Alex J

Roaming Tiger

[Alex J @alex_j79]

@bristolcitywfc A big welcome to Hope!

[Sama Hoole @SamaHoole]

Scotland's Rewilding Failure

2003: Environmental groups celebrate a major victory in the Scottish Highlands. Large tracts of land are designated for "rewilding." The goal is to restore the landscape to "natural" conditions.

Step one: Remove the sheep and cattle that have been grazing there for centuries.

The theory is simple. Livestock are "unnatural." Remove them and nature will recover.

What actually happens next is documented extensively, though rarely discussed outside specialist ecology circles.

Year 1-2: Without grazing, the grass grows tall and rank. Coarse species dominate. The flower diversity that existed under grazing pressure begins declining.

Year 3-5: Bracken invasion. Bracken is toxic to most herbivores, so it faced no natural check once livestock were removed. It spreads aggressively, shading out other plants.
Biodiversity drops.

Year 5-10: Scrub encroachment. Without grazing to control it, woody shrubs spread rapidly. This sounds good - "more trees!" - except it's the wrong kind of succession.

Ground-nesting birds that need open grassland lose their habitat. Species like curlew, lapwing, golden plover - all declining.

The tick population explodes. Without livestock to host on, they wait in vegetation for deer or birds. Lyme disease cases in surrounding areas increase.

Fire risk increases dramatically. Ungrazed vegetation creates massive fuel loads. Summer fires become a serious problem where they were previously rare.

Meanwhile, the soil isn't improving. Plant matter isn't being trampled in. No dung to feed soil microbes. The carbon sequestration that grazing provides isn't happening.

Year 10+: The land is assessed. Biodiversity has decreased. The landscape is dominated by a few aggressive species instead of the diverse grassland that existed under grazing.

The "rewilding" failed to restore what was there before livestock. It created something else - and something worse for most species.

Ecologists quietly start reintroducing grazing.
Sometimes with native breeds of cattle. Sometimes with Highland cattle specifically selected to mimic wild herbivore behavior.

The land begins recovering. The diverse grassland returns. Birds come back. Flowers reappear.

The lesson is clear: The British uplands evolved with large herbivores. Before cattle, there were aurochs. Before aurochs, there were other large grazers for millions of years.

Removing grazing doesn't restore nature. It disrupts the process that built the ecosystem in the first place.

But this story doesn't fit the narrative. So it's not publicized.

Environmental groups continue campaigning to remove livestock from hills while the ecological evidence shows this makes things worse.

"Rewilding" sounds natural. Until you realize the land evolved being grazed and removing that process is the actual disruption.

[Alex J @alex_j79]

@GCAFCofficial @SouthernLeague1 Seaside in April!

[Alex J @alex_j79]

@soccerdonna @Andrea_Pelaez_ Players are clearly more interested in money than anything else

[Alex J @alex_j79]

@bristolcitywfc A big welcome to Lotta!

[pocasolta1918 @pocasolta1918]

@BarclaysWSL @LC_Lionesses Alexia Putellas complicit in the Gaza genocide

[Alex J @alex_j79]

@bristolcitywfc A big welcome to Alexia!

[Alex J @alex_j79]

@UWCL @DFB_Frauen @ArsenalWFC Presumably Blackstenius is leaving Arsenal?

[Abbeymead Rovers FC @abbeymeadrovers]

Our 1st team are on the lookout for an opponent on Friday 17th July, 4G pitch booked and aiming for a 19:30 KO, if interested please message directly 🔵🟡

[Isaac @isaacrrr7]

ATERRADOR: Tres inmigrantes ilegales han sido declarados culpables de violar en grupo a una mujer británica en una playa de Brighton.

La violaron brutalmente mientras la grababan y la insultaban llamándola "puta".

En un momento dado, uno de los violadores la agarró de la cara, le abrió la boca a la fuerza y ​​le escupió, incitando a sus amigos a hacer lo mismo.

La víctima declaró: "Les suplicaba que pararan, pero no lo hacían. Cada vez que cierro los ojos, los veo riéndose de mí. Les parecía gracioso. Se me eriza la piel por lo que me hicieron. Son malvados y me han arruinado la vida".

Puede que nunca se recupere de este trauma.

Esto es lo que el gobierno británico les ha hecho a las mujeres de este país.

Es necesario que se rindan cuentas.

Vía @NiohBerg

[Linlithgow Rose CFC Ladies @lrcfc_women]

Friendly Game Sunday 5th July KO 4pm. Unfortunately our opponents have had to pull out. Any teams looking for a game. Pitch and referee booked. Let me know ASAP. ❤⚽🌹

[James Melville 🚜 @JamesMelville]

It’s a bit rich of the water companies in England threatening hosepipe bans after just a few warm days.

3 billion litres of water every single day is lost through neglected and leaking pipes — that’s roughly one-fifth of the water supply disappearing before it reaches taps.

Since privatisation in 1989, they’ve sold off at least 35 reservoirs for a £26 million profit, while building barely any new ones.

They lecture the public on “saving water” while their own crumbling network haemorrhages billions of litres daily and they asset-strip the very infrastructure needed for water security during dry weather spells.

Fix your leaks. Build new reservoirs. Then come back and talk about hosepipe bans.

[Bristol Rovers Women @Official_BRWFC]

We've got two slots remaining to complete our pre-season schedule ⚽️

Drop us a message 📩

[James Melville 🚜 @JamesMelville]

It was never about safeguarding the kids. This is a smokescreen for government controlled digital ID via social media access - applicable to all.

[John Redwood @johnredwood]

The government is going to ban some cheaper and popular home heating systems and wants to cut use of heaters. Welcome to cold over regulated Britain where EU alignment will put up the cost of living. Net zero policy closes factories, costs us jobs and now wants colder homes.

[Alex J @alex_j79]

Match #1 and the officials and lawmakers have clearly lost the plot

[Brexit Facts4EU.Org @Facts4euOrg]

‘Diversity, Equality, EX-clusion’

The shocking facts of how Whitehall’s plans will kill off a living national treasure, with us for 3,500 years, IRREVERSIBLY.

Plus, what readers can do to prevent this tragedy.

Summary: https://t.co/EVQflYvgyA
Pls re-post!

[Alex J @alex_j79]

@WEURO2025 #uefa needs to bin this ridiculous qualification process and go back to the old format

[James Melville 🚜 @JamesMelville]

Ireland 🇮🇪

“Ireland's data centre energy drain. How Big Tech added €1.4bn to household electricity bills.”

Tech giants are hoovering up massive energy and water supplies to power their data centres and the public are paying for it. No one voted for this.

[Nashville Zoo @NashvilleZoo]

Stand with us to protect the future of Nashville Zoo.

A proposed 69,000-square-foot data center is planned next to the Zoo, but no environmental impact studies have been conducted. Sign our petition to help protect the animals in our care ➡️ https://t.co/q2ISQnxLBK