Wednesday, 14 April 2021

The Reintroduction of the 'Mobile Strimmer' in Spain?

In Spain, more than 740,000 hectares of forest have been destroyed by fire, over the last 10 years. Climate change seems to be intensifying this problem here, as well as in many other countries. Undergrowth (plants and bushes growing beneath the trees) largely fuels forest fires. Some conservationists are now advocating the reintroduction of the European bison to Spanish forests, as a partial solution (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/14/european-bison-spain-forest-fires-aoe). The European bison has been described as a 'mobile strimmer' as it moves through the forest devouring undergrowth. The conservationists hope that removing this potentially inflammable material, will reduce the frequency of forest fires. There may, of course, be problems created by the introduction. Bison are big animals and sometimes don't react kindly to people and their pet dogs.

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Birder's Bonus 241

Noted a Curlew ( Numenius arquata ) on the Loughor estuary at Bynea.