Interesting approach to encourage the spread of native plants out of the UK where The Railway Land Wildlife Trust asked dog owners to come help wildflower seeds with the help of their pets.
The concept is simple, dogs are strapped with backpacks designed to release the wildflower seeds as the roam around and do dog stuff. They call the initiative the “Walking in the Footsteps of Wolves” project.
5 dogs were harnessed with specially adapted saddle packs and let loose on their experimental plot to mimic the roles that wild animals would have played in the landscape.
The Railway Land Wildlife Trust dubbed it a “bonkers renaturing project” but we think its quite clever and a great way to get the community involved in a worthwhile cause. The Railway Land Wildlife Trust has also mimicking beavers, wild boars and bison. Love it!
Lewes Railway Land Wildlife Trust:
We have had a brilliant time working with Dylan Walker from Wilderlife, exploring how we can re-create the impacts of lost species and bring a degraded piece of woodland back to life. Having coppiced like beavers, rootled like wild boar and encouraged dogs to spread seed like wolves, we are now watching change come about.
The ‘beaver coppicing’ has brought pools of light into the woodland and created islands of timber on the ground, which have in turn gently created pathways through the woodland where it was previously completely open and the ground uniformly bare and compacted.
The ‘boar rootling’ has created loads of mini habitats for bugs, and made germination of woodland flowers and grasses easier.
The ‘wolf reseeding’ has been a wonderful way to engage really positively with dog walkers – turning an issue that can sometimes be problematic on its head.
Germination rates weren’t very high and it might take a few seasons to really make a change. As some areas see less footfall, (and more rootling!), conditions for seed to germinate will improve, whether it’s put there through natural processes or by our canine friends!
If you’re a dog owner, please bear in mind that the ‘wolf reseeding’ was done as a trial on a carefully selected and closely monitored area – please don’t strap seed harnesses to your dogs and encourage them to spread seed when you are out on walks, it has the potential do more harm than good!
