The ingenious idea is a response to the degradation of the reserve due to foot traffic. Dogs’ natural tendency to run around in the woods is being harnessed to spread seeds from saddlebags attached around their abdomen. This mimics the function that wolves once played in England, roaming vast distances and inadvertently spreading grass and flower seeds stuck in their fur.
“We’re really interested in rewilding processes, but they often involve reintroducing big herbivores like bison or wild horses,” said Dylan Walker, manager of the Railway Land Wildlife Trust, who organized the project back in 2019. “In a smaller urban nature reserve it’s hard to do those things. So, we decided to replicate the effect that those animals have on the ecosystem by utilizing the vast number of dog walkers that visit the nature reserve daily.”
The saddlebags used for this purpose are filled with a mix of perennial plant seeds and sand. The mixture allows for longer seed dispersion over larger distances and also helps track where dogs have been walking.
“I signed up because it sounded like such a good fit. I was asked to place a harness on my chocolate cocker spaniel called Bertie and he ran around spreading seeds like wolves used to do many years ago,” said Cressida Murray, a regular dog walker at the reserve, to The Guardian.
In England, wolves were driven to extinction as early as the reign of Henry VII in the 15th century. Projects like this not only help restore biodiversity but also engage and educate people about the ecological impacts of wildlife.
“A community-based project like this 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,” added Walker.
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Source: Good News Network
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