Can Scotland Be The World's First Rewilding Nation?

deep mossy woodlands luscious southern peat box interlacing is a meandering river harmoniously finding its course through a teeming vibrating living landscape it is clear that man lives here yet at no cost for they understand the role of a facilitator enabling the landscape to synergize in these lands man is wise and all life can thrive [Music] in this video we're going to be looking at an organization called the scottish rewiring alliance we're going to be finding out who they are why they're important and how we can help them but first let's get started with understanding who they are they're an organization that have identified the need to unite the many independent rebuilding groups together to work toward a common goal of scotland becoming the world's first rewilding nation they're calling for more they know that it's not enough just to simply protect the land that's already there they know that we must restore our landscapes so what is rewilding rewarding in essence is the advocate of life and its definition really shouldn't be that strict because it has influence across many areas it can be a form of landscape management where you leave large areas alone to naturally regenerate or perhaps where you reintroduce missing keystone species such as the lynx reboiling though really should be felt on a more philosophical and human level it's about having empathy for all living things i always feel that how can man begin to rewire the landscape the area around us when we haven't started with rewriting ourselves rewarding challenges a lot of preconceived ideas our ecosystems our land uses the day-to-day functioning for many seems just fine if not cherished and something which need be protected and preserved a term known as ecological blindness best describes the eyes which looks to land without visualizing or understanding its full potential and it's that unrealised potential the solution to many of our problems that rewilding offers all right so what exactly would a rewinding nation look like essentially a rewarding nation is one where all people understand rewilding there'd be more funding education and jobs available to back projects of all sizes there'd be certain areas where rewiring would be required however rewarding nation is not one where all land is set aside for nature as that just wouldn't be possible in a rewiring nation you look at every part of the country and you ensure that on some level rewilding is taking place why should scotland become a rewilding nation it's been said that the scottish landscape is a geographic wonder yet an ecological vacuum scotland becoming a rebarding nation is suitable not least for this blank canvas but also because of scotland's manageable size variance and extent of ecosystems packed into scotland you have an array of diverse land and marine habitats scotland would be the world's first rewiring nation which means that if they take on this responsibility if they're allowed to take on this responsibility they could set an example to the rest of the world biodiversity loss is a huge issue it runs parallel and supports the devastation that global warming brings desertification of our lands accelerates global warming and vice versa which is otherwise known as a positive feedback loop and the very meaning of desertification is biodiversity loss for good it's gone it's not coming back so to reverse global warming as well as leaving fossil fuels in the ground we must restore vast ecological systems rewinding scotland on a national scale would bring exciting and new opportunities to its people in the more rural areas of scotland jobs are scarce with young people often choosing to leave to find work local economies are largely dependent upon agriculture and forestry which themselves rely heavily upon public funding and can be damaging to the environment rewarding would bring local communities together establishing a new identity initially through decision-making and planning but then through training education and the launching of nature-based businesses a current and thriving case study that clearly shows the economic power of rewilding in britain is the nep castle estate a multifunctional estate that 20 years ago wholeheartedly took on the principles of rebuilding particularly grazing ecology leaving behind the burdens of the mucky and destructive practices of agriculture the estate has now not only ecologically transformed but also economically nip turns over 800 000 a year seeing a profit of 190 000 in comparison to similar rule estates over these past 20 years of rewilding nepp has been outperforming them doing even better than cereal and grazing farms in the southeast of england as brilliant as nep is we must remember that nep is a relatively small estate imagine what could happen if we really did rewired a whole nation and it's these economic and these social unknowns which are just so exciting so given this great opportunity what's the current state of rewilding in scotland in selected areas scotland's ecosystems are undergoing restoration from its native pine woods and lowland citrus woodlands to the uplands that are now beginning to once again see trees peat bogs are being restored rivers are being naturalized seafloors are being nurtured and urban areas are flourishing with life these outstanding efforts can be credited to the many members of the scottish rewirding alliance but they're being limited by the government's policies deception and in action 37 percent of scotland seas are under some form of conservation designation yet they've only banned the tremendously damaging dredging and bottom trawling practices in less than five percent of coastal areas beavers who as we know perform wonders to our environment they're being unlawfully killed in scotland nature scott a wildlife agency have admitted to granting culling licenses without proper justification so now i want to give you some ways that you can help scotland become the world's first rewilding nation now you can do one of these you can do some of these but if you want to have the most impact you should do all of them you'll find instructions and links to all of what i'm about to say down in the description of the video step one there are two videos that you can share you can share this one and you can share a great animated video created by the alliance which just encapsulates the whole thing really nicely share these links on your social medias share them via email just you can even write down the link and like right on a wall somewhere and say hey type this link into your phone and watch the video step two write to your politicians there's a really great website called write to them.com where you can write to your mp now you need to be really clear and concise with what you're writing so i'll include with what i've written but please if you have some more personal reasons as to why you want to see scotland become a rewiring nation then you must include them again in the description step three make a donation you can donate to a charity called trees for life they've been working to rebuild scotland for the past 30 years rewarding britain is another great choice they don't just operate in scotland but they also operate around the uk and also you know if you have a more specific interest say red squirrels or in kelp forests go in the description of the video again and find these organizations and find out how you can donate to them step four talk have conversations do not underestimate the power of having a conversation because that is how action starts whether if it's to a friend to a family member or at your like towns local meeting strike or strike up a conversation and just get things moving you can do this electronically as well so maybe you're a landowner no matter how big your patch of land get on facebook groups contact these organizations and just express an interest in step five you can support leave curious leave curious works to create meaningful content about rewiring and about the climate with the aim of sparking some curiosity and then hopefully inciting some positive change you can support us over on patreon where you can gain access to exclusive content if you want you can go and buy a sustainably sourced and created t-shirt but i know that you may not be able to support the channel financially so all i ask of you is that you like the video you comment you share it and you subscribe but in the meantime thank you so much for watching leave curious

Channel: Leave Curious

Views: 7,307

Keywords: scotland becoming a rewilding nation, scotland rewilding nation, scottish rewilding alliance, rewilding scotland, scottish rewilding, rewilding, rewilding britain, leave curious, rewild, rewilding nation, rewild nation

Id: 54c7YES41fY

Length: 8min 16sec (496 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 29 2021