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Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2022 9:13 pm
by nekomatic

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2022 11:01 pm
by Bird on a Fire
Farm payments for rewilding! https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... ewild-land
Bids are being invited for 10-15 pilot projects, each covering at least 500 hectares and up to 5,000 hectares, to a total of approximately 10,000 hectares in the first two-year phase – about 10 times the size of Richmond Park in London. These pilots could involve full rewilding or other forms of management that focus on species recovery and wildlife habitats.

Rare fauna such as sand lizards, water voles and curlews will be targeted, with the aim of improving the status of about half of the most threatened species in England.

The exact funding has not been disclosed, as bids will be compared to determine value for money before a final decision on which should go ahead is made this summer. However, the total amount available for such schemes is expected to reach £700m to £800m a year by 2028. By 2042, the government aims to have up to 300,000 hectares of England covered by such “landscape recovery” projects – an area roughly the size of Lancashire.
It's early stages, not much money and the devil will be in the details. But this is potentially very good news for the British countryside, as the current farming model doesn't really work for anyone.

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Fri May 20, 2022 4:15 pm
by Grumble
Bird on a Fire wrote:
Sun Dec 26, 2021 11:49 am
Grumble wrote:
Sat Dec 25, 2021 6:59 pm
For Christmas I’ve got this: Rebirding: Winner of the Wainwright Prize for Writing on Global Conservation: Restoring Britain's Wildlife https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1784272191/ ... 8YFZ4SRG1J

Looks really interesting and very relevant to this thread. I did a quick text search to see if it had been mentioned before but nothing showed up. Has anyone read it already?
I have - it's a very good book. MacDonald knows his onions (and indeed birds), explains the status quo very well and has an enormous, ambitious vision for the future.

I won't post any spoilers, but I'd be interested to hear what you think when you've read it.
I’m partway through, and I hope I’m through the most depressing bits. It is certainly making me very sad - I knew we were nature deprived in the U.K. but it’s being laid out in great detail just how bad it is.

Having to read in small chunks because it’s a bit much.

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Fri May 20, 2022 6:19 pm
by TimW
That was a great christmas present then.

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Fri May 20, 2022 6:32 pm
by Grumble
TimW wrote:
Fri May 20, 2022 6:19 pm
That was a great christmas present then.
I think it was. It’s not a light subject, and sometimes you need to read the truth even if it’s painful.

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Fri May 20, 2022 8:26 pm
by Bird on a Fire
Grumble wrote:
Fri May 20, 2022 4:15 pm
Bird on a Fire wrote:
Sun Dec 26, 2021 11:49 am
Grumble wrote:
Sat Dec 25, 2021 6:59 pm
For Christmas I’ve got this: Rebirding: Winner of the Wainwright Prize for Writing on Global Conservation: Restoring Britain's Wildlife https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1784272191/ ... 8YFZ4SRG1J

Looks really interesting and very relevant to this thread. I did a quick text search to see if it had been mentioned before but nothing showed up. Has anyone read it already?
I have - it's a very good book. MacDonald knows his onions (and indeed birds), explains the status quo very well and has an enormous, ambitious vision for the future.

I won't post any spoilers, but I'd be interested to hear what you think when you've read it.
I’m partway through, and I hope I’m through the most depressing bits. It is certainly making me very sad - I knew we were nature deprived in the U.K. but it’s being laid out in great detail just how bad it is.

Having to read in small chunks because it’s a bit much.
It does get brighter, IIRC, as it moves on to discussing what could be, with a few interesting case studies from around Europe.

But I know what you mean. I rarely read much "pop" natural history /ecology stuff these days, because frankly looking at it all as a day job is more than enough.

I will say, though, that one of the things that first wowed me in Portugal is that it's not so depleted yet. There's still fallow fields and scruffy corners and tumbledown houses and silvopasture etc, and there's just birds everywhere. What strikes me in the UK (and similar places, like the Netherlands) is the loss of abundance as much as anything.

I do remain hopeful that we can turn things around, though. There seems to be an appetite for it, and lots of smart folk working hard.

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Fri May 20, 2022 9:32 pm
by JQH
Picked up a copy of Cal Flyn's "Islands of Abandonment" which looks interesting - seems to be about post industrial landscapes re-wilding without human intervention.

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Fri May 20, 2022 9:37 pm
by Bird on a Fire
Ooo yes I read that at Christmas. I liked it a lot. She writes lyrically rather than scientifically, most it's very evocative and she does include ecology too.

One of my favourite local birding haunts is around some old burned/knocked down factories. IMHO wildflowers look 10x better bursting through some concrete.

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Sat May 21, 2022 10:00 am
by jimbob
Grumble wrote:
Fri May 20, 2022 4:15 pm
Bird on a Fire wrote:
Sun Dec 26, 2021 11:49 am
Grumble wrote:
Sat Dec 25, 2021 6:59 pm
For Christmas I’ve got this: Rebirding: Winner of the Wainwright Prize for Writing on Global Conservation: Restoring Britain's Wildlife https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1784272191/ ... 8YFZ4SRG1J

Looks really interesting and very relevant to this thread. I did a quick text search to see if it had been mentioned before but nothing showed up. Has anyone read it already?
I have - it's a very good book. MacDonald knows his onions (and indeed birds), explains the status quo very well and has an enormous, ambitious vision for the future.

I won't post any spoilers, but I'd be interested to hear what you think when you've read it.
I’m partway through, and I hope I’m through the most depressing bits. It is certainly making me very sad - I knew we were nature deprived in the U.K. but it’s being laid out in great detail just how bad it is.

Having to read in small chunks because it’s a bit much.
Dad's got that. I saw it last night.

He did a fair bit of survey work on coastal grazing marshes with respect for looking at the different management regimes and their impact on birds, especially waders

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Sat May 21, 2022 11:53 am
by Bird on a Fire
jimbob wrote:
Sat May 21, 2022 10:00 am
Grumble wrote:
Fri May 20, 2022 4:15 pm
Bird on a Fire wrote:
Sun Dec 26, 2021 11:49 am


I have - it's a very good book. MacDonald knows his onions (and indeed birds), explains the status quo very well and has an enormous, ambitious vision for the future.

I won't post any spoilers, but I'd be interested to hear what you think when you've read it.
I’m partway through, and I hope I’m through the most depressing bits. It is certainly making me very sad - I knew we were nature deprived in the U.K. but it’s being laid out in great detail just how bad it is.

Having to read in small chunks because it’s a bit much.
Dad's got that. I saw it last night.

He did a fair bit of survey work on coastal grazing marshes with respect for looking at the different management regimes and their impact on birds, especially waders
Heh, that's a topic very close to my heart - probably about half my UK lab works on precisely that! Keeping large areas very wet seems to be important, which is tricky in the lowland England context especially.

I'm wondering now if I've read any of his stuff (*searches Zotero for jimbob sr. et al.*)

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Sat May 21, 2022 8:11 pm
by jimbob
Bird on a Fire wrote:
Sat May 21, 2022 11:53 am
jimbob wrote:
Sat May 21, 2022 10:00 am
Grumble wrote:
Fri May 20, 2022 4:15 pm


I’m partway through, and I hope I’m through the most depressing bits. It is certainly making me very sad - I knew we were nature deprived in the U.K. but it’s being laid out in great detail just how bad it is.

Having to read in small chunks because it’s a bit much.
Dad's got that. I saw it last night.

He did a fair bit of survey work on coastal grazing marshes with respect for looking at the different management regimes and their impact on birds, especially waders
Heh, that's a topic very close to my heart - probably about half my UK lab works on precisely that! Keeping large areas very wet seems to be important, which is tricky in the lowland England context especially.

I'm wondering now if I've read any of his stuff (*searches Zotero for jimbob sr. et al.*)
You might be more likely to have come across one of his previous colleagues who's now based in New Zealand, and who did some Ramsar assessments, including several for the DPRK's entries (nope, but that island over there might be suitable can I go there, oh it's highly classified, nevermind)

David Melville

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Sun May 22, 2022 2:19 pm
by Aitch
Don't think it's been mentioned so far, but there's an article in today's Observer on the success of the work on Wallasea Island, using stuff dug up while building the Elizabeth line. Any comments from the experts?

Or should I have put this in the Railways thread?

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Sun May 22, 2022 6:45 pm
by Grumble
Aitch wrote:
Sun May 22, 2022 2:19 pm
Don't think it's been mentioned so far, but there's an article in today's Observer on the success of the work on Wallasea Island, using stuff dug up while building the Elizabeth line. Any comments from the experts?

Or should I have put this in the Railways thread?
Wetland restoration is great and seems quite successful. It shows we can do something. More inland success stories are needed though.

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Fri May 27, 2022 7:45 pm
by jimbob
Dad just sent me this

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... 1653574106

as an aside, I know my brother's opinion is that regenerative agriculture is the best approach for the UK, because other approaches shift the problem of food production elsewhere, and often that's to environments where agriculture would be worse overall, and probably increase the carbon footprint of the production.

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Fri May 27, 2022 10:11 pm
by Stephanie
yeah, regenerative agriculture is the big thing at the moment. national food strategy is worth a read on different approaches

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Mon May 30, 2022 1:03 am
by jdc
Bird on a Fire wrote:
Wed May 05, 2021 8:01 pm
From Dornoch Firth to Lyme Bay, inspiring projects are leading the way by restoring critically important seagrass meadows, kelp forests and oyster beds. Combined with the exclusion of bottom towed trawling and dredging, such initiatives offer hope and a blueprint for bringing our precious seas back to health.
Speaking of dredging...

Scientists accidentally discover “scallop discos” as an environmentally friendly fishing method
The scientists, including researchers from the University of York and Fishtek Marine, a fisheries consultancy based in Devon, discovered that scallops were drawn to illuminated pots while investigating whether lights could be used to replace fish to bait crab and lobster.

In an unexpected turn of events, the researchers found that scallops, which have over 200 tiny eyes, were as drawn to the LED-lit pots as crabs and lobsters.

Currently, most commercial scallop harvesting is carried out using dredges, a fishing method which can cause extensive harm to sensitive marine habitats and species. This discovery paves the way for the creation of a new low-impact inshore fishery which could reduce the pressure from damaging scallop dredges.

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Mon May 30, 2022 7:59 am
by Martin_B
jdc wrote:
Mon May 30, 2022 1:03 am
Bird on a Fire wrote:
Wed May 05, 2021 8:01 pm
From Dornoch Firth to Lyme Bay, inspiring projects are leading the way by restoring critically important seagrass meadows, kelp forests and oyster beds. Combined with the exclusion of bottom towed trawling and dredging, such initiatives offer hope and a blueprint for bringing our precious seas back to health.
Speaking of dredging...

Scientists accidentally discover “scallop discos” as an environmentally friendly fishing method
The scientists, including researchers from the University of York and Fishtek Marine, a fisheries consultancy based in Devon, discovered that scallops were drawn to illuminated pots while investigating whether lights could be used to replace fish to bait crab and lobster.

In an unexpected turn of events, the researchers found that scallops, which have over 200 tiny eyes, were as drawn to the LED-lit pots as crabs and lobsters.

Currently, most commercial scallop harvesting is carried out using dredges, a fishing method which can cause extensive harm to sensitive marine habitats and species. This discovery paves the way for the creation of a new low-impact inshore fishery which could reduce the pressure from damaging scallop dredges.
Will there now be complaints about light pollution in the sea?

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Tue May 31, 2022 6:32 am
by Woodchopper
Global level but really interesting: After millennia of agricultural expansion, the world has passed ‘peak agricultural land’
https://ourworldindata.org/peak-agriculture-land

to;dr there has been a decoupling between land use and food production. So we can use the land for other things.

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2022 1:46 pm
by jimbob
jimbob wrote:
Fri May 27, 2022 7:45 pm
Dad just sent me this

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... 1653574106

as an aside, I know my brother's opinion is that regenerative agriculture is the best approach for the UK, because other approaches shift the problem of food production elsewhere, and often that's to environments where agriculture would be worse overall, and probably increase the carbon footprint of the production.
Dad and my brother visited Knepp yesterday and they weren't too impressed with the biodiversity.

Ryegrass and ragwort were dominant in many areas.

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2022 2:14 pm
by Bird on a Fire
There's a chapter on ragwort in Isabella Tree's book. It was very controversial with the locals too. But it's great for biodiversity https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... ll-of-life

At least in terms of birds and insects it's one of the most biodiverse sites in the country, eg supporting more Turtle Doves than a lot of decades-old RSPB projects, huge numbers of Purple Emperor butterflies, etc.

I suspect initial reactions are strongly influenced by shifting baseline syndrome, as it looks very different to typical UK management regimes.

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2022 2:49 pm
by Gfamily
We have a Woodland Trust managed semi natural ancient woodland near us that's bordered on two sides by open grassland.

However, over the last 4 or 5 years the grassland has been encroached on by brambles and woody shrubs making several previous access routes impassable. We used to see several species of orchid widely spread in the grass, but these are now being constrained to very narrow areas.

I'm not sure who is responsible for the open grassland areas, but it's a real shame.
I'll email the WT to see if they can advise. I've emailed them in the past to let them know if trees have fallen in the woods, but this is mostly outside the areas of the wood shown on their website.

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2022 3:48 pm
by plodder
nekomatic wrote:
Tue Sep 14, 2021 7:01 pm
I saw sea eagles on a boat trip around Raasay, if that helps. Or does it have to be under your own motive power?
If you go here and don't see White Tailed Eagles I'll eat my hat

58.18890186810413, -7.024525246707667

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2022 3:56 pm
by tom p
Gfamily wrote:
Mon Jul 11, 2022 2:49 pm
We have a Woodland Trust managed semi natural ancient woodland near us that's bordered on two sides by open grassland.

However, over the last 4 or 5 years the grassland has been encroached on by brambles and woody shrubs making several previous access routes impassable. We used to see several species of orchid widely spread in the grass, but these are now being constrained to very narrow areas.

I'm not sure who is responsible for the open grassland areas, but it's a real shame.
I'll email the WT to see if they can advise. I've emailed them in the past to let them know if trees have fallen in the woods, but this is mostly outside the areas of the wood shown on their website.
Did they make a sound when falling?

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2022 4:26 pm
by nekomatic
plodder wrote:
Mon Jul 11, 2022 3:48 pm
If you go here and don't see White Tailed Eagles I'll eat my hat

58.18890186810413, -7.024525246707667
Tempting, but imagine making that journey and then finding I’d been an atomic radius off

Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration

Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2022 4:36 pm
by plodder
nekomatic wrote:
Mon Jul 11, 2022 4:26 pm
plodder wrote:
Mon Jul 11, 2022 3:48 pm
If you go here and don't see White Tailed Eagles I'll eat my hat

58.18890186810413, -7.024525246707667
Tempting, but imagine making that journey and then finding I’d been an atomic radius off
No-one said they were easy to see.