Rewilding: a Great Way to Restore Ecosystems! (Sailors for Sustainability #58)

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?