A new research paper which concluded that 170 rewilded bison in Romania are helping to draw down and store the equivalent CO2 emissions of removing up to 43,000 average US petrol cars from the road has been met with enthusiasm by experts at Kent Wildlife Trust and Wildwood Trust.
The paper, which was circulated by the Global Rewildling Alliance, examines the impact of a European Bison in the Tarcu mountains, where the herd were introduced in 2014.
Both of the charities behind The Wilder Blean Project are members of the Global Rewilding Alliance with the directors of the organisations commenting on the research.
Kent Wildlife Trust’s, Chief Executive, Evan Bowen-Jones: “We are encouraged by the findings of this report which highlight our rationale behind the Wilder Blean Initiative. Using these ecosystem engineers in the UK can provide similar benefits, adding to our national resilience and helping combat the climate and biodiversity crises.
“Anecdotally, we are already seeing so many changes to West Blean and Thorden Woods with corridors opening through the woodland, bringing light and life to the forest floor. We are preparing to enter the next phase of the project installing bison bridges, which will allow the herd access to 200 hectares of woodland, a step that will help to maximise the benefit of these incredible Nature-based Solutions on our landscape. We welcome inquiries from businesses or donors that would like to join us on our wilding journey and be a part of changing the face of conservation in the UK.”
Paul Whitfeld is Director of General of the Wildwood Trust: "We wholeheartedly support this important research, which proves our long-held belief that these "eco-system engineers" really are a new solution to a systemic problem of loss of nature, loss of biodiversity and climate change.
"Whilst the monitoring system for our Blean Bison project is still in its infancy, we are already seeing the positive impact the herd in Kent is having on their environment - they're opening up spaces in dense woodlands to make room for far more species and are helping to create micro habitats for other wildlife to thrive. We expect to see them improving soil and carbon sequestration too.
"As a members of the Global Rewilding Alliance, we are proud to be part of a movement which demonstrates the impact of nature based solutions to climate change and we hope that projects like ours will continue to act as a catalyst for change."