Many centuries ago, wolves served an unexpected purpose in nature. As they walked around, they would accidentally get wildflowers and grass seeds stuck in their fur. Then, these would be released elsewhere, establishing new lands of plants and helping ecosystems do well. Inspired by this, an urban nature reserve in the English town of Lewes enlisted local dogs and their humans to help them rewild the area.
The project is led by the Railway Land Wildlife Trust in Lewes, funded by Ouse Valley Climate Action. The project calls for dog walkers to pick up dog backpacks containing seeds from staff members. Each bag has cleverly placed holes to help distribute the seeds as the dogs run around the grounds. The team also mixed the seed with sand to both help the seed go further and track where the dogs are putting them.
The project, believed to be the first of its kind in the UK, was inspired by a 2019 project in Chile. In that project, two women, with the help of their three dogs, planted seeds in areas affected by wildfires. Seeing that the Lewes reserve was made worse due to constant foot traffic, Dylan Walker, the manager of this scheme, saw a chance to replicate this idea.
Walker and the team have already started to see seed germination (发芽) in some areas of the reserve. However, most of the seeds that have been distributed by the dogs are perennials (多年生植物), meaning it’ll be a couple of years before they see some clearer results. Despite this, Walker remains hopeful about the project’s potential benefits for everyone. “A community-based project like this,” Walker explains, “not only helps engage and teach people about the ecological impacts of wildlife but also allows us to make our wildlife and environments richer in the process.”
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