One of the major events that reshaped british agriculture to be so efficency orientated was WW2, with the need to maximise yields functionally forcing through changes that would have otherwise be subject to more scrutiny and pushback, including but not limited to a lot of previously wild lands being farmed on, and more hedgerows being switched for fences. However it did for similar reasons create something that we still see a lot of and i would personally like to see more of: a widespread allowance of community allotments
Our main task is not to make agriculture more eco-friendly but to reduce agriculture at all, to reduce area being used for agriculture, especially arable lands. This requires serious changes in demographic policy of third-world countries, changes in consumption structure of developed countries and promotion of biotechnologies for food production which are able to reduce eco-footprint.
I think it's good because it's an efficient use of space, could be grown underground and can be powered sustainably. Given the controlled environments, I imagine it's pretty easy to grow nice big blueberries all year round or whatever else you're after doing... I'm from the UK and I often see that blueberries coming from Peru, so they'll have a huge carbon footprint. On a whole, i think its great idea
I'd like to suggest using clumping bamboo as fencing for some farms. Clumping bamboo is extremely strong and dense, so once fully grown it can act as a nigh impenetrable wall. It could be a great alternative to electric fences since it might cost less, and may even be more effective if planted close together. It also creates a great nesting space for many small bird species as well which is just a great bonus. Assuming it's done correctly, not only would it stop reintroduced predators from getting in, but also livestock from getting out. Not even a bull would be strong enough to break through a fully grown set of clumping bamboo.
@@LeaveCurious I'm not exactly aware of specific examples, because Bamboo is sort of present in places all over the world. From what I know though, it needs to be clumping bamboo, not running bamboo and preferably a larger species. There's over 1000 species of Bamboo so it's kind of difficult to cover all that knowledge as one person. Some Bamboo species are quite hardy, and if you can get the right combination for a hardy, big clumping bamboo species, then you could plant each clump close together, and they'd grow into a natural barrier. EDIT: I would be more skeptical of my idea, as it seems that it's mostly used by people in their gardens for wind breaking and privacy reasons. It doesn't seem like there's much information on Bamboo being used as a farm fence. Still though, it does grow densely packed and tall, so it still could work.
Why? All the while importing plants that are not from here have been destructive. Rewilding using animals returning good soil, wildlife and natural biodiversity... Regeneration of land is key, fungi, mycology is huge and work with nature not against it.
I really love this. I just wish there was a better way to do it rather than government funding. You know? I wish there was a private way to incentivize rewilding and successfully harvesting and maintaining the land in a way that increases the lands biodiversity, health, and productivity.
I agree. I think we'll see rewilding more and more as a carbon offset or bids look greener by big companies. Brewdog for example are in the process of creating the Lost Forest in Scotland which i believe will be actually bigger than Knepp, so great potential for herbivore reintroductions 🌿
@@LeaveCurious Bigger than Knepp?? That's amazing! Now we need lunch or wolves there. A lot of the greening is because of government incentives. What if someone found a way to make money purely from rewilding, with no government at all? Then that could be copied around the world
@@grond21 i think the basis would be to show landowners that they can make good money on rewilded land.. your market might be fairly niche due to finding people who are willing and that have suitable land... yeah super interesting, certainly something i'd like to explore further.
Absolutely loved hearing about the policy, I really enjoy your rewilding videos and the mossy earth stuff so it's really cool to learn about the policies that can make these more applicable on a wider scale.
What kind of animal are we talking? Out of apex land predators, I think the Lynx. Herbivores is slightly more open/ interesting. Bison will be happening soon within an enclosure, that’ll be so cool! Hopefully that answered your question 🌿
And boar and pine martens and wisent and water buffaloe, and auroch, and kulan, and tarpan, and leopard and cranes, and pelican and lot of bats and birds, and bustards and raptors and moose, reindeer. and maybe even hyena, hippo, wolverine and lion.
One way of bringing rewilding into agriculture even on the best soils might be by making it temporary. What it on a large farm on good soil 5% of the land was commited to a temporary rewilding plan every 5 years and then lets say15 years into the plan a 5% slice of the property is pulled out of rewilding and returned to convevtional arable agriculture every 5 years. This sort of approach could restore some nature to even the most intensely farmed areas at the same time as sequestering carbon/rebuilding soil fertility to the benefit of the farmer.
Hmm interesting idea, I'm certain it would benefit for sure, but depending on scale and surrounding habitat outside the farm, it may be better to permanently rewilding areas. I'd imagine that from a farmers perspective having this option would be good 🌿
@@LeaveCurious Why not both? Rewilded cores, room for the river flood defenses, hedges and meadow strips, periodic fallowing of arable land, urban and suburban rain gardens and green roofs all support one another. All of these and more will be needed to deal with the challanges we face At the core of this is coming to terms with humans role as the ultimate keystone species. For thousands of years we eating our way through the trophic levels of Earth's biota from mammoths to cod fish. We are the meteor causing the 6th extinction because between our IQ and opposable thumbs there is no escaping us. We can come as anything from a spear point to a bulldozer. We have reached the end of the frontier as far as this appoach goes. The order that sustains us is breaking and we must use that adaptibiliy and IQ to restore enviromental function in all we do.
@@tadblackington1676 love it. That comment was nicely written. But you’re right, at this time, we need to be doing everything we can. It’s a choice that everyone has to make, not matter who they are ! 🌿
I personally disagree with this. Relocation would stress animals out and kill plants. You'd just be creating and destroying ecosystems without much chance for either to establish positive changes on the national ecosystem. The stressed animals would also be more likely to lash out, causing a wave of negative media coverage on the concept of re wilding.
We have conservation easements in North America. We also don't have cattle grazing in Yellowstone National Park. The sheep in the highlands need to go.
@@LeaveCurious You have two different things going on: fragmented rehabilitation in England which is super but has got it's limitations-which is fine for a country with 66 million souls and an incredible growing season so far north (quite possibly the best on the planet). And something that more resembles a cross between Banff and Southeast Alaska with established migratory routes and a stock loss compensation program. Scotland could truly be the jewel in the crown.
I think it's due to the sheer amount of cattle in the agricultural industry, how they're kept and other associated contributors like the water/feed required to keep that system going. Where as, with the Bison, while they'll certainly be releasing methane, they'll be reinstating natural process to grasslands and forests, which in turn locks in more carbon. I don't know exact figures and think even the scientists have a hard time quantifying all of this. What's the impacts of when there's millions of bison? I'm not sure, but if you look to the US those ecosystem evolved to support that, where as in the UK, the herds would be much smaller and the negative impacts would be negligible, where as the positive effects would be disproportionately quite high as they're ecosystem engineers.
@DavidFraser007 Few thousands bisons don't produce as much methane as millions of cows. Also they actually help the ecosystem and other species, so it capture more CO2 than they produce overall. Also it's a wild and endangered specie that restore natural ecosystems such as forests making them more resilient, productive and richer in biodiversity. While cows are Bred by dozen of millions just to be slaughtered After a few years of destroying the ecosystem and consuming huge amount of ressources, in an unsustainable unethicall industry. The most nocive and devastating industry of all. So it's not much of a contradiction than you comparing two different things that have NOTHING in common and even have opposite impact and mentality. What you say is just as stupid and nonsensical as saying "Ecologist are dumb because they want to reintroduce eagles and capercallie, Swan, pelican and bustards but fight against poultry industry". See how fucking dumb this illogical and ignorant "logic" is ?
Just shows that many EU laws were worth losing and replacing with our own, even if other environmental protection laws from the EU were better than the ones the Tories replaced them with.
Just shows that many EU laws were worth losing and replacing with our own, even if other environmental protection laws from the EU were better than the ones the Tories replaced them with.
Fantastic video my dude. Here's hoping that the UK can become an example of what can be achieved with re-wilding
Yes UK certainly have a great opportunity to play our part. Thanks 🙏 🌿
Organic farming is good & yields bigger profits but theres so few sustainable farms around! We need more!
Knowledgeable, enthusiastic, just brilliant.
thank you! 🙌. 😀. 🌿
These videos are SO GOOD! Thank you for all your research, energy and enthusiasm!
One of the major events that reshaped british agriculture to be so efficency orientated was WW2, with the need to maximise yields functionally forcing through changes that would have otherwise be subject to more scrutiny and pushback, including but not limited to a lot of previously wild lands being farmed on, and more hedgerows being switched for fences.
However it did for similar reasons create something that we still see a lot of and i would personally like to see more of: a widespread allowance of community allotments
I love community allotments, they great for people within urban areas
Our main task is not to make agriculture more eco-friendly but to reduce agriculture at all, to reduce area being used for agriculture, especially arable lands. This requires serious changes in demographic policy of third-world countries, changes in consumption structure of developed countries and promotion of biotechnologies for food production which are able to reduce eco-footprint.
What are your thoughts on vertical farming in urban areas (with the use of aero/hydroponics)?
I think it's good because it's an efficient use of space, could be grown underground and can be powered sustainably. Given the controlled environments, I imagine it's pretty easy to grow nice big blueberries all year round or whatever else you're after doing... I'm from the UK and I often see that blueberries coming from Peru, so they'll have a huge carbon footprint. On a whole, i think its great idea
A 2024 update on this would be great to see what if any changes have been made 👍🏻 💚
is there a way we in America can support your effort to rewild Britain? do you have a patreon channel?
Well you can buy a t-shirt! I don’t have a Patreon, it may be something I do in the future. But thank you for supporting 🙏 🌿
@@LeaveCurious you should open a website so people can donate, I’d love to donate to rewilding projects
I'd like to suggest using clumping bamboo as fencing for some farms. Clumping bamboo is extremely strong and dense, so once fully grown it can act as a nigh impenetrable wall. It could be a great alternative to electric fences since it might cost less, and may even be more effective if planted close together. It also creates a great nesting space for many small bird species as well which is just a great bonus.
Assuming it's done correctly, not only would it stop reintroduced predators from getting in, but also livestock from getting out. Not even a bull would be strong enough to break through a fully grown set of clumping bamboo.
Sound wicked Simon; I’ll look into this more, do you know where it’s used?
@@LeaveCurious I'm not exactly aware of specific examples, because Bamboo is sort of present in places all over the world. From what I know though, it needs to be clumping bamboo, not running bamboo and preferably a larger species. There's over 1000 species of Bamboo so it's kind of difficult to cover all that knowledge as one person.
Some Bamboo species are quite hardy, and if you can get the right combination for a hardy, big clumping bamboo species, then you could plant each clump close together, and they'd grow into a natural barrier.
EDIT: I would be more skeptical of my idea, as it seems that it's mostly used by people in their gardens for wind breaking and privacy reasons. It doesn't seem like there's much information on Bamboo being used as a farm fence. Still though, it does grow densely packed and tall, so it still could work.
Why? All the while importing plants that are not from here have been destructive. Rewilding using animals returning good soil, wildlife and natural biodiversity... Regeneration of land is key, fungi, mycology is huge and work with nature not against it.
I really love this. I just wish there was a better way to do it rather than government funding. You know? I wish there was a private way to incentivize rewilding and successfully harvesting and maintaining the land in a way that increases the lands biodiversity, health, and productivity.
I agree. I think we'll see rewilding more and more as a carbon offset or bids look greener by big companies. Brewdog for example are in the process of creating the Lost Forest in Scotland which i believe will be actually bigger than Knepp, so great potential for herbivore reintroductions 🌿
@@LeaveCurious Bigger than Knepp?? That's amazing! Now we need lunch or wolves there.
A lot of the greening is because of government incentives. What if someone found a way to make money purely from rewilding, with no government at all? Then that could be copied around the world
@@grond21 hmmmm you've got me thinking now
@@LeaveCurious It's an intriguing idea, isn't it? Not being dependent on government and letting pure market forces actually encourage rewilding.
@@grond21 i think the basis would be to show landowners that they can make good money on rewilded land.. your market might be fairly niche due to finding people who are willing and that have suitable land... yeah super interesting, certainly something i'd like to explore further.
Absolutely loved hearing about the policy, I really enjoy your rewilding videos and the mossy earth stuff so it's really cool to learn about the policies that can make these more applicable on a wider scale.
You have over simplified the CAP. It's quite a complex system and there are provisions for setting aside land and not farming intensively.
your vids rock...and inspire my school designs...hope to emulate some of these principles soon :)
your awesome bud
ah awesome, thanks Jim! 🌿
Great video!!!! Quick question
What animal do you think will be re-introduced into the UK first?
What kind of animal are we talking?
Out of apex land predators, I think the Lynx.
Herbivores is slightly more open/ interesting. Bison will be happening soon within an enclosure, that’ll be so cool!
Hopefully that answered your question 🌿
U.k need to bring back wolves brown bear and linxs.
And boar and pine martens and wisent and water buffaloe, and auroch, and kulan, and tarpan, and leopard and cranes, and pelican and lot of bats and birds, and bustards and raptors and moose, reindeer.
and maybe even hyena, hippo, wolverine and lion.
One way of bringing rewilding into agriculture even on the best soils might be by making it temporary. What it on a large farm on good soil 5% of the land was commited to a temporary rewilding plan every 5 years and then lets say15 years into the plan a 5% slice of the property is pulled out of rewilding and returned to convevtional arable agriculture every 5 years. This sort of approach could restore some nature to even the most intensely farmed areas at the same time as sequestering carbon/rebuilding soil fertility to the benefit of the farmer.
Hmm interesting idea, I'm certain it would benefit for sure, but depending on scale and surrounding habitat outside the farm, it may be better to permanently rewilding areas. I'd imagine that from a farmers perspective having this option would be good 🌿
@@LeaveCurious Why not both? Rewilded cores, room for the river flood defenses, hedges and meadow strips, periodic fallowing of arable land, urban and suburban rain gardens and green roofs all support one another. All of these and more will be needed to deal with the challanges we face
At the core of this is coming to terms with humans role as the ultimate keystone species. For thousands of years we eating our way through the trophic levels of Earth's biota from mammoths to cod fish. We are the meteor causing the 6th extinction because between our IQ and opposable thumbs there is no escaping us. We can come as anything from a spear point to a bulldozer. We have reached the end of the frontier as far as this appoach goes. The order that sustains us is breaking and we must use that adaptibiliy and IQ to restore enviromental function in all we do.
@@tadblackington1676 love it. That comment was nicely written. But you’re right, at this time, we need to be doing everything we can. It’s a choice that everyone has to make, not matter who they are ! 🌿
I personally disagree with this. Relocation would stress animals out and kill plants. You'd just be creating and destroying ecosystems without much chance for either to establish positive changes on the national ecosystem. The stressed animals would also be more likely to lash out, causing a wave of negative media coverage on the concept of re wilding.
Yes I am first again to comment ( again no one will spam first) also I am excited for the rewilding of the agricultural farms
Yes! You're always so early zack jack! love it!
@@LeaveCurious thank you
Brilliant film and information...
Pleased you enjoyed it 🌿
We have conservation easements in North America. We also don't have cattle grazing in Yellowstone National Park. The sheep in the highlands need to go.
Not totally, but the extents in which they graze should be limited I think.
@@LeaveCurious You have two different things going on: fragmented rehabilitation in England which is super but has got it's limitations-which is fine for a country with 66 million souls and an incredible growing season so far north (quite possibly the best on the planet). And something that more resembles a cross between Banff and Southeast Alaska with established migratory routes and a stock loss compensation program. Scotland could truly be the jewel in the crown.
Agriculture as an industry also needs to employ more people in the UK.
It does. Regenerative farming is something which would offer a lot more jobs locally.. ill make a video on it soon.
Inspiring video, thank you
pleased you liked it! 🌿
I'm a bit confused, ecologists are telling us that cattle causes global warming, the same ecologists want to re-introduce bison.
I think it's due to the sheer amount of cattle in the agricultural industry, how they're kept and other associated contributors like the water/feed required to keep that system going. Where as, with the Bison, while they'll certainly be releasing methane, they'll be reinstating natural process to grasslands and forests, which in turn locks in more carbon. I don't know exact figures and think even the scientists have a hard time quantifying all of this. What's the impacts of when there's millions of bison? I'm not sure, but if you look to the US those ecosystem evolved to support that, where as in the UK, the herds would be much smaller and the negative impacts would be negligible, where as the positive effects would be disproportionately quite high as they're ecosystem engineers.
@DavidFraser007
Few thousands bisons don't produce as much methane as millions of cows.
Also they actually help the ecosystem and other species, so it capture more CO2 than they produce overall.
Also it's a wild and endangered specie that restore natural ecosystems such as forests making them more resilient, productive and richer in biodiversity.
While cows are Bred by dozen of millions just to be slaughtered After a few years of destroying the ecosystem and consuming huge amount of ressources, in an unsustainable unethicall industry.
The most nocive and devastating industry of all.
So it's not much of a contradiction than you comparing two different things that have NOTHING in common and even have opposite impact and mentality.
What you say is just as stupid and nonsensical as saying
"Ecologist are dumb because they want to reintroduce eagles and capercallie, Swan, pelican and bustards but fight against poultry industry".
See how fucking dumb this illogical and ignorant "logic" is ?
Something really good coming from brexit. If only the EU could be maintained without these harmful enforcements. There are quite a lot.
Just shows that many EU laws were worth losing and replacing with our own, even if other environmental protection laws from the EU were better than the ones the Tories replaced them with.
🌲🌲
Nearly every video? :)
One benefit of Brexit
it sure is!
Yeah get rid of the laws to do even worse.
Like say yes to dangerous and nocive pesticides forbiden in the EU
Incidental musak is unnecessary interferes with info.
Thanks you for the feedback Gabrielle!
European policies on agriculture don’t fit a single country in the EU, don’t worry
Seems that way
Just shows that many EU laws were worth losing and replacing with our own, even if other environmental protection laws from the EU were better than the ones the Tories replaced them with.