We flooded a forest and now it froze - project update

In 2022 we flooded a forest to bring back a wild thriving ecosystem but this winter the forest froze… Here’s what it might mean for our project.

MOSSY EARTH MEMBERSHIP
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The rewilding membership that restores nature across a wide range of ecosystems.
🌲 Support a diversity of ecosystems
🐺 Rewild habitats to bring back biodiversity
🦫 Fund neglected species & ecosystems

💪 OUR PARTNERS IN THIS VIDEO
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⏱️TIMESTAMPS⏱️
0:00 Intro
0:35 Winter Floods
1:18 Our Project
2:56 The Ice
4:34 History of Ice
6:09 Ecological Impacts

📸 Old Photos Credit:
TASR
NETKY.SK
RNDr. Marián Melo, PhD. - private collection

🔎 ABOUT THIS PROJECT
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Over recent decades, large swathes of Slovakia’s wetlands have been lost. They have been drained to make way for agriculture as a result of the construction of dams for hydroelectric power, as well as for timber production. Wetlands are an integral part of the Danube floodplain landscape in Slovakia and draining them to plant trees has detrimental impacts on the environment. Wetlands store large amounts of carbon and are home to a diversity of plant and animal species that are specially adapted to the wet conditions. One of these species is the nationally endangered and endemic Pannonian root vole, which has declined drastically in Slovakia in response to disappearing wetlands. This project is turning forest back into a wetland with its 650 meters of ditches. This will kickstart an annual “flood” of change and bring back a healthy functioning, sustainable and wilder ecosystem.

Read all about this work here:

[spencersanderson]

The botanical records for this project should look very interesting in the next few years. Can’t wait to see the progress of this!

[PatrikInNature]

It's always a good time when Mossy Earth uploads. It's amazing to see the landscape so different now!
Patrik

[joaquimbarbosa]

The fact that you contribute to both research on the ecossystems and ecology and also recovering then is just so amazing

[GrindHardPlumbingCo]

At first I thought this was going to be a disaster after all of your efforts but sounds like it is going to be fine

[Saladontherocks]

In the Netherlands we had huge rivers overflow and freezing till the sixties. Due to fast flowing rivers and coolant waters out of Germany and our factories it doesn't happen anymore.
The water froze on top. Below it was still flowing and pushed everything in front of it. They heaped up and the spread through the side.
The ice sheets were sharp and kept getting pushed into trees. It cut them down and the tree reshoots in spring in a dry period. That's why we can coppice.

[DavidF]

This January a here in South Western Slovakia a lot of water got stuck in huge pools on the surface. Agricultural fields were flooded and you could see swans swimming in the enormous pools. After about a week, the pools froze and some people used them for ice skating. I don't remember anything like this happening in my lifetime.

[dwdei]

An enchanting facet of this magical new/restored ecology. The word "debacle", now meaning any catastrophe, was originally the term for the breaking up of river ice as it thaws.
It would be interesting to hear what the dam operators think of this natural treasure on their doorstep, which is both a product of it as a resource and as an over-engineered threat. I bet it lifts their spirits.

[MrAnkydoodle]

No amount of words, i type, could do justice to the work you guys are doing... Simply, Hats Off to All of you .

[Ealsante]

What a wondrous update! I just love the flooded forest team: Sigg, Andrea, Adriana, their enthusiasm shows in everything they do. Thanks for the great work!

[Nphen]

Love to see more about this project! Some people might think that donating $2 or $5 per month is not enough to even bother, but it absolutely is enough! That $5 per month adds up to $60 per year.

[jukeboxxgamer]

I don't know why but seeing progress updates on this project always touches me so deeply! Seeing people care for, restore, and enjoy the fruits of the earth almost brings me to tears sometimes.

Edit: Thought a little deeper, and it's the hope it gives!

[hotbit]

As ice forms, the surface albedo increases. The net amount of solar radiation held by the Earth is reduced.
Climate is not only about CO2 levels. The city can be 10C hotter in the summer than a nearby forest.
Great job, Mossy Earth.

[DuartedeZ]

Thank you Siggi, Andrea and Adriana for all the filming! Its epic!

[floydblandston]

I've lived in an environment like that; one very distinct ecological feature is the absence of burrowing rodents and other animals. For us that meant lots of raccoons compared to even nearby areas of summer only flooding backwater, where that niche and its food supply would accrue to others. You also tend to see fewer predatory mammals (i.e., coyotes), and more hawks, owls, and eagles, and also fewer 'grazing mammals' (deer). With less deer pressure, there's more berries, and so- more birds too!

[isadorafernandezmoncada]

I LOVE how we can actually see humans working WITH nature, learning and understanding how it works so we can help our environment, instead of destroying it. That's how we can tell humans are amazing and can be beneficial to the planet if we put our efforts into it.❤

[raymiemiller]

Where I live in Wisconsin, I'm used to ice on our major lakes and rivers. It's a force to reckoned with. But it also has immense ecological value as a source of natural disturbance. Probably other understudied values, too.

[Heterogeneity]

Thanks from coastal northern California, the updates on all of the Mossy Earth projects are uplifting and impressive but this flooded forest on the Danube has captured my heart from the first video. Thanks for cherishing our home planet as much as I do and for gathering action and community around that love.

[Grantonioful]

I get so excited to hear news about this project! As a Canadian, I appreciate the winter representation. The beavers here create these all the time and on rare occasions, it's smooth enough to walk on and see through to their underwater paths!

[CaleIsWorthyOfficial]

I was like: Hmm, I watched a Mossy Earth video long ago, let's check up on them.... and, Ta-Da! New video! This made my day. Thank you!

[paulbyland]

Breaking ice in the forest was one of my favorite winter activities as a child. The sound it makes when you throw a big piece of ice onto a frozen area is pretty magical.