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Mountain Bikers Are Rewilding Land by Paying the Government to Do It
A new nature-restoration project in Wales is being funded by an unusual source: thrill-seeking downhill lovers.
It now attracts upwards of 100,000 visitors every year to the former mining town of Merthyr Tydfil, with downhill enthusiasts traveling from all over Europe to ride trails like “ Popty Ping,” a legendary, jump-filled blue run named after a colloquial Welsh word for microwave. “Morally, I think businesses have a role to play in the fight that we’ve got on our hands, with climate change and biodiversity loss and so on.” At the same time, he and his partners realized that a mixed forest made up of native species would be more resistant to a whole range of threats that might endanger the future of the park. Charging adrenaline-loving mountain bikers to fund rewilding might seem unusual now, but this could represent a vision of the future for south Wales—one where the squeal of disc brakes, the whirr of wheel hubs, and the riders’ whoops of delight mingle with a background of birdsong.
Or read this on Wired
