9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 {Lions growling; Birds Chirping}[br]Rewilding means reversing[br]the destruction 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 twist them and splinter them but they [br]still come bounding back. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And why is it that understory trees like [br]bucks and hollys and you are so much 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 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 offer[br]us more than just the restoration of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the ecosystem; it brings back into our [br]lives a lot of thrill, and wonder and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 enchantment. And wouldn't it be amazing if[br]everybody had a Serengeti on their 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 doorstep.Rewilding the ecosystem offers us[br]a chance to rewild our own lives as well.