Restarting Natural Process
Restoring ecosystems often needs initial human intervention to kick-start natural processes. But it is ecosystem engineer species that will create and maintain dynamic & climate resilient ecosystems that deliver the benefits people need.
A recent review of over *200 scientific papers from across the globe confirms that under emerging novel ecosystems created by climate change, ecosystem engineers like large herbivores will be needed to increase the resilience of restored landscapes to continue providing carbon benefits and the functional ecosystem services that supports us as a species. We need to "re-animate" our landscapes. The SNN needs, ultimately, to allow large mammals to walk from Kent to the Cairngorms
Full ecosystem restoration of carbon-rich habitat on marginal land and in existing marine protected areas could lock up 676 million tonnes of atmospheric carbon by 2050. This would generate at last £30 billion of private investment.
This investment can pay for incentive schemes for landowners to tolerate keystone species like beaver; or to enable a transition to more sustainable farming on productive land; and pay for enforcement at sea.
A recent report suggests that without reinstitution of functioning ecology the UKs forestry industry will collapse within 50 years. The ramifications of wider ecosystem collapse will be much greater.
