I’m living in Grand Canyon and here it’s 2170 meters and yes we have trees here tons of them.

[@JarMaster]

Great work guys! We need to save the UK!

[@felipericketts]

Yes: so long as we are headed in the right direction, we will get there! 🙂

[@EmilyWoodcock-f3i]

I'm so in love with you and your love for nature in the UK. ❤

[@Ksu_]

As usual thank you for your hard work in raising awareness of what our generation needs to do to restore the ecosystems here in Scotland. I feel more optimistic that the paradigms are changing and that people are getting involved in these regenerations projects! hopefully we can one day bring back some of the fauna too!

[@syrup-man6704]

I have Vivo's myself and i love them, i have regular ones and ones for running, might be time to get some for hiking as well.

[@HakunaMaPumbaa]

❤ Just loving every single Video of you and your fantastic work! ❤

[@TheGlassman14]

Have you ever thought about doing a video with Trees for Life with Dr Featherstone? That would be a good one to watch and inform people.

[@LeaveCurious]

Yeah I’d love to meet him!

[@AussiePharmer]

Thank you for the video, btw when you jumped into the water I was immediately curious what shoes you had on haha. Fencing is pricey but definitely the way to show people the difference, even its only a few acres higher up in the landscape. Burning may have depleted the seedbank, so at least the new trees could spread the seed for future projects. Hoping the landowners or even hunting estates find motivation when they see better quality game when forests come back. Better beaver, trout, salmon, pheasant, grouse, deer, and maybe eventually lynx, boar, bear and wolves? European hunting estates have a lot more interesting game.

[@Kacperrr33]

Great video keep it up, hopefully the government will do something soon and get the lynx reintroduced maybe look into Ecotourism

[@LeaveCurious]

While governments could definitely make it happen faster, I wouldn’t hold breath. Support NGOs instead :)

[@elizag9479]

I love your videos!❤

[@malcontender6319]

Reforesting Scotland and Ireland should be a top priority.

[@hungbearlover]

I really like your attitude and you do this really well

[@SC-fk9nc]

Great philosophy and projects to implement.

[@CedarWoodsman]

great video will be getting some of those vevos too 👍

[@Ryzkx]

some cool tree lungwort clinging on to the birch!

[@janeannabeleades8193]

Thanks, Leave Curious for your contribution re: Shifting Baseline. Until we witness some truly thriving landscape we can hardly grasp what's possible. The book to read about better continental practices is Rebirding, by Benedict MacDonald [pelagic publishing: £10.99] When a sheared fleece fetched only 60p this year it emphasised the decline of Industrialised Sheep, following centuries of Clearance-related land abuse. Commenters mightn't know that wild predators feed themselves by picking off the weakest around herds of grazers, effectively improving the health of their target species. Whereas those humans magnetised by the largest, and strongest, a.k.a. trophy hunting, keep leaving herds with a DNA pool for steadily smaller offspring and less disease resistance.

[@royhay5741]

I'm very, very upset about Tauros being used instead of White Park cattle. White Park cattle, Chillingham cattle, and Vaynol cattle became the new wild oxen after aurochs became locally extinct in the British Isles. Mainland Europe and Asia can have Tauros, Taurus cattle, and Heck cattle, but the British Isles should only have wild white cattle (called British wild oxen) and some English Longhorns.

[@cheeks7050]

burning hills for grouse hunting is incredibly stupid

[@hollyjensen2371]

this is what my soul yearns to be part of

[@Picci25021973]

In Scotland you do not have too many deers. You definitely have too few wolves!

[@BryceGarling]

Eco tourism. Visit and plant a tree

[@deanfirnatine7814]

Lynx will do little to control populations of deer, I have lived in areas with large populations of bobcat, mountain lion and black bear plus human hunting pressure and there were still huge deer populations, only wolf packs have the numbers to adequately control deer populations.

[@neilscott1886]

Scotland's wild land is owned by a handful of people - who I assume have their interests partly in game hunting so I assume are against fencing off rejuvenating forests? With the land owned by NTS and with the help of John Muir etc, is it not possible to showcase what could be done to encourage / put pressure on these large landowners? Sheep farming surely cannot be the excuse, since there's only a niche market for wool these days.. I spend quite some time in Switzerland where forests are managed, and keep a balance between farming / hunting needs with some population of wolves and lynx. The farmers are not all happy, but natural wild areas are not only about farming, are they?!

[@MadMan07712]

My Dad always said the lack of trees was because our ancestors burned them all to keep warm.

[@stewartjones2173]

If you had charge of protecting Bechstein's Bat what materials would use.

[@rridderbusch518]

The word is "CLIMATIC". "Climactic" is a whole different ballgame! 🤣

[@LeaveCurious]

Did I say something wrong…. 😂

[@rridderbusch518]

@@LeaveCurious Yes, near the beginning. No problem. I did get quite the chuckle, though!

[@LeaveCurious]

@ lol I'm trying to say the two words now and its not working 🤷

[@rridderbusch518]

@@LeaveCurious Two "c/k" sounds in "climatic", three in the R-rated one. 😂

[@rb9580]

@@rridderbusch518 But also three when it relates to Birch in the upland zone as the climax species in the habitat succession. Yes, he got it wrong in his context, but climactic doesn't need to be R-rated.

[@DustyChapter]

I actually really want to get into Deer hunting (i live in southern scotland), for both food and the ecological benefit. But i don't have the smallest clue where to start.

[@GordonDonaldson-v1c]

First of all, you need a lot of dosh. Do you have wealthy parents? Or off-shore bank accounts?

[@DustyChapter]

@@GordonDonaldson-v1c Well bollocks.

[@stevehorner8302]

From all of Scotland to the Pennines, the Peak district, The Lakes district, Wales, North York moors. If all these places were to regen, think about the carbon capture and the beauty it would create. It would no doubt suck up some of the bog lands we have in these areas

[@jackstone4291]

What is the Latin species name for mountain birch?! (Confusing if try to look up on the internet). Please help!! -keeps mentioning downy birch ..?.. or other types of birches but different Latin names used …..

[@damionkeeling3103]

Yes, it is a form of downy birch. Downy birch is Betula pubescens while the mountain birch is Betula pubescens tortuosa, note the subspecies name tortuosa. It means it's a type of downy birch that has adapted to living in mountainous regions. If you planted regular downy birch it would be less likely to survive. The first website I came across was a reforesting Scotland site and it failed to mention the tree at all - no scientific name, no general overview of what it looks like, how it grows etc. Just a grandiose word salad about the group and its aims. Part of the problem right there, the focus should be on the tree species and the conditions it needs to grow.

[@aaronkent1741]

I love my vivos, but, they definitely aren't waterproof. After a while on a boggy trail they start to let water in. You should get on at them and tell them to make a goretex pair 😂

[@Isaacjmj]

Deer stalking? Releasing lynx into the wild? Wouldn’t have to ask me twice !

[@tupolev141]

They found lots of burnt and cracked hazelnuts from the paleolithic in what are now grassland and heather landscapes. There were huge hazel forests covering the land. Another victim of humans changing from hunter gatherers to farming; using land for crops but more so for grazing livestock.

[@alvegutt42]

very nice video

[@joemo270]

I run a social enterprise to allow landowners to make money off of rewilding their land. I’d love to help Rob, how do I get in touch?

[@ElsieJay]

You're the beautiful lovechild of Steve Irwin and Charlie Cox. #RewildTheThighs

[@raphlvlogs271]

where did you find the music for the beginning? link?

[@LeaveCurious]

Epidemic sound

[@raphlvlogs271]

why does the birch grows higher up than the pine?

[@rb9580]

Bare trees in winter are less susceptible to storm-force winds. Slow growth at altitude means that the growing tips are available to grazing animals for many years. Birch that is grazed can regrow from the stem, where pines won't. Pines need to grow quickly to sufficient height to be out of reach of deer, hares, ptarmigan etc. while at these altitudes and this latitude it might take 20 years to be above hare-grazing height!

[@redknightsr69]

Please have lots of kids bro, beautiful family

[@davidhill8520]

Big green desert

[@ianherd569]

Just look at Shetland!

[@Stevie-L-n8g]

We should have gotten the school kids to grow and plant these trees as part of their education, but have they? NO!

[@Fail460]

lmao i was wondering about the camera shots

[@silva7493]

You've presented some evidence that certain trees/forests might grow in the barren landscape. Is there also evidence that they were there in the past?

[@Inconsistent-Dogwash]

Looking at Scotland’s highlands with wiser eyes It looks like a desert and lacking the possible wildlife that was once there but I’m hopeful for its potential regeneration. I personally would love to see wolves reintroduce to the UK with proper planning and public education I don’t see there should be an issue, they are meant to be here it’s only because of us that they are not.

[@voiceinthenoise3357]

Don't worry, you can't "go on too much" about sheep and deer overgrazing or grouse moor burning. Moan load and proud 😄

[@MickieKinger]

Carry wild seed in your pockets

[@RussianBot382]

Being back the wolf

[@hungbearlover]

Yeah it was the clearances of people and replacement with sheep

[@Agapanthah]

Do Aspen grow in Scotland?

[@edguy6738]

Oh yeah, the legendary mountain forests of denmark ;p

[@anniehill9909]

Alas, we don't have a thousand years to rewild - or even a hundred. We just need strong and brave governments to address reality and to stand up to vested interests, to make the environement better for the vast majority of people, plants and animals. Oh yes - and we need voters who consider the greater good rather than their own selfish aims. It shouldn't be too much to ask of 'the most intelligent animal on earth'.

[@MarkPierro]

Video starts at 10:00 !

[@LeaveCurious]

Think it starts at 0:00 🤓

[@Albanach-je1nk]

Getting rid of the people would not have helped.

[@vic_con_carne5137]

That’s a very broad hunt* explanation. The Nordic people hunt as well, it’s a shame the Scot’s and English clear cut their forest and removed all predators from their land.

[@damionkeeling3103]

Nordic countries were less hospitable to human life up until recently which is why they have much smaller populations. Comparing England to France would probably be better.