Many centuries ago, wolves served an unexpected purpose in nature. As they walked around, they would accidentally get wildflowers and grass seeds stuck in their fur. Then, these would be released elsewhere, establishing new lands of plants and helping ecosystems do well. Inspired by this, an urban nature reserve in the English town of Lewes enlisted local dogs and their humans to help them rewild the area.
许多世纪以前，狼在自然界发挥了意想不到的作用。当他们四处走动时，他们会不小心把野花和草籽卡在他们的皮毛上。然后，这些野花和草籽被带到其他地方，建立新的植物土地，并帮助生态系统运转良好。受此启发，英国刘易斯镇的一个城市自然保护区招募了当地的狗和它们的主人来帮助他们重新野化该地区。
The project is led by the Railway Land Wildlife Trust in Lewes, funded by Ouse Valley Climate Action. The project calls for dog walkers to pick up dog backpacks containing seeds from staff members. Each bag has cleverly placed holes to help distribute the seeds as the dogs run around the grounds. The team also mixed the seed with sand to both help the seed go further and track where the dogs are putting them.
该项目由刘易斯的铁路陆地野生动物信托基金领导，由欧斯谷气候行动资助。该项目要求遛狗者从工作人员那里取走装有种子的狗背包。每个背包上都巧妙地设置了洞，以便在狗狗在地上奔跑时撒播种子。研究小组还将种子与沙子混合，以帮助种子撒得更深，并追踪狗把它们放在哪里。
The project, believed to be the first of its kind in the UK, was inspired by a 2019 project in Chile. In that project, two women, with the help of their three dogs, planted seeds in areas affected by wildfires. Seeing that the Lewes reserve was made worse due to constant foot traffic, Dylan Walker, the manager of this scheme, saw a chance to replicate this idea.
该项目被认为是英国首个此类项目，灵感来自2019年智利的一个项目。在该项目中，两名妇女在她们的三只狗的帮助下，在受野火影响的地区播种。看到刘易斯保护区由于持续的人流而变得更糟，这个计划的经理迪伦·沃克(Dylan Walker)看到了复制这个想法的机会。
Walker and the team have already started to see seed germination (发芽) in some areas of the reserve. However, most of the seeds that have been distributed by the dogs are perennials (多年生植物), meaning it’ll be a couple of years before they see some clearer results. Despite this, Walker remains hopeful about the project’s potential benefits for everyone. “A community-based project like this,” Walker explains, “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.”
沃克和他的团队已经开始在保护区的一些地区看到种子发芽。然而，大多数由狗撒播的种子都是多年生植物，这意味着他们需要几年的时间才能看到更清晰的结果。尽管如此，沃克仍对该项目对每个人的潜在好处抱有希望。“像这样一个以社区为基础的项目，”沃克解释说，“不仅有助于让人们了解野生动物对生态的影响，还能让我们在这个过程中丰富野生动物和环境。”
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