0:00:00.000,0:00:35.207 {Lions growling; Birds Chirping}[br]Rewilding means reversing the destruction 0:00:36.354,0:00:36.822 of the natural world and attempting a mass[br]restoration of ecosystems. 0:00:36.822,0:00:37.720 Why is it that trees are so amazingly[br]resilient that you can smash them, you can 0:00:37.720,0:00:37.322 twist them and splinter them but they [br]still come bounding back. 0:00:37.322,0:00:37.572 And why is it that understory trees like [br]bucks and hollys and you are so much 0:00:37.572,0:00:54.534 tougher than the big trees like oak, and[br]beech, and ash in the forest canopy....... 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I think the same answer to both and that[br]is Elephant, does that sound crazy? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I'm sure it does, but elephants were every[br]where! 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Our ecosystems was dominated by giant [br]straight tusk elephants and if trees 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 could not resist them they would be wiped[br]out. And the Elephants in Britain, that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 were driven out by the ice in the southern[br]Europe and they persisted there..to about 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 forty thousand years ago and so did rhinos[br]and hippos, lions, and hyenas lasted much 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 longer; but they were all eventually wiped[br]out by human hunters. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We live in a shadow lab than in a dim [br]flattened relic of what that once was... 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and rewilding offers us this fantastic [br]opportunity to start restoring systems or 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 allowing them to restore themselves. I see[br]it as reintroducing missing plants and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 animals, then stepping back and letting[br]nature get on with it. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 One estimate suggest that between 2000 [br]and 2030, around 30 million hectares of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 land will be vacated by farmers, and that[br]is an area the side of Poland. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So maybe, we're being a bit unambitious if[br]we're talking about just wolves and lynx 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and bisons, and otters and beavers, which [br]are already spreading fast across Europe. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Perhaps, we should also be thinking about [br]bringing back some of the lost Megafauna. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 it seems to me that, REWILDING offers us[br]more than just the restoration of the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 ecosystem; it brings back into our lives a[br]lot of thrill, and wonder and enchantment. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And wouldn't it be amazing if everybody[br]had a Serengeti on their doorstep. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Rewilding the ecosystem offers us a chance[br]to rewild our own lives as well.