Whilst foraging in the landscape, large animals make holes with their hooves and flatten areas, creating microhabitats, which are incredibly important for a whole host of insects. This action also creates patches of bare ground where plants can set seed – a key part of a dynamic system.

Even as our county has lost many of its large herbivorous species over time, its wonderful landscapes and wildlife have also come under increasing threat from pollution, habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and our changing climate. Earlier this year, the landmark State of Nature 2023 report showed that nature is continuing to decline at an alarming rate across the UK, which is already one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world.  

In order to enable nature to adapt to climate change and create healthier, happier, and more prosperous communities, we desperately need wilder, more natural and resilient areas to help nature recover. 

That’s why we are working with our partners and funders to secure more space for nature, develop nature-based solutions and let nature take the lead through rewilding to put these lost processes back.

Reinstating the actions of our lost wild herbivores is one of the ways we can do this, either utilising domestic livestock or reintroducing keystone species, to manage a site for wildlife, whether it be grassland, woodland, wetland or scrub. Different types of livestock, together with wild species, all contribute to creating and maintaining wildlife rich landscapes.  Where we’ve lost species locally, such as beavers, wild boar or horses, we can reintroduce them.  And where they’ve disappeared globally, we can reintroduce substitute species; we can’t reintroduce the aurochs, but we can graze with cattle.  

These animals browse brambles and trees to create a mosaic of habitats; dung and graze grass and vegetation to different heights which creates habitats for invertebrates; encourage wildflowers to grow providing pollen and nectar for invertebrates; increase food availability for birds and ultimately leads to more diversity in the nature. They can even affect the amount of carbon being stored in the plants and soil and reduce the risk of wildfires by reducing the flammable vegetation present on land.

Whilst the benefits of large herbivores are critical to maintaining open habitats, their presence must also be carefully considered to prevent potential damage to habitats. Each herbivore behaves slightly differently and shapes the land in different ways which will determine which species can thrive in that space.

Putting a certain type of herbivore onto a site without first considering that the ecological benefits can be really damaging. Cows may suit one area, whereas pigs may be better elsewhere. Only introducing the same animals at the same time of year, on the same cycle is simply not complex or dynamic enough to work towards creating resilient ecosystems and landscapes. The number and type of herbivores needed may fluctuate, responding to the availability of food, and finally, the timing of grazing will be unique to each site and each year, responding to annual variation in weather and vegetation growth seasons. 

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust own and manage several sites where herbivores have been grazing and managing the land for nature for many years, but there is more to do here. We continue to explore even better ways of reinstating natural processes to build more resilient landscapes and are encouraged by the successful reintroduction of bison in Kent and pigs at Knepp which are showing what can be achieved. 

Tamworth pigs at Knepp have taken on the role of an old breed very much like the wild boar, renowned for their hardiness. Their presence and disturbance to the soil has allowed pioneer plants, like sallow, to colonise providing a food source for the purple emperor butterfly to return and grow. Solitary bees have returned, anthills have emerged to provide food for green woodpeckers, and so-called ‘weed’ species such as chickweed, scarlet pimpernel, vetchlings, common fumitory, knotgrass and red fescue have returned to provide a food source for the critically endangered turtle dove.   

The pigs may have also had a positive effect in the battle against climate change. A recent study shows that rootling by pigs (mixing up leaf litter and organic matter on the forest floor with the mineral soil) increases the stability and storage of carbon in the soil.  

It’s a really exciting programme to review the benefits of different large herbivores and the importance of their various attributes in building a more diverse and resilient landscape here in Derbyshire.

We’ll be looking at other groups of species and their impacts in future rewilding blogs.