How native breeds 'restore and protect' landscapes
The project has been kickstarted with almost £330,000 in funding from the National Highways "Network for Nature" programme.
Wilder grazing assistant Alex Fisher works alongside 11 trained volunteers to acclimatise the new additions to their handlers before they are allowed to roam free. It has taken almost a year for the Exmoor ponies to become comfortable with approaching humans.Mr Fisher says he has to tread a fine line between getting the animals accustomed to being handled, while making sure they remain self-sufficient."These are the perfect lawnmowers," he says. "They know exactly which type of vegetation to eat and graze from."As an example, he points out that their current field is still covered in buttercups, which the ponies dislike.Unlike domesticated cattle, they nibble the grass short while leaving the roots and soil intact. And they benefit nature from both ends."We don't give them any medication or supplementary feed," Mr Fisher says. "That would come through in their faeces and kill small insects like the dung beetle, which can help heal nature."The ponies had no problem coping with snow on the ground last winter."They used the hooves to pull back the snow and graze the vegetation. We were really happy with how they were over winter."
Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's Living Landscape Officer Katie Last watched this year's record-breaking wildfires with dismay.She agrees with Met Office scientists who say the changing climate is increasing the risk of fires, and says restoring landscapes with the aid of native breeds can help."Large grazing herbivores can help create a resilient landscape to wildfires," she says."The trampling and the grazing of vegetation will remove the existing fuel for the fires, and also [it] creates those open gaps and areas of bare ground that will stop the spread of wildfires."But she says that is just one of the many benefits we gain from introducing large herbivores as part of rewilding projects."The way that they manage our grasslands, they're much better at capturing carbon in the ground. They don't overgraze, which gives the soil time to regenerate."Ms Last says because the cattle and ponies graze at different levels, they also remove vegetation and encourage regrowth, which in turn keeps more carbon in the soil.
Ecosystem engineers
In the past the cattle and ponies would have moved naturally through landscapes as they were hunted by predators such as lynx and wolves.Now the Trust uses GPS collars and geo-fencing to train the Highland cattle and keep them moving."We'd like to see our grazing expanded across the whole of Derbyshire," says Ms Last. "[These breeds] are ecosystem engineers. They create fantastic, diverse mosaic habitat which boosts wildlife and creates a resilient eco-system overall."The project is part of wider moves by Wildlife Trusts to reintroduce missing species to benefit nature.
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The Sun
14 minutes ago
- The Sun
Are you TATT and always losing your keys? The 4p supplement that could ‘cure' you – and 16 signs to watch for
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'IF you often feel unusually tired or forgetful, you might be low in vitamin B12,' Dr Naomi Newman-Beinart, nutritionist and chartered psychologist, tells Sun Health. 'This essential nutrient, that your body cannot make, plays a huge role in keeping our energy levels up, supporting our nervous system, and helping to make red blood cells. 'Unlike some other vitamins, B12 isn't something your body makes naturally, so we have to get it from our diet or, if necessary, a supplement. 'And while many of us are getting enough, there's a growing number of people in the UK who aren't, leading some experts to call B12 deficiency a 'silent pandemic'. 'I agree with this 100 per cent. 'Symptoms of B12 deficiency are often vague or mistaken for other things (like stress or aging), so some people may go undiagnosed for years or their symptoms may be assumed to be a result of different deficiencies or ailments.' 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According to the NHS, the full list of potential signs of a B12 deficiency includes: Rapid breathing or shortness of breath Headaches Indigestion Loss of appetite Palpitations Problems with your vision Feeling weak or tired Diarrhoea A sore or red tongue, sometimes with mouth ulcers Problems with memory, understanding and judgement (cognitive changes) Numbness Muscle weakness Psychological problems (mild depression, anxiety, confusion, dementia) Problems with balance and coordination Pins and needles Incontinence HOW MUCH DO WE NEED? ADULTS in the UK should get 1.5mcg of vitamin B12 per day, according to NHS guidelines. 'Although a varied and balanced diet should provide much of your vitamin and mineral intake, many people struggle to get the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for a number of reasons,' Dr Newman-Beinart says. 'This includes increasing age, eating a poor or limited diet, malabsorption due to drinking too much alcohol or gut problems (like coeliac or Crohn's disease), and having certain medical conditions or medications. 'Vegans are the most obvious group who would also be at risk of deficiency and would need to ensure that they eat fortified foods or take a supplement.' THE BEST NATURAL SOURCES OF B12 YOU can get some B12 from animal products, such as meat, fish, and dairy. 'Good courses of B12 include beef, chicken, eggs, salmon, sardines and milk,' Dr Newman-Beinart (@drnaomib) says. 'You will also find B12 in fortified foods like breakfast cereals and non-dairy milks, plus in vegan foods like nori and nutritional yeast.' Who is most at risk? ANYONE who doesn't hit the target B vitamin intake is at risk of complications - such as extreme tiredness, depression, birth defects, dementia and even cancer. 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'If the body doesn't have enough B12 over time, it can lead to serious complications like permanent nerve damage, memory loss, and even problems with heart health. 'In older adults, deficiency has also been linked to an increased risk of dementia, which is why early detection and treatment are so important. 'In fact, science shows that vitamin B12 can improve brain function in older people with vitamin B12 deficiency whether they have dementia or not so clearly B12 is vital for supporting a healthy brain.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE I was overeating and depressed about my 25 stone weight until one small change turned my life around - now I'm 10 stone lighter and becoming a personal trainer
A man who was overeating to deal with being bullied and depressed has revealed how he dropped a more than 10 stone with one unlikely lifestyle change. David Smith, from Hinckley, Leicestershire, tipped the scales at 25 stone at his heaviest and made many attempts to lose weight but nothing proved effective. Before 2012, the 49-year-old was maintaining a regular gym routine, on fat-loss pills, using slimming shakes and going on extreme diets but the weight was not shifting. David was feeling hopeless until a friend gave him some unexpected advice - that he should eat more to fuel his body. He admitted he was 'cynical' when he started upping his calorie intake, recording what he ate in a food diary as well as hitting the gym and walking 10,000 steps a day. Much to his surprise, he managed to lose almost 10lbs in the space of a month - a win that motivated David to keep eating right and continue exercising. David stuck to his new diet and exercise regimen and over two years got down to a slender 14 stone 7lbs - which he has managed to maintain until today. He is even starting his own personal training business and hopes to help people like him. 'Being overweight is not a problem that can be fixed overnight or be solved with quick fixes. The process is long and slow but trust in that process,' he told Femail. David's weight woes started when he was in school when he said he 'stopped eating properly' for over 20 years. He said was being relentlessly bullied at school and his home town before his mother had to leave her job as a dinner lady because of a rumour started by the family of one of his harassers. 'As a result, I started comfort eating and my weight ballooned to 25 stone. 'Many of the bullies, as well as numerous doctors, nurses, managers, kept parroting the same old mantra that I needed to move more and eat less,' David recalled. 'When I was 25-stone, complete strangers would come up to me in the street and bully and abuse and harass me simply for being fat. 'I would hide away because I was ashamed of myself. 'I tried many different methods to lose weight including Slimfast, keeping a food diary on paper and Orlistat - a fat-blocking pill from the doctor. None of these worked.' In 2005, David started hitting the gym and managed to maintain a fitness routine for seven years but his weight never shifted. 'By the end of November 2012, I was seriously depressed and contemplating suicide as I was still massively overweight,' he said. 'One night I was chatting to a friend on Facebook. This friend was going to the gym and Zumba classes and the weight was falling off her. 'I asked her what it was that she was doing right that I was doing wrong. She asked if I was eating enough. I replied that I was trying to lose weight and eating less.' The friend suggested to David that he might be eating too little and recommended adding more calories to his diet as well as keeping a food diary. 'I started the diary on the 1st of December 2012 in a very cynical frame of mind. I thought that Slimfast, the previous food diary and Orlistat hadn't worked and keeping a food diary on the internet was not going to work either,' he said. Reluctantly, David started inputting everything he was eating into MyFitnessPal which suggested he had not been eating enough. The information gave David the wake-up call he needed, so he set a new, higher calorie limit that allowed him to eat more with the goal of losing one pound per week. 'I also learned to properly calibrate the exercise equipment at the gym I was using so it showed the correct amount of calories I was burning - I hadn't done this before so was burning more calories than I thought,' he added. Even throughout the festive season, David stuck to his new routine until January 2013 when he first weighed himself. 'I was still convinced that the internet food diary was not working. However, when I weighed myself the scales told me that I had lost 10lbs since I'd started the food diary,' he said. 'It was an amazing moment because I'd finally found a method that worked.' David said he initially found it challenging to up his intake because he had been conditioned into thinking eating as little as possible would result in weighing less. 'Once I broke that cycle and started eating a proper diet and stopped listening to bullies who knew nothing about diet and nutrition, that was when I lost weight because my body was no longer in starvation mode - it was using the food as fuel,' he said. Looking back, David said he noticed he would drop a few kilos after special occasions when he would allow himself to indulge. 'When I wasn't eating enough, I would lose weight on holiday such as Christmas or Easter or around my birthday because I would think 'go on treat yourself' so I would eat more,' he said. 'Not necessarily healthy food but food nonetheless and my body would start burning the calories rather than storing them. 'Once the holiday was over, I would go back to not eating enough because I was guilt-tripping about the food I had eaten and was thinking that I had put weight on when I hadn't.' After two years of learning to fuel his body with food combined with a varied exercise routine, David dropped down to 14 stone 7lbs and has been able to maintain his figure and healthy habits ever since. He hits the gym five times a week and spends half an hour on the treadmill and 30 minutes on the cross trainer on top of weight training. Outside the gym, he makes sure to get in 10,000 steps a day. 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The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
My toilet EXPLODED with poo & sewage flooded my home leaving me in a ‘coma' in hospital – I'm lucky to be alive
A MUM says she was left in a "coma" after her toilet erupted, leaving her home flooded in sewage and poo. Amoin Brou, 59, says the harrowing ordeal saw her entire home covered in faeces, and she was hospitalised with a serious chest infection and pneumonia caused by the filthy living conditions. 6 6 6 The catastrophic plumbing disaster earlier this summer led to Amoin's toilet and bathtub flooding with sewage and human waste - which she says continued for four days. She awoke at her home in North Woolwich, London, on May 18 to find the initial flooding, and despite the efforts of emergency council workers to quell the water, all her possessions were destroyed. The next day she says she fainted and was rushed to hospital, where she was put on a drip in intensive care. Amoin and her two-year-old daughter Niatomie were moved to the Manor Park Hotel by Newham Council as temporary accommodation while the ongoing issue was tackled. On briefly returning to the property to collect her clothes, she discovered the sewage was still finding its way in and everything was ruined. She says she has had problems with the flat for years, having reported damp as far back as 2010 and two years ago even saw steam rising from the floorboards. The desperate mum told The Sun: "Any human being cannot live like this. This is a sick person with a two-year-old daughter. " They dried the sewage and they dried the flat. The firefighters said this lady cannot stay in this flat. "So they put me in a hotel for two days then sent me back, they couldn't pay for the hotel for me anymore. "The water flooded my flat for four days, water past my knee." I scrub my council house walls but they're COVERED in mould & crumbling away - I have two disabled kids, it's disgusting Amoin added: "It made me sick, I was in hospital. There was a stink coming out of the floor, the floor was wet everywhere." She and her daughter are now back in the same hotel again. She claims that the property was left in a filthy and humid condition following the toilet flood, saying: "The house has a high level of humidity, damp and mould." She added: "I got pneumonia and was in the hospital in a coma." During the flood, Amoin had to take desperate measures to protect herself and her daughter from the unhygienic conditions in the flat. She can be seen in footage wandering around her ruined flat with plastic bags on her feet to protect them from the sewage. Disgusting video and pictures show the floor of the property covered in toilet water as Amoin desperately tries to block the doorway of the bathroom with clothes to prevent the flood from spreading. Amoin said: "In the building, people's s*** was coming to me, I put my daughter on my back and stood in the hall." She eventually called the fire brigade, not knowing what to do, and they contacted the council for her. Amoin said that sandbags were placed in her flat to protect her neighbours from the wave of sewage that was spreading from her bathroom throughout the property. 6 6 6 The floor of her home was left sodden with water and sewage as the mum struggled to control the flow of water from her damaged toilet. She was hospitalised twice, once in April and once in May, which she claims is a result of the damp conditions in her flat. The pair currently live in a hotel room while she waits for her flat to be returned to a liveable condition. Amoin said she had problems with the plumbing in the property for years, especially around the toilet and the bath. A Newham Council spokesperson said: 'Within an hour of Ms Brou contacting Newham Council's out-of-hours emergency line about her blocked toilet, we had a plumber on the way to her. "On inspection it was found that a blocked drain outside the housing association property was causing sewage to back up. 'A specialist contractor was called who carried out remedial work. This was checked two days later and discovered further work was needed, at which point Ms Brou was rehoused in a local hotel. "The following week a housing officer visited the property and more work was done to clear the drain. 'While we understand and sympathise with the tenant, blocked drains are a common problem. "Council tenants are advised to take out household contents insurance to provide protection in the event of damage to personal property. 'The property was cleaned twice by contractors who have video footage of their work on both occasions.'
