The Seed-Sowers

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For thousands of years, wolves roamed large swathes of land of the British Isles at night, dispersing the wildflower and grass seeds caught in their fur along their routes, which allowed for biodiversity and ecosystem growth through the establishment of new plant colonies.

Then in the 1700s, they went extinct and some native plant species died out.

Now, one nature reserve’s caretakers have decided to enlist the help of wolves’ canine cousins to pick up the task and boost biodiversity.

“We’re really interested in rewilding processes, but they often involve reintroducing big herbivores like bison or wild horses,” Dylan Walker of the Lewes Railway Land Wildlife Trust in Lewes, south of London, told the Guardian. “In a smaller urban nature reserve, it’s really hard to do those things.

“So, to replicate the effect that those animals have on the ecosystem we aimed to utilize the vast number of dog walkers that are visiting the nature reserve daily.”

He says those numerous dogs on walks with their owners at the Lewes Railway Land urban nature reserve have impacted the park’s habitat over the years, with it losing some native plant species. Now, the dogs get a chance to give back.

To do so, the dogs wear special backpacks on their daily walks full of seeds. As they wander and sniff, seeds fall from the bags, reseeding the landscape of the reserve.

According to the trust, the dogs can cover more ground and access areas not in reach by humans, leading to increased germination.

The idea for this project stemmed from two sisters in Chile, who have used their backpack-wearing dogs to help reforest areas affected by wildfires, CBS News reported.

Walker says the project also gets locals involved and invested in the reserve, which was decades ago a railway yard before it was closed and nature began to reclaim it: “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.”