Today, we're on the beautiful island
of Kalamos, Greece,
to learn more about rewilding.
We meet Ted Kafa'kis,
who runs the organization
Terra Sylvestris.
He shown us a video about rewilding,
which refers to the reintroduction
of animal and plant species
in areas where they originally occured.
A chain reaction was set in motion,
increasing biodiversity
and bringing the ecosystem
back into balance.
Since 90% of Kalamos population
left the island in the last century
and now only 200 people live here,
Ted believes that the island
where he grew up
is an excellent place for rewilding.
Large parts of the island
are covered in dense forests,
and nature has reclaimed former
olive groves and abandoned properties.
Posodonia grows in the waters
around the island.
The sea grass keeps the water clean
and fosh like to hide and breed in it.
The fish, in turn, attract marine mammals.
More high quality nature would benefit
the island's inhabitants, too.
They could get income from ecotourism.
And they could adopt more
sustainable ways of living
by growing their own food,
using agroforestry
and permaculture techniques, as Ted does.
His garden functions as a model.
Terra Sylvestria
is collecting data to prove
that various rare species
of animals and plants
are found on the island.
We join field research with volunteers
to record bird songs
and sail to an unhabited island nearby
to help monitor a beach
for evidence of the presence
of endangered marine species.
The data is used to convince
the Greek government
to protect the area better.
Ted is trying to show
that when people retreat
and nature gets space again,
biodiversity can recover,
more CO2 is stored in forests and soils
and ecotourism can generate income.
This way, a new balance can be found
between nature conservation
and human needs.
We wonder, which area
will be the next to be rewilded?