大象传媒

One symptom of today's age is that our weather seems to release a lot of rain in a short period of time which ultimately causes a lot of problems. And the problems begin in the lush grassy upland fields. Grass fields are designed to be well drained, to carry the water off the field and into the streams and rivers. The problem is this happens too quickly and it can often end up flooding people's homes. But if the field was blanket bog, then the whole ecology of the area work be to store water, letting it out slowly, so no flooding. We could spend millions upon millions of pounds on short term flood defences, or we could spend a few thousand pounds putting the fields back to their original blanket bog habitat and provide a long-term prevention strategy. Confident that this is the way forward, the Wildlife Trust has a project in Wales which is removing conifer woodlands and allowing the traditional bog habitat to return. Under the canopy of a conifer woodland, nothing much can grow. Removing the trees has enabled many more plant and animal species to thrive in the area, rare bog plants are returning and all are supporting a wealth of wildlife in the food chain. Re-wilding the area is not strictly correct, as 're' talks about going back. We can't go back, as the climate has changed, from the chemicals in the air to the way the land is managed. This project provides a landscape which is 'future wild', working for both wildlife and people, giving it an economic value which is a major step forward for conservation and its battle with climate change.