Flooding a Forest Four Years Ago Produced Astonishing Ecological Results

We flooded this forest and the results have been incredible to witness. This project started four years ago now and since the return of the water year after year, we have seen the return of this wild ecosystem, a boom of life, a beautiful show of nature's resilience and its ability to come back if we give it a chance. And this year we have a lot to show you. From the transformation of the forest in the channels to some sketchy encounters with larger animals and the most impressive display of life I've ever seen when diving in this flooded forest. I mean that is absolutely insane. I think it's the coolest thing that I filmed in this wetland, in this forest that we have flooded. And we've been flooding this for 4 years. So, it's

it's just really incredible to see this. And in this video today, I'm really excited to show you how this place has changed over the years and all the amazing wildlife that now calls this flooded forest its home. But first, let's recap how we got here and why we're doing this. This project started because of this dam here, which was built in the '90s and rerouted 85% of the Danub's water away from its flood plane and into a concrete channel. This left all of these forests that used to flood every year completely dry and reduced fish populations by an astonishing 70% among many other issues associated with the loss of these wetlands. And since then, our partners brs have been trying to pick up the pieces and bring back some of these

ecosystems. And one of the most important things they achieved was a deal with the relevant authorities to have these simulated floods leave the concrete channel back into the flood plane of the Danube. So, in 2022, when we had already worked with them for a couple of years and funded a few different projects, we finally set out to do something bigger and decided to use €40,000 of our rewalding budget to fund the creation of the channels to bring water to some really nice forests from where it had disappeared. So, I was really nervous that it will work. So we just dig it during the dry season and then the water came and suddenly it's we were here and I was really happy that the maps as I said in the previous video that they

were not lying. So it was really flooding as we planned as we wanted. And later on after a couple of years of successful flooding money was suddenly required to buy a portion of the land that the government was going to sell and which BRS wanted to protect of course. So, we quickly put together the required €31,000 to do this, and they managed to buy it. And of course, the only reason we had these funds ready to go at such a short notice is because of our Mossy Earth members who have a monthly subscription with us that funds our rewalding work. So, please keep this in mind as you watch this video and the impact that we have made here. This has been done because of our Mossier Earth members. And if you like what you see, then

please consider becoming a member at mossi.ear Earth to allow us to do more of this kind of rewalding across a wide variety of ecosystems. Now, after four years of successful flooding, I was really excited to show you around. But as I was heading into the wetlands, I ran into some trouble. So, I've just uh set up camp on top of this log because uh I was running through these chest high nettles and I just kind of kicked down one of them and literally there was a boar just a boar like straight and then it just thankfully it bolted off and then three other noises chaos around me and they just ran away and it was so sketchy. That's the closest I've ever been to a boar and to getting gored by one. And as I

waited, perched on my log for a bit, I did spot a deer making its way out of the wetland after all of that disturbance. And when things quieted down, I went into the wetland. I don't know if you can hear because of all the wind and so on, but in the background, I can hear the first European firebellyied toads, which is one of the target species of this project. It's yeah, really, really great to be here. And the wetlands, the flooded area is as big as I've ever seen it. It's uh it's become denser. It's become really different. And I can't wait to jump in here and go explore. This wetland is comprised of one channel which we dug from the nearest existing canal and the two

forests that the water floods. And to properly show you this place, we spent some days here to uncover as many secrets as possible. And we have a lot to show you. So, let's start now with the first forest up here. This place has become quite the jungle here. I mean, it's just like deadwood everywhere, creating these like underwater mazes for the fish, for the amphibians, for the insects to grow. And of course, all the birds that feed on them. It's uh it's become really this place that's dense with life, which is really cool to see. On the leaves and amongst the floating debris of the forest, we found snails and other invertebrates such as these beautiful

mating crane flies, this nettle weevil or this winter damsel fly. And when we go underwater, we find a whole little world that is quite distinct from other submerged environments because of how ephemeral it is. The water comes here only a certain number of weeks each year and that creates some unique characteristics. You see, the rapid advance of the water leaves much of the understory intact and submerged, such as the nettles which dominate here when the ground is dry. And this then forms a protective maze that is ideal for the fish to use. Now, for obvious reasons, they were quite hard to film here as they have many places to hide whenever I would put the camera down. So, we filmed

them in the channels instead, which we will look at in a bit. However, in amongst the trees, we were able to find many firebellyied toads. And at first, I only managed to film one while doing the underwater filming. But later on, Julia was able to capture them more at ease with some of them even starting their characteristic song that always fills our ears here and adds a real magical soundtrack to this place. So, this here is a tree that I recognize from 4 years ago because of the real characteristic little arch down there. And it's one of the ones that uh that has died and is now this wonderful piece of this enormous piece of standing deadwood which is really important for the various insects that can take advantage

of it. And where there are insects there are birds. First you spot the swallows always busy high up above the wetland amongst the trees. But when you look closer you could also find birds lowered down such as this tree creeper that uh creeps up and down these trunks in search for food. And then I heard a noise, a very typical one for such a forest. But I only just caught a glimpse of the woodpecker flying towards the lower part of the wetland. And all this deadwood attracts more than just woodpeckers. It also attracts a chicken of the woods. So when they're this soft, it's really good. Have you ever had the isra of goulash?

Yeah. I was not doing gush. I just mix them with the ham. It was like not ham and eggs, but isa and eggs. ham and of mushroom. And one of the evenings I was here, I got to try out these chicken of the woods in some tacos at Sigi's place. So, Sigi, how confident are you? I hope so. 95 I hope it's good. 95% chance. 94. And they were indeed delicious. So, I can highly recommend them, but please be very careful whenever you pick mushrooms to eat. This is something else. Fallen tree. You know, maybe a beaver. That would be kind of cool. So, I hope they don't damn up our channel. And wow, look at this. It's just such a jungle here. I keep saying that, you know, but it is what it feels like. It feels just

overgrown. And it's really nice to see it like this. The transformation here in the channels has been quite impressive. And as usual, please bear in mind that I'm mixing some shots from past springs here. But maybe some of them are from early April, whereas this is late April. So a lot of the greening is just the spring in action. But many new additions here got nothing to do with the spring, such as the nice mix of willows and other water tolerant species that now border the channel. Some of these were planted by broads, while others are just natural recruitment. They're of course a species that loves water. I mean, look at the huge willows back there. Um, but it's still really nice to see that these

ones have established themselves well and are now sort of growing here so that this can become more and more like a flood plane forest. Not just the big forest area up there and the big forest area down there, but the channel also. I think the visible roots of the willows are really beautiful and striking with the red color adding a nice element to the banks of the channel and helping stabilize it further. Then underwater here is where we can easily film the fish. They go about the channel in shs that sometimes get pretty large with a few hundred fish in each. Now I'm unable to tell you the exact species of fish as they are quite young and hard to distinguish. However, I can tell you how they fit in these

forests. Essentially, every year as the Danube surges after the winter rain and when the snow of the Alps starts melting, the water reaches forests like this one. And for fish, this presents a very timely opportunity to quickly sneak into these forests and reproduce. The young will then grow here in the shelter of the forest where fewer predators can reach them. And then as the water retreats, they'll follow it back to the Danube to live out their lives. Places like this are essentially nurseries. And I'm glad we were able to bring this one back despite all the damage done by the dam. I'm really enjoying my little exploration here. I've been seeing all kinds of really cool stuff. I've seen a

snake swimming along in the water. Uh I think it must have been hunting for tadpoles and maybe fish. I don't know. It's a It's really interesting to see it. And also, I've saw some really big spiders that are resting on these branches. They're clearly aquatic. It was dangling with its leg in the water. I've of course heard loads of birds and seen them fly by. I've seen some ducks in the distance that were using the channel before I came and disturbed them. And just a bit ago, right here, that's why I went to get the camera, I saw what I think is either a shrew or a vo, but you know, a little mouselike creature. Super cute. And right along the edge of the channel, it's so nice and it gives me really this sense of exploration of discovering this

place a new. All this life is here because we brought back the water and that is just so satisfying. There is something really meaningful about restoring a natural process and letting nature play it out from there. That is why I love doing this work and the reason I think so many of you are here also. And if that is the case for you, then maybe you should consider joining us by becoming a Mossyear member. Our members fund all our work directly. It is quite simple actually. Normal people like you and me contribute some money every month. In our case, the membership starts at the price of a fancy coffee and we then put all the contributions together and get on with the rewalding work. There are no

ads, no debt, no investors, and of course, no AI storytelling, just normal people coming together to do some rewing. And since Matt and I started out in 2017 with 300 bucks of investment between us, we managed to keep our growth organic and balanced both in how we fund our work and how we grow our teams and impact. So far, we have four teams on the ground doing amazing work restoring coral reefs, bringing back seaggrass meadows, rewalding a whole river basin, and turning a degraded piece of land in the Amazon into a living rainforest rewalding lab. And we also work with partners in a dozen more countries from the rivers of Colorado or the forests we are planting in Iceland all the way to the anti- desertification research we

are funding in Benin or the flooding we have been doing here with BRS. The common thread is that all our projects are making the landscape wilder. And to achieve this we always try to follow the best available science or we test new ideas and then report our findings openly including our failures of course which is really key. So, if this is the kind of thinking and the kind of work you would like to support, then please consider becoming a member at mossi.ear. The link is in the description or you can scan this QR code here. Once I reached the lower forest, I went deeper and eventually I found more than I had bargained for.

I think the camera really does not convey the size of this thing. I'd say it's at least an 80 kilo creature and it left me in my best caveman mode impression to make sure there were no other boar around. Every time this happens to me, it's a very primal feeling. So, I'm curious to hear if you've had any memorable encounters with boar or other large animals. So, please leave your stories in the comments for all of us to read. And once I calmed down, I started tuning into the forest here and it was just mesmerizing. The dappled lights of the late afternoon reflecting off the water, the droplets falling like rain from the leaves of the willows saturated because of the flood. I really felt I was there in a floodplane forest of old of the

days before the dam ruined so much of the landscape. And as I explored further, I also solved the mystery of the woodpecker I saw earlier, which had its nest in a small hole here, where it is dutifully raising its young. And it wasn't the only one, as I also found a great tit busy flying back and forth to feed its chicks, safely hidden away in the crack of this willow. And when I reached the place where the forest meets the channel, I changed back into my underwater gear. And I quickly ran into a firebellyied toad that I decided to bother for a few minutes just to try to show you its incredible firebelly from a different perspective. I mean, what a unique and beautiful animal. And once I

let it go back into the flooded forest, it was time for me to dive down. You see, in all these years that I've been documenting this place, I've got to experience many amazing and wonderful things. I have seen a boom in toads and frogs, e boom in eggs, but somehow I never timed it just right to see what I think is one of the most impressive spectacles on offer here. And bit by bit as I swam along, it started to unfold in front of me. At first, it was just a few stragglers, but soon enough I caught up with the main show. I mean, look at this explosion of life. All of these tadpoles determined to live, to become residents of this forest. They're sticking together to survive. Snakes and herands. They're fighting the

current. And sometimes they're carefully swimming up to take a breath. And to think that every year now this explosion of life is happening because we brought water to this place, it is just incredible for me. These fish and these tadpoles are just a perfect representation of what this wetland here has to offer. It's just such an unusual place to see this boom of life. And I think it's it's just really wonderful to see this sheer abundance, especially when it comes to the tadpoles, but also the fish. They're harder to spot, but they're everywhere. It's just really fulfilling and amazing to see this. And if you're a Mossier member, thank you for empowering us to do this. I hope you are proud of what we have achieved

here together. And if you're yet to join us, please consider doing so at mossi.ear. Until next time, cheers.