1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:35,207 {Lions growling; Birds Chirping} Rewilding means reversing the destruction 2 00:00:36,354 --> 00:00:36,822 of the natural world and attempting a mass restoration of ecosystems. 3 00:00:36,822 --> 00:00:37,720 Why is it that trees are so amazingly resilient that you can smash them, you can 4 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:37,322 twist them and splinter them but they still come bounding back. 5 00:00:37,322 --> 00:00:37,572 And why is it that understory trees like bucks and hollys and you are so much 6 00:00:37,572 --> 00:00:54,534 tougher than the big trees like oak, and beech, and ash in the forest canopy....... 7 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I think the same answer to both and that is Elephant, does that sound crazy? 8 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I'm sure it does, but elephants were every where! 9 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Our ecosystems was dominated by giant straight tusk elephants and if trees 10 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 could not resist them they would be wiped out. And the Elephants in Britain, that 11 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 were driven out by the ice in the southern Europe and they persisted there..to about 12 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 forty thousand years ago and so did rhinos and hippos, lions, and hyenas lasted much 13 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 longer; but they were all eventually wiped out by human hunters. 14 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 We live in a shadow lab than in a dim flattened relic of what that once was... 15 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and rewilding offers us this fantastic opportunity to start restoring systems or 16 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 allowing them to restore themselves. I see it as reintroducing missing plants and 17 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 animals, then stepping back and letting nature get on with it. 18 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 One estimate suggest that between 2000 and 2030, around 30 million hectares of 19 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 land will be vacated by farmers, and that is an area the side of Poland. 20 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So maybe, we're being a bit unambitious if we're talking about just wolves and lynx 21 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and bisons, and otters and beavers, which are already spreading fast across Europe. 22 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Perhaps, we should also be thinking about bringing back some of the lost Megafauna. 23 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 it seems to me that, REWILDING offers us more than just the restoration of the 24 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 ecosystem; it brings back into our lives a lot of thrill, and wonder and enchantment. 25 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And wouldn't it be amazing if everybody had a Serengeti on their doorstep. 26 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Rewilding the ecosystem offers us a chance to rewild our own lives as well.