Animals and plants reclaim Scotland's abandoned spaces: photo essay

Sun, 10 Jan 2021 05:38:43 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/02/animals-ecology-reclaim-scotland-abandoned-landscapes-a-photo-essay>

"Since the idea of rewilding took hold, it has generally been seen as a
rural pursuit involving withdrawal from farmland so that animals and
vegetation can restore their own ecology.

At its most herbivorous, it includes allowing hedgerows or scrub to
flourish unchecked. At its most primal, it involves deliberately
releasing animals such as beavers or wolves in the belief that the
re-entry of a single alpha species brings with it a cascade of
ecological benefits.

Either way, rewilding has come to be associated with big acreages,
whether that be at Knepp Park in Sussex or at the 18,000-acre Glenfeshie
estate in the Cairngorms. The perception is that it is expensive, far
away and often inaccessible. It certainly isn’t something that just
anyone can do.

But what if the wildest places of all were right under our feet? In the
forgotten spaces in our cities, rewilding has always happened naturally,
land falling under stone and resurging again, concrete lids flipped off
before submerging once more. In the margins and the demilitarised zones,
the abandoned embankments, the bits we don’t want or the lands already
contaminated beyond human tolerance, ecology is thriving."

Via Frederick Wilson II.

Share and enjoy,
                *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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