Their important work is currently funded by Nature Returns and is a partner project of our Derwent Living Forest programme.

In the past the UK had more herbivorous mammals, such as bison and elk, browsing through our landscape. Their behaviours, such as breaking through vegetation with antlers and horns and creating uneven ground with their hooves, helped to shape varied woodlands and grasslands with high biodiversity.  In Exmoor, we learnt how the National Trust are now utilising hardy ancient breeds including Longhorn cattle, Exmoor ponies and curly-haired Mangalitsa pigs as proxies, which mimic previous mammal behaviours, to help manage the landscape and create a mosaic of complex habitats.

The pigs were a particular focus for our visit, and we were fortunate enough to see their habits and behaviours up close. We observed that they are best employed as a trio of sows and despite resembling sheep (with their curly hair), they are much more like living spades than lawnmowers. They really are masters of disturbance as they rootle around in an uneven and seemingly random way. Green hay or seed can be dropped in behind their rootling, and trees may regenerate or be planted in the disturbed earth. These pigs are at their best when employed on poor quality habitats such as improved grassland during the autumn and winter and woodland understorey, such as bracken, in the summer.

In Dorset, however, they are free-roaming amongst people, and it’s accepted that further education about these animals will help to shape public perceptions in the future regarding the positive impact they can have on the environment.

During our visit, we also learnt about many other conservation and rewilding activities being undertaken by the National Trust. Heath-wood species-rich grassland is being restored through spreading heather and green hay seed, tree planting, over-sowing wildflower seeds and grazing cattle and ponies to support a mosaic of habitats to maximise the potential for other species to thrive.

Wooded habitats are being improved by widening hedgerows ad fencing them to reduce overgrazing and browsing from deer and a mix of native tree species are being planted to help regenerate wood pasture. There is a focus on diversifying oak-dominated woodland through pollarding and adding pigs and cattle into the mix to rootle and browse through the understorey allowing more sunlight to filter through the canopy increasing opportunities for other plant and tree species to flourish.

The landscape is also being managed in a way that increases water retention through rewetting farmland and rewilding streams by breaking up land drains, blocking streams, cutting scrapes, and felling trees to force surface water to spread out over large areas. This helps to slow the flow of water downstream and creates new habitats. National Trust are exploring the possibility of introducing other species in the future to help maintain these natural systems such as buffalo and beavers.

We’d like to thank our partners at Exmoor National Trust for showing us the incredible work they’re doing to manage the landscape for nature. We’re always looking for ideas and ways to improve what we’re doing, and we feel inspired coming back to Derbyshire having seen these projects in action in Exmoor.