The Waggle
Issue 86 Pingo's got your (plant) baby
Image
Steve Shinn / Alamy Stock Photo
Reciprocity, Resilience, and Hope | Rajiv Joshi
As we step into March and the Northern Hemisphere emerges from winter’s stillness, the first hints of spring appear—signs of renewal reminding us that nature never truly rests; it regenerates. This season of awakening feels especially poignant as we recognize the power of resilience—both in the ecosystems we fight to protect and in the communities that lead this work with unwavering determination.
This month holds space for reflection and celebration and a time to honor the profound leadership and contributions of communities in advancing solutions. As International Women’s Day approaches, we recognize the transformative role of feminine leadership—rooted in empathy, courage, and collaboration—in shaping a regenerative future.
In this issue, we celebrate sparks of hope and stories of action from across the globe. From the revival of ancient ecosystems in England’s Ice Age “pingos” to the bold rewilding efforts restoring life across Patagonia and Kazakhstan, nature is showing us what’s possible when given the chance to heal. In the US, Indigenous People are leading the way in the rematriation of bison—reviving cultural heritage, ecosystems, and economic sovereignty all at once.
This is a season of both reflection and activation—a moment to rise together and honor the regenerative spirit that flows through people, places, and the planet itself. Whether through rewilding efforts, embracing syntropic farming practices in Bali, or championing equity-driven climate action rooted in African philosophies of complementarity, every action counts.
As the days grow longer and the light returns, let’s be reminded that regeneration is not just an outcome—it’s a practice of reciprocity, resilience, and hope.
Rajiv Joshi
Project Regeneration
This month holds space for reflection and celebration and a time to honor the profound leadership and contributions of communities in advancing solutions. As International Women’s Day approaches, we recognize the transformative role of feminine leadership—rooted in empathy, courage, and collaboration—in shaping a regenerative future.
In this issue, we celebrate sparks of hope and stories of action from across the globe. From the revival of ancient ecosystems in England’s Ice Age “pingos” to the bold rewilding efforts restoring life across Patagonia and Kazakhstan, nature is showing us what’s possible when given the chance to heal. In the US, Indigenous People are leading the way in the rematriation of bison—reviving cultural heritage, ecosystems, and economic sovereignty all at once.
This is a season of both reflection and activation—a moment to rise together and honor the regenerative spirit that flows through people, places, and the planet itself. Whether through rewilding efforts, embracing syntropic farming practices in Bali, or championing equity-driven climate action rooted in African philosophies of complementarity, every action counts.
As the days grow longer and the light returns, let’s be reminded that regeneration is not just an outcome—it’s a practice of reciprocity, resilience, and hope.
Rajiv Joshi
Project Regeneration
Ice Age-Seeds Sow Life in England | Scott Hannan
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A Pingo pool on the Pingo Trail in winter, The Brecks, Norfolk, England. Credit: Martin Bache / Alamy Stock Photo
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The Norfolk Wildlife Trust has initiated a project that has been successful in uncovering and reclaiming Ice Age era “pingos” in England, which has allowed the seeds contained in those ecosystems, dormant for centuries, to sprout new life. “Pingos” are shallow ponds formed in post-glacial depressions that harbor a unique wealth of wildlife, but over the centuries, many were lost after fields were filled in for agricultural use. Aerial images and LiDAR surveys are used to map possible locations before core samples are drilled to find the layer of black peat. This indicates the original base of a pingo which contains dormant seeds, potentially hundreds of years old, with the power to regenerate the pond's wildlife. So far, nine of the excavated pingos have qualified for priority habitat status due to their ecological diversity and value. The project is proving to be a compelling template for highly effective restoration with low intervention. According to the project leader, Professor Carl Sayer of University College London: “We have not introduced any plants, all we have done is scraped the infill out and exposed the seed bank layer, and let nature do the rest.”
Reclaiming Golf Courses | Claire Inciong Krummenacher
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On the outskirts of Derby, the UK's largest urban rewilding project is taking a former municipal golf course and returning it to nature. Channel: Natural History Museum (16 mins.)
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Many countries currently utilize more land for golf courses than they do for climate initiatives like wind or solar energy facilities, with the disparity particularly stark in the United States and the United Kingdom. As a result, these large swathes of land are accessible only to a select few, require billions of gallons of water, and can cause permanent habitat loss. However, community trusts have begun to transform the land by rewilding former courses to transform them into thriving habitats that also reduce carbon emissions. For instance, in Scotland, one former course is now a permanent wildflower meadow with over 80 species of flowering plants, while a second is now an urban park and restored wetland. In England, The Allestree Park Project is turning a municipal golf course into a local nature reserve to benefit the local community in Derby. Meanwhile, in California, the Trust for Public Land bought the San Geronimo Golf Course and restored it as an endangered salmon habitat before transferring ownership to the local government. In addition to rewilding courses in their entirety, these groups are also partnering with golf courses to increase the share of the land set aside to naturalized areas to reduce the amount of water required for irrigation and help biodiversity flourish. To learn more, see our Rewilding Nexus.
The Rematriation of Bison | Jonathan Hawken
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American Buffalo. Image courtesy of The Tanka Fund
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Tallgrass prairies, once covering 170 million acres in the United States, have been reduced to less than 4% percent of their original size, making them one of the world's rarest and most endangered ecosystems. Though they may seem ecologically simplistic from afar, they can contain dozens of grass species and support hundreds of flowering plants, never mind the profoundly rich soil or immense animal life that flourishes within them. Chief among them is bison, which once roamed the U.S. in the tens of millions. Over the past few years, 2,300 buffalo have been reintegrated into their local Indigenous community’s ancestral grazing lands in partnership with the ITBC (InterTribal Buffalo Council), the Tanka Fund, and the Nature Conservancy, including 540 within the past couple of months. Though the number may seem modest, each bison helps to revitalize culture, community, and prairie, improve food sovereignty and security, and provide local economic support. Learn more in our Grasslands Nexus and Indigenous Sovereignty Nexus.
Complementarity and Climate Action | Juliana Birnbaum
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Ubuntu, a traditional African philosophy, recognizes how we are inextricably bound in each others humanity. Channel: Global Oneness Project (8 mins.)
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Complementarity is a concept explored by a number of modern African thinkers, foundational to many traditional cultures on the continent. In opposition to hierarchy, it puts equitable relationships forward, defined by mutual participation. A recent piece by philosopher Patrick Effiong Ben, who studies the collective significance of individual actions, discusses how complementarity relates to climate action. “As a framework for understanding the world,” he writes, “it holds that everything within the human and non-human environment exists in a relationship of mutual dependence….the flourishing of one person depends on and influences the flourishing of other things in the world – including other people and animals as companions, the plants and soil which provide food for survival, rivers and oceans that are a source of water, and the Sun which gives the energy that sustains life on Earth.” Citing African philosophers like Jonathan Chimakonam, Aïda Terblanché-Greeff, Diana-Abasi Ibanga, and Kevin Gary Behrens, he highlights the fact that individual climate-positive choices occur in relation to others taken globally, making them useful both at the community and global level.
Big thanks to our reader, Graham B., for sending in the suggestion for this piece!
Big thanks to our reader, Graham B., for sending in the suggestion for this piece!
The Knepp Estate's Stork Nest Livestream
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| Channel: White Stork Project |
Video Description: "This live stream shows a stork nest at Knepp Estate in Sussex. The pair on this nest is ringed with blue plastic darvic rings on the left leg and metal BTO rings on the right ankle. The male, Bartek (GB18), is a rehabilitated bird from Warsaw Zoo in Poland. He has been part of the White Stork Project since 2017. The female, Ania (GB5B), is also from Poland and has been with us since 2016."
Big thanks to our reader, Ritzy B., for putting this on our radar!
Big thanks to our reader, Ritzy B., for putting this on our radar!
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