< Return to Video

Rewilding made simple: an animated guide

  • 0:00 - 0:02
    (birds chirping}
  • 0:02 - 0:06
    {lion growling)
  • 0:07 - 0:10
    (birds chirping}
  • 0:10 - 0:11
    ♪ (guitar music) ♪
  • 0:11 - 0:15
    Rewilding means reversing
    the destruction of the natural world
  • 0:15 - 0:19
    and attempting
    a mass restoration of ecosystems.
  • 0:19 - 0:20
    (sound of bulldozer passing)
  • 0:20 - 0:21
    (birds chirping)
  • 0:21 - 0:26
    ♪ (guitar music) ♪
  • 0:26 - 0:29
    Why is it that trees
    are so amazingly resilient
  • 0:29 - 0:32
    that you can smash them,
    you can twist them and splinter them,
  • 0:32 - 0:34
    but they still come bounding back?
  • 0:35 - 0:37
    And why is it that understory trees
  • 0:37 - 0:40
    like box and holly and yew
    are so much tougher
  • 0:40 - 0:43
    than the big trees like oak and beech
    and ash in the forest canopy?
  • 0:43 - 0:45
    ♪ (guitar music) ♪
  • 0:45 - 0:47
    I think the same answer applies to both,
  • 0:47 - 0:50
    and that is elephants.
  • 0:50 - 0:54
    Does that sound crazy? I'm sure it does,
    but elephants were everywhere.
  • 0:54 - 0:55
    ♪ (guitar music) ♪
  • 0:55 - 0:59
    Our ecosystem was dominated
    by giant, straight-tusked elephants,
  • 0:59 - 1:02
    and if trees could not resist them,
    they would be wiped out.
  • 1:02 - 1:04
    ♪ (guitar music) ♪
  • 1:04 - 1:07
    And the elephants in Britain,
    they were driven out
  • 1:07 - 1:08
    by the ice into the southern Europe,
  • 1:09 - 1:13
    and they persisted there
    till about forty thousand years ago.
  • 1:13 - 1:14
    So did rhinos and hippos.
  • 1:14 - 1:16
    Lions and hyenas lasted much longer.
  • 1:17 - 1:20
    But they were all eventually
    wiped out by human hunters.
  • 1:20 - 1:26
    ♪ (guitar music) ♪
  • 1:26 - 1:31
    We live in a shadow land, in a dim,
    flattened relic of what there once was.
  • 1:32 - 1:33
    (sheep bleating)
  • 1:33 - 1:37
    And rewilding offers us
    this fantastic opportunity
  • 1:37 - 1:41
    to start restoring systems
    or allowing them to restore themselves.
  • 1:43 - 1:48
    I see it as reintroducing
    missing plants and animals,
  • 1:48 - 1:50
    then stepping back
    and letting nature get on with it.
  • 1:50 - 1:56
    ♪ (guitar music) ♪
  • 1:57 - 2:00
    One estimate suggests
    that between 2000 and 2030,
  • 2:01 - 2:04
    around 30 million hectares of land
    will be vacated by farmers
  • 2:04 - 2:06
    ♪ (guitar music) ♪
  • 2:06 - 2:08
    and that's an area the size of Poland.
  • 2:08 - 2:09
    ♪ (guitar music) ♪
  • 2:09 - 2:12
    So maybe, we're being a bit unambitious
  • 2:12 - 2:15
    if we're talking about
    just wolves and lynx and bison
  • 2:15 - 2:18
    and boar and beavers, which
    are already spreading fast across Europe.
  • 2:18 - 2:19
    (various animal sounds)
  • 2:19 - 2:22
    Perhaps we should also
    be thinking about bringing back
  • 2:22 - 2:23
    some of the lost megafauna.
  • 2:24 - 2:25
    It seems to me that rewilding
  • 2:25 - 2:28
    offers us more than just
    the restoration of the ecosystem.
  • 2:29 - 2:32
    It brings back into our lives
    a lot of thrill and wonder
  • 2:32 - 2:34
    and enchantment.
  • 2:34 - 2:38
    And wouldn't it be amazing if everybody
    had a Serengeti on their doorstep?
  • 2:38 - 2:39
    ♪ (guitar music) ♪
  • 2:39 - 2:41
    Rewilding the ecosystem
  • 2:41 - 2:44
    offers us a chance
    to rewild our own lives as well.
Title:
Rewilding made simple: an animated guide
Description:
more » « less
Video Language:
English
Team:
Amplifying Voices
Project:
Rewillding
Duration:
02:50

English subtitles

Revisions Compare revisions

Our website uses cookies for analysis purposes.