As I travel, I have become aware of more environment projects that locals are embarking on or embracing to improve their surroundings. I am one of these folks that refuses to allow chemical treatment to my lawn, I live on top of a major aquifer thus I drink that water. I’ve learned that vinegar and salt is a natural weed killer. It may be a very small thing in the scheme my environment, but I am willing to try.
Morgan Freeman, the actor started a personal beekeeping project when he imported 26 beehives from Arkansas to Mississippi and modified his 124-acre ranch to sustain those populations. In the early stages, he learned that he had to feed his buzzing companions sugar water after they had been removed from their home environment. As the bees adapted to their newfound home, he planted magnolia, clover, lavender, and bee-friendly fruit trees for them to thrive. Keenly aware that much of the global bee decline was due to the increased destruction of their natural habitats by development and farming, Freeman worked on making his farm as sustainable as possible. Alongside habitat and food loss, one of the leading causes of bee population decline is harmful pesticides.
Even Jeremy Clarkson on his Diddy Squat Farm has come to appreciate “rewilding” during his farming escapades. From creating a pond which now is teeming with otters, waterfowl and trout to a quarter of a million bees pollinating his fields with the help of planting strips of wildflowers. What his beekeeper instructor showed Clarkson staggered him. “I’d read that in its entire six-week life a bee will only make a twelfth of a teaspoon of honey, and that to make 1lb it would have to travel 90,000 miles. Which is why, after just three weeks, I wasn’t expecting much.”
“But just the top drawer of one hive was so heavy I could barely lift it. With Victor pumping smoke into the swarm to keep it calm — I don’t understand that either — I pulled out a single frame from the drawer, or “super”, as it’s called, and there was easily 2lb of honey in there. This meant 20lb in that drawer alone. And there were four drawers and five hives. So 400lb of honey. And they’d done all that in 21 days. As well as making all the honeycomb and producing enough wax to polish the floor of a Scottish castle.” He is now trying to contribute to what is becoming a global environmental movement: wilding.
In Portugal, I went through a rural area which had experienced a major depopulation for decades, people have moved away from the Cao Valley and working the land to live in cities. So, without livestock and farming, dense scrub has taken over which is very susceptible to wildfires. Actually, very bad land management. It turns out that large herbivores play an essential role in eco-systems by consuming biomass creating more resilient landscapes. A company called ReWilding Portugal have released some 25 native wild bred Sorraia horses to roam-free in this northern part of Ermo ds Aguias, they feed on dried undergrowth and scrub. These Sorraia help prevent wildfires and increase biodiversity, making the terrain more hospitable to roe deer, Iberian ibex, rabbit and red-legged partridge, which in turn benefits the Iberian wolf and Iberian lynx, eagles and vultures. We watched vultures circling and riding the air currents for an hour, they are the best waste management company in the wild, whether in the Serengeti or semi-wilds of Portugal.
Also, they have re-introduced Tauros, a specially bred version of the long-extinct auroch cattle. They were introduced to the 120,000-hectare corridor that stretches from the Douro in the north, down to the Malcata Mountains and nature reserve in central Portugal, close to the Spanish border. This breed is self-sufficient keeping Europe's rich mosaic of open landscapes flourishing through natural grazing. Thousands of years ago, the wild ancestors of cattle and horses roamed freely across the Côa region, migrating in large herds and playing a key role in maintaining grassland ecosystems. Now this winning project is moving on to Croatia and Czech Republic.
In Galicia in the northwest of Spain, they have maintained their wild horse eco-system since medieval times. Every year, crowds flock to the Spanish village of Sabucedo, for a traditional roundup. The wild horses are known in Galicia as "brutes". There is a grooming part of the tradition and now it also involves vaccination against diseases that the horses can pick up on the mountain. These are the largest herds of wild horses left in Europe. The origins of the ritual are unclear but according to legend, the rite dates back to the 16th Century when the people of the village were spared the plague by their patron Saint Lorenzo and in return sent horses into the wild.
Studies show the fact that this wild horse ecosystem in Galicia, generates more benefits compared to alternatives such as reforestation, livestock farming on artificial pastures or land abandonment. According to the researchers, the horses’ grazing areas include different types of heather that are advantageous to the ecosystem, offering high biodiversity, high rates of carbon storage and low fire risk again.
In Brazil, a couple planted 2 million trees in 18 years, returning 172 bird species, 33 mammals, 15 amphibians, 15 reptiles and 293 plant species. The whole world should know them. Lélia Wanick and Sebastião Salgado, decided to start the Terra Institute, a small organization that planted 2 million plants and revived the forest.
"There is only one creature that can convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, and that is a tree." We need to replant the forests. Using only local plants, the couple rebuilt the entire ecosystem from scratch and the area flourished significantly, allowing the fauna to return; thanks to their work, Lélia and Sebastião saved dozens of endangered species.
"The earth was sad as I was, everything was destroyed. Then my wife got a fantastic idea to replant this forest: all the insects, fish and birds returned, and thanks to the new growth of the trees I was born again."
In Tanzania and Kenya, the iconic Serengeti is a world treasure. We enjoy watching the wildebeest and zebra migrations on the nature channels, but that is only a specific time of the year. Nature’s needs are year-round. Located on the western corridor of the Serengeti, the Grumeti concessions are now rich in flora, fauna and wildlife, but it wasn’t always like this. At the turn of the century, uncontrolled hunting and poaching had decimated the wildlife populations, degraded and altered the whole eco-system.
In 2002, American philanthropist Paul Tudor Jones made it his personal quest to rehabilitate the Grumeti concessions to their former glory. The non-profit Grumeti Fund began the mammoth task of rehabbing the degraded area. The removal of invasive alien planets is one of the biggest threats and constant war is waged by managed controlled burns. Using multipronged resources by the team players contribute a vital role in the health of the preserve. Combining the latest technologies like AI camera traps, wildlife protectors one the ground, aircraft surveillance, and canine scout units all add to the success of rewilding. The re-establishment of Eastern Black Rhinos via translocations has been just one of the keys on the path to achievement.
A magical gift was given to me in Kenya at Secluded Africa. Bags of seedballs are offered to guests to throw while they are out in the wilds. Just throw and grow!! I was delighted to find that seedballs are not just replanting dwindling forests and degraded landscapes, but that they are so cleverly made by buying scrap charcoal to coat the native plant seeds so that animals don’t eat them and when the rains come the seeds can sprout in more nutrient rich soil – for hard-to-reach locales they can be scattered by airplanes. This is another unique story of hope for helping our downgraded environments.
Be curious about the environments you visit; you may learn of more clever ways we can breathe new life into our surroundings. Remember real nature is our lifeblood.
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