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?