Two very important habitat types are missing from our ecosystem and their absence means that the "nature" we're trying to protect and increase is in fact severely dysfunctional to begin with. Just because something is green doesn't mean it's authentic in its form.

The first habitat type is the grazed and trampled aftermath created by migrating herds of large herbivores in long grasses and mixed vegetation. A migratory circuit could be 2000 km or more and the animals can only proceed forwards as that's the only place where more food exists

The trampled vegetation provides the ideal environment for the organisms that deal with the decay and destruction aspects of the migratory experience. Dung beetles, and soil life thrive under the living mulch.

Birds, insects and small mammals arrive and take advantage of this safer environment where predators can be easily spotted and moving around is easy.
Think of digging the garden and the robin who magically appears, knowing your activity gives access to rich food.

Trampled aftermath attracts more than just robins and its steady regrowth creates yet another habitat.
I call this a multi-habitat or dynamic habitat. Large herbivores are the only animals who carry out this unique activity and it's the foundation of the ecosystem.

It created the shape and form of our landscape and modern civilisations and farming techniques gradually eroded it and caused its extinction.
Very few people have seen or experienced trampled aftermath in 2020 so very little or no data exists.

Apart from the huge range of fauna and flora this system can support, its benefits can also be seen in terms of improved water cycle function and in the protection of soils from excessive plus or minus temperatures and from erosion.

The standing stems that remain in trampled aftermath provide a safe perch for small birds and also supply edible seeds that can be accessed even in 50 cm of snow. No other habitat works so hard or delivers so much yet is so ignored by ecologists or scientists.

The second essential habitat is the same as above but in a forest or woodland setting. Also extremely rare and unobserved.
Europe lost its large wild herbivores centuries ago and their ability to migrate naturally was lost thousands of years ago.

A forest grazed under migratory principles looks totally different to the forests we see today, that's probably why no one realised what was missing. You can't see what's not there, science and people can only relate to what they can see, it forms their reality.

A real ecosystem has not been seen by any living human being, so how do we even begin to assume that we can nurture it back to health if we don't understand its fundamental rules?

1. Plants grow and animals eat them.

2. The animals that eat plants create the optimum conditions for all other species to operate and exist.

3. Any plants that aren't being eaten on a regular basis are apt to overgrow and severely impair the ecological function of the surrounding landscape.

Take a look around at your own individual landscape and you'll probably start to realise that the vegetation present has never been migrationally grazed for a few thousand years.

The more you look, the more you see, and the more you begin to realise just how shocking this is. It was for me and I spent the last few years slowly realising that our climate change dilemma started off thousands of years ago.

The industrial revolution compounded this and we now see clearly the evidence that all is not well.
Any proposals to re-wild or to change farming techniques need to take these things into consideration.

Planting more trees is a great idea but first we need to understand that they need to be available to being eaten by large herbivores. Not in an over-grazed way, though, that's poor management.

Likewise, re-wilding with only predators into an existing dysfunctional landscape that is devoid of healthy form or function will probably achieve very little. Herbivores are the ultimate key species group.

The only herbivores we have available, in sufficient quantities, without bio-security issues, with the hardwired ability to restore function and form to our ecosystem are domestic livestock. There are not enough wild animals to do this quickly or efficiently.

We need to use our livestock properly, starting from today, putting the function back, trampling, grazing, moving on.
They can do this on existing farms, on the margins of arable land to create large healthy corridors, on road and rail verges, on parkland, government land,

woodlands, wetlands, forests, in towns, in cities, alongside most human activities.
If plants aren't being eaten, trodden on or browsed then they're unable to provide the ideal conditions to repopulate the insects, birds, amphibians or any other species group.

Using this process we can harvest good quality natural animal products like meat, dairy, wool, leather, fats etc.
We can use the same technique to repopulate non livestock species such as elephant, giraffe and rhinos.

The biggest obstacle is our perception. You might think my proposal is a little radical or far fetched, no problem, but the stakes are very high.
Any rise in sea levels due to melting icecaps or the increasingly common flash floods can eliminate a plant crop in seconds.

Livestock are mobile and resilient to this and any long term loss of arable land, most of which is close to sea level, will mean a reduction in plant based food supply.

We can feed all of our still growing population with good healthy plant and animal based foods and restore sufficient function to our ecosystem in one easy operation. It should also be the basis of our sustainable economy moving forwards post covid.