Re: Rewilding and habitat restoration
Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2022 9:13 pm
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.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.
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.Bird on a Fire wrote: ↑Sun Dec 26, 2021 11:49 amI 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.Grumble wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 6:59 pmFor 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 won't post any spoilers, but I'd be interested to hear what you think when you've read it.
It does get brighter, IIRC, as it moves on to discussing what could be, with a few interesting case studies from around Europe.Grumble wrote: ↑Fri May 20, 2022 4:15 pmI’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.Bird on a Fire wrote: ↑Sun Dec 26, 2021 11:49 amI 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.Grumble wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 6:59 pmFor 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 won't post any spoilers, but I'd be interested to hear what you think when you've read it.
Having to read in small chunks because it’s a bit much.
Dad's got that. I saw it last night.Grumble wrote: ↑Fri May 20, 2022 4:15 pmI’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.Bird on a Fire wrote: ↑Sun Dec 26, 2021 11:49 amI 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.Grumble wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 6:59 pmFor 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 won't post any spoilers, but I'd be interested to hear what you think when you've read it.
Having to read in small chunks because it’s a bit much.
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.jimbob wrote: ↑Sat May 21, 2022 10:00 amDad's got that. I saw it last night.Grumble wrote: ↑Fri May 20, 2022 4:15 pmI’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.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.
Having to read in small chunks because it’s a bit much.
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
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)Bird on a Fire wrote: ↑Sat May 21, 2022 11:53 amHeh, 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.jimbob wrote: ↑Sat May 21, 2022 10:00 amDad's got that. I saw it last night.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.
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
I'm wondering now if I've read any of his stuff (*searches Zotero for jimbob sr. et al.*)
Wetland restoration is great and seems quite successful. It shows we can do something. More inland success stories are needed though.Aitch wrote: ↑Sun May 22, 2022 2:19 pmDon'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?
Speaking of dredging...Bird on a Fire wrote: ↑Wed May 05, 2021 8:01 pmFrom 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.
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?jdc wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 1:03 amSpeaking of dredging...Bird on a Fire wrote: ↑Wed May 05, 2021 8:01 pmFrom 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.
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.
Dad and my brother visited Knepp yesterday and they weren't too impressed with the biodiversity.jimbob wrote: ↑Fri May 27, 2022 7:45 pmDad 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.
Did they make a sound when falling?Gfamily wrote: ↑Mon Jul 11, 2022 2:49 pmWe 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.
No-one said they were easy to see.