Craig Langren
Appearances
Global News Podcast
The Happy Pod: The professionals and tradespeople cleaning up Ghana
I've travelled about two hours northeast from the capital of Madrid to meet biologist Pablo Shapira. Pablo heads up the team at an NGO called Rewilding Spain. And today he's taking me for a walk in the Iberian Highlands, a rugged area where tall trees with orange and red leaves cling to the hillsides.
Global News Podcast
The Happy Pod: The professionals and tradespeople cleaning up Ghana
One of the reasons for this is that the forests have been left to grow unchecked, as there simply aren't enough animals to feed on all the trees, bushes and grass. And the more dense this vegetation is, the more likely it is to catch fire.
Global News Podcast
The Happy Pod: The professionals and tradespeople cleaning up Ghana
Pablo's solution is really quite simple, to reintroduce some of these long-lost big beasts of the forest and let them run wild.
Global News Podcast
The Happy Pod: The professionals and tradespeople cleaning up Ghana
So I can just see one of the Prowalski horses in the distance.
Global News Podcast
The Happy Pod: The professionals and tradespeople cleaning up Ghana
This particular type of horse is called the Prowalski horse and it's the world's last species of truly wild horse.
Global News Podcast
The Happy Pod: The professionals and tradespeople cleaning up Ghana
Wow, they're beautiful, aren't they?
Global News Podcast
The Happy Pod: The professionals and tradespeople cleaning up Ghana
Really big, brown, with a long mane that's quite distinctive. Pablo and his team started reintroducing these horses to this area in 2023, and there are now 26 dotted around the forest.
Global News Podcast
The Happy Pod: The professionals and tradespeople cleaning up Ghana
We're just emerging from the forest into what looks like a sort of clearing, I suppose. Oh, there are loads more horses in here. And they're just peacefully grazing here.
Global News Podcast
The Happy Pod: The professionals and tradespeople cleaning up Ghana
The idea here is that if a fire broke out in the forest, this clearing would provide a natural buffer and slow its progress. Whilst the horses are great at clearing all the grass and flora closer to the ground, in order to keep all of the flammable vegetation in check, you need a whole army of animals. Down the road, I made some more four-legged friends.
Global News Podcast
The Happy Pod: The professionals and tradespeople cleaning up Ghana
Slender with long legs and sleek black fur, tauros are a cross-breed species of cow who have been carefully bred to resemble the long-extinct wild aurochs who used to roam the Iberian highlands. It's Rafa's job to look after this herd of 13 wild cows.
Global News Podcast
The Happy Pod: The professionals and tradespeople cleaning up Ghana
Along with the cows' voracious appetite, they trample on the vegetation and it's that trampling that helps to open up the forest so it's not so densely packed full of flammable vegetation. Pablo, Rafa and the team hope that their herds of cows and horses continue to grow in numbers, so it's harder for the fires that do break out to spread.