great work guys

Great job, love the efforts. Have you all considered maybe transplant a mother tree ?! Maybe a red wood for its growth of old world species recovery. Just a thought, keep up the great work

Looking forward to seeing this grow in the future. A suggestion for the more baron areas, you mention about planting the tree next to the mossy islands as this helps anchor the routes. As these areas lack things for the tree routes to attach to and that the frost push's them out after a season. Why not create "artificial islands" by bringing some rocks & boulders, also some dead trees to help encourage moss growth and some more anchor points for the trees to bind to. This can also create areas where seeds & grasses can grow, maybe plating wild flowers in these areas as well to help build the top soil.

Is it possible to help you guys direktly. I want to travel to Iceland and plant the trees myself with you

hello! i noticed the part about disturbing the moss and id like to submit a simple idea to effectively and efficiently disturb the moss! i noticed much of the ground around there seems to be gravely! we have property with some gravel roads and as they are only around 2 decades old they are prone to yearly potholes and odd settling! our simple quick fix solution for smaller potholes was to build a metal square frame using square steel tube. weld two more vertical steel tube supports in the middle. we then welded a few horizontal steel angle (angle iron) in an upside down L formation. (flip the L on the vertical plane and then turn upside down) basically the back of the angle iron will then support what is done next. the most tedious part (in my opinion) is what comes next. you can now take old railroad spikes and weld them to the angle iron. once that is done you weld a bar and hitch in the center and hook it up to a four wheeler. the atv allows you to go places a car/truck couldn't. you can choose how deep/intensly you wish to disturb the moss by adding large boulders on top of the frame whether by laying or bungeecording them on there. fair warning, the shoddier your welding and the more pressure you place the more likely a spike or two will break off but that's ok as they can simply be welded back on again! this method used extremely cheap or free materials for our area although I don't know if there are railroads out there lol! i also apologise if my explanation was confusing it is very late and I should be in bed! i can do a simple visual if you are actually interested in the project. we have a few different versions as they get old and break down over time usually due to our shoddy welding but we have experimented with a few designs. i can talk to my father and shoot you an email better explaining/showing you the design if you are interested in it for your project. its pretty easy and simple way to level/disturb gravel like surfaces. please let me know if you are interested! i think what you are doing is extremely important work and I really enjoy your videos!keep up the good fight, I'm cheering for you from the U.S. of A!!!

I went here in march and I heard that joke! haha

I hate to burst your bubble but its more like your grandkids might be able to tell their grandkids that if we are being optomistic about aforestation rates in iceland.

@@TBIcel some trees grow up quite fast, only 10 years or so. I remember a pine being planted when I was 10, and now it is towering above my house just 10 years later

@@TBIcel Well, it depends on the soil, but as a Finn from the countryside I've planted lots of trees, and in about 10 years most of them are much taller than people. In a very nutrient poor soil they'll of course grow slower and more crooked, but generally it only takes a couple of decades to have a pretty good forest. For it to transform into a very dense sort of natural Nordic forest type with lots of mosses, weeds, ferns, mushrooms, horsetails, berries and other typical plants will take significantly longer, however.

@@wardeni4806 @Tuff It eas not about the speed trees grow, iceland already has a handful of taller forests. It was more about the size of the island vs the pop and remoteness, throw in a lot of people who like the desolate look vs sheep farmers hating fences meaning iceland wont be anything more than a barren wasteland well into the foreseable future.

Agreed. Mossy Earth knows how to learn and they focus on what realistically be done within their capabilities and they also do transparency reports and give us the data that allows us to also see how its going without trying to complicate things like most orgs or "charities" do. Like you can actually picture how they do things and how it does improve the environment. "We flood forest that needs flooding for better nurseries and biodiversity and to fend of invasives" "We plant more trees to increase the leeway for nature to bounceback and thrive as it was how it should have been and can be" very simple but straight to the point realistic

A perfect exemple is the kelp project

And they also are not involving big corporations to fund them. Once you get a corporation involved in your work, it all turns to crap

This is exactly how we are approaching this work and we really appreciate that you’ve noticed! Good projects have to be based on results and iteration. I shared this comment with the team and I am sure it will make everyone smile :) - Cheers, Duarte

in the FDR times, there was a programme to rewild the great plains with trees to stop the dustbowl's damage to the crops, it would be interesting to see something like that again

I'm hoping that as Mossy Earth continues to grow and expand, they will eventually start a U.S. based chapter here.

you could start it.. just saying

@@martinwinther6013 right with my 30k a year salary.... i mean in a perfect world that would be great but not possible rn

​@@cartermize6651 With donations?

Thank you for the kind words Per! We are doing our best to get solid results but sometimes mistakes are made which we learn from and we feel this is something we should share with everyone who supports our work. We have recently partnered with Conservation Evidence to get even better at sharing all the data behind the work. More on this in a future video. - Cheers, Duarte

Really happy to hear about conservation evidence, love what they do. Fantastic that you will be contributing!

It is for the one I planted wrong! - Cheers, Duarte

It is for the one I planted wrong! - Cheers, Duarte

Haha I love this channel 😁 keep up the good work

Yes!

that's cause the UK gov is constantly lobbied by companies to not do it. Not only that but most of the country's rural landscape is privately owned. Here in Scotland nearly 60% of the rural area is in private hands, which the gov aren't allowed to make efforts to rewild - even if they were interested in it.

@Jake wait what? Please explain yourself, is it a forest as in made of concrete I mean there are parks that are really impressive but I wouldn't call it a forest

Really? I mean I live In England and there are quite a few of those in my area, although they are really small since they’re inside towns so I’m not sure If that counts.

@@Sarawarawara- I was being a bit hyperbolic but it stands that the UK really struggled doing rewinding work so it's usually charities such as RSPB that grow forest as natural England is always trying to stay on the side of shooting estates. And when imside town they are more like parks than actual reforestation

Thought the same, I'll never see this come to fruition which is a real shame. I love what these blokes are doing.

Will take a long time for us to see some meaningful change but the time for action is now :) - Cheers, Duarte

With the amount of sheep there it'll never be 'completely' reformed

@@irishfruitandberries9059 that's probably true, but an interesting note is that (at least here in Norway, people have almost stopped eating sheep, and if no one buys the meat, the farmers will have to do something else. :P

@@Glundberg84 really, why have they stopped eating sheep?

@irishfruitandberries9059 I'm not sure. It's not popular anymore, I guess.

I was quite interested if willows as true survivals could grow in those places even if frost lift disturbs them seriously during first years...

Ive only seen it on a "swing blanket" before (roughly translated from german), which is thick moss and other vegetation that grew over the top of a body of water in a wetlands area - if its thick enough you can even stand on it and its just as moveable as this weird jello ground. Id love to know how this jello ground works bc I know swing blankets work like a net of plants, but I cant see stones connect to a blanket like mosses and roots can

​@@lagggoat7170 this happens (afaik) when the water saturation reaches a certain amount. It's basically the border between wet earth and really soil laden water.

You can see this near Lake Tahoe in the Taylor Creek wetlands area. The ground is super saturated.

@@tonisee2 Thats what I was thinking. Use willows in places like that to at least get trees there. If they can help dry it out so more trees can grow there great. I hope they aren't monocropping with clones. I see why it's done, but it may prove disastrous.

The weather can get pretty rough on those hills 😅 but I agree its amazing! - Cheers, Duarte

I won't go to Iceland bc they banned snus. But i will honour this by cleaning up and removing thrash from an animal underpass close to where i live. There is a badger living close by so i hope he will be pleased having a clean passing underneath the hoghway

I was in Longyearbyen several years ago and I think it's simply to inhospitable for forests. It's in the polar darkness for months.

@@scottslotterbeck3796Tromso has nearly 2 months of polar night every year and they have forests of trees. svalbard doesn’t seem all that different when it comes to daylight hours.

@@scottslotterbeck3796 Its amazing to think how flexible the climate is and how it changes over the millennia, once up on a time Svalbard had palm trees. But you are right until the permafrost in the ground is gone there wont be any significant vegetation permafrost is there 24/7 every day, every year no matter if the sun is up or not.

Invasive literally means ecologically bad

Same here! Excited to see Iceland become more and more forested :) - Cheers, Duarte

I watched this story about using ½ million square miles in Africa to creat a solar farm to power a huge area in the NW. The rearch, done by environmentalists, blocking this project because it would cause the Amazon to eventually dry up. Goodbye earth. Point is, earth is in a delicate balance that does not support "fixing" as much as adapting as it does.

Its all about learning from your mistakes and of course admitting what went wrong too. That is the whole point of sharing these projects here. - Cheers, Duarte

Thank you for the support! - Cheers, Duarte

💜

Lupin is a declared noxious weed in rocky alpine areas in Australia as it destroys native plants. Hikers are required to report any sightings with a precise location.

​@@Dave_Sissoni guess lupin is good for places that basically doesnt have native plants to kill.

We really appreciate you joining Mossy Earth! We will do our best to deliver as much rewilding impact as possible with your contribution :) - Cheers, Duarte

.

Admitting mistakes is the first sign of honesty, and the ability to learn. That shows a lot more promise than some big corp projects that are more advertisement and virtue signalling than actual work.

Thank you Daniyal! - Cheers, Duarte

This depends on the size of the tree no? Dormant seedlings hardly need any care, especially if the climate is moist. 99% mortality sounds like a botched planting or poor species selection to me.

We are ensuring the trees are protected from sheep by planting them in the fence and we are also making sure they are planted in the right place. Long term we will have some mortality but we can replant these lost trees with new saplings as we go along. The goal here is to create a forest and not just plant trees. We are also targeting the natural spread of these “tree islands” in the landscape to maximise the long term impact. - Cheers, Duarte

@@MossyEarth could you use branches from the non native forest on the open spongy ground? Gives some cover to the saplings, treat the ground like sand similar to how culbin and roseisle forests in Scotland were planted

Healed? From what?

I hope so. Over time as the trees grow it will shelter the ground from the wind, fallen leaves etc will decompose and improve the soil and an understory can develop. Animals move in, more nutrients...

Thanks! We appreciate the support :) - Cheers, Duarte

It is a big part of our plans for the next couple of years! More videos this Summer :) - Cheers, Duarte

Man, I feel your pain

It's beautiful, isn't it?

@@scottslotterbeck3796 certianly is! I love it

@@eilidhwatson8406 TBH, if I was able to, I'd move. Reykjavik is a wonderful town. Learning Icelandic might prove difficult, though!

So much hope for the future!

Go to California for sun. However, you will be murdered.

Thank you FinJH! We are doing our best :) - Cheers, Duarte

Thank you R W H ! - Cheers, Duarte

I think people in Iceland care about this. The thing is there are so few people here that even if all of them planted trees all the time it would still not be huge amount for the size of the country. - Cheers, Duarte

Thanks Niels! - Cheers, Duarte

Betula pubescens is the birch species. I think we can expect them to take at least 50 years to mature. - Cheers, Duarte

@@MossyEarth Thanks for the response! Keep up the good work! I look forward to enjoying these forests with my future family!

Thanks Bianfa! - Cheers, Duarte

Thanks ! We will do our best! - Cheers, Duarte

We’ve had some projects in Ireland in the past. Currently we do not have anything upcoming but would love to work there if the opportunity is good. - Cheers, Duarte

Thank you Jasmine! - Cheers, Duarte

I'm thinking that the climate conditions there probably wasn't the same as the ones today, when redwood grew there. So they might not thrive or even survive there.

Climate conditions have changed and they are no longer suitable for redwoods I’m afraid :( - Cheers, Duarte

You won this time Rob!

Thats genius, and maybe the lime grass to (nitrigen fixing plant native to the island)

@@joaquimbarbosa896 Thanks so much. Planting lime grass in some of the areas around the trees would be a good experiment to see if it could survive and grow in an inland area. I do like the idea of planting a few patches of Scots Pine, grown from the seed of those that survived the massive aphid infestation that killed most of their kind, both because it is likely similar to the pines that once grew in Iceland in warmer periods and, also, because the Goldcrest, descended from a flock that was blown to the island in 1996, prefer conifers. These little birds eat aphids, as well.

Thanks! - Cheers, Duarte