Leave the Leaves

Now-

Okay, we're going up this embankment off the road.

Big step up

You okay?

Stepping over some wire, yep, and we're in this gorgeous shaded area, beautiful, mature trees, lots of leaf litter, stones with moss growing on them, [leaves rustle] beautiful leaves.

Absolutely covered with them, as it does be in winter.

Yeah.

But it's quite warm today, and it's been quite warm all over Europe for, um, the last couple of weeks.

We had a very hot early summer as well, and a lot of creatures that, um, we need, as in our in- invertebrates, um, like woodlice, millipedes, caterpillars, all those creatures that we-

Mm

... we rely on to keep our ecosystems going and to provide, uh, services for us, they'll die in the heat when they're exposed to it.

Mm.

So as the leaves protect these creatures while they're overwintering, in the wintertimes, if we go down here, all very dry and hot-

Dry leaves now

... and hot here.

You put your hand, you're pulling back some of the, the drier leaves.

Yeah.

And underneath it's beautiful and moist.

[laughs] Straight away.

And what's that?

That's a leatherjacket.

Oh, that's a, like, a larvae of a leatherjacket.

A larvae, oh, oh, yeah.

About a centimeter.

And that's gonna turn into-