<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/20/a-mecca-for-rewilders-the-community-led-project-restoring-scotlands-southern-uplands>
"About 6,000 years ago, most of southern Scotland was covered by broadleaf
woodland, interspersed with patches of rich scrub, heath and bog. In stark
contrast, the landscape today is dominated by close-cropped, severely
nature-depleted hills, punctuated by sharp-edged blocks of non-native spruce
plantation.
Now, thanks to the Carrifran Wildwood, one of the UK’s first community-led
rewilding projects, patches of habitat resembling Scotland’s primeval forest
are staging a comeback.
Carrifran, now nearly a quarter of a century old, gives us a glimpse of a world
that once was. But it also shows what large parts of this land could be: a sink
for climate-heating carbon, a flood-mitigating sponge for freshwater; a
generator of biodiversity, and a source of wonder, identity and hope for
people, locally and globally.
Carrifran’s revival began on 1 January 2000, when the project’s founders and
their friends – including me, then a local biology student – broke the thin
soil and planted the first 100 saplings.
Nearly a quarter of a century and 750,000 planted trees later, the project is
achieving ecological lift-off. The valley is now shaggy with diverse native
trees. Freed of grazing pressure, wildflowers are flourishing: even on a cold
early March day, the first primroses, wood anemones, coltsfoot, and emerald
green honeysuckle leaves offer bursts of colour. On the high ground, peatbogs
are healing and rare arctic-montane scrub and heath are thriving. The whole
place now echoes with birdsong, and golden eagles can often be seen wheeling
above the crags."
Via David Byrne at
Reasons to be Cheerful:
<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/what-were-reading-invasive-fish-smart-densification/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
