Our Strange Plan to Fully Rewild This River

We've got a really exciting opportunity to begin reviving this river. On Glassie Farm, part of the Northwoods Rewilding Network, we are focusing our efforts to restoring the riparian zone and all the small creatures within it. A habitat which is crucial for biodiversity and our approach to do so is quite exciting. In this episode we're gearing up to begin constructing our fake beaver dams which we hope will have a huge impact later this year.

START REWILDING OUR PLANET TODAY
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With us, you will restore nature and fight climate change every month
🌲 Plant native trees to capture carbon
🐺 Rewild habitats to support biodiversity
🦫 Support underfunded species and ecosystems

💪 OUR PARTNERS IN THIS VIDEO
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⏱️TIMESTAMPS⏱️
0:00 Intro
0:41 The Problem
5:18 Our Plan
6:19 Our Work so far
9:20 The Future

🔎 ABOUT THIS PROJECT
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Beavers have rightly claimed a lot of accolades in the recent rewilding movement for their central role in restoring riparian areas. The dams they engineer create habitats, filter water and help mitigate flood damage and droughts. For degraded riparian areas devoid of trees and beavers, artificial structures called Beaver Dam Analogues (BDAs) are being used to mimic the effects of beaver dams. This is the case for our latest project in Scotland at Glassie Farm, a member of the Northwoods Rewilding Network (NRN). Habitat degradation, pollution and rising water temperatures are threatening a host of important native species. In partnership with River Revivers, we’re building BDAs and planting native trees and scrub to create habitat, help improve water quality, stabilise water temperature and mitigate flood damage.

[gringopapi]

I been donating to Mossy Earth for 2 years and I have to say its money very well spent, not just for the work you do but the skillful way you film and storytell it. Thanks! // Proud supporter

[scrandon]

This is literally a 10 minute walk from my house- can't wait to see what you folks create! Not sure if you already know this but the forest next to it (not the plantation, the old-growth one) has Pine Martens in it, hope your work helps them!

[cmoakes]

So refreshing to hear the enthusiasm from the land owner, wish there was more like him

[louislamonte]

It's my greatest hope that this project is a smashing success!!! You are such an inspiration!!! Have an excellent day today, my friend!! I really look forward to the day that Scotland is rewilded and restored to its natural state!! I'm a bagpiper and I hope bagpipe ballads are written about you one day!

[sahilmaniyt]

Please never stop making this type of videos I like small streams, beaver dams, flooding forest and everything what you upload

[davidmende]

5:40 First time seeing the mossy earth team themselves filling in the niches that the animals usually have to fill themselves 😂 so nice of you, to give them a break once in a while

[MotoHikes]

As a (mature, 32 y/o) environmental science student, this is exactly what I want to be doing once i've earnt my degree. You guys have the absolute dream job, and i'd love to join you one day. Thanks for being an inspiration.

[the.original.throwback]

I'm 74 years old and grew up in a small town on the Yakima River in eastern Washington State, USA. The river was the central point in our lives growing up. We built rafts and a canoe from which we swam, fished, gigged bullfrogs, and just generally spent as much time as possible on the water. We witnessed the effects of pollution in our wanderings, often seeing foul smelling water flow from pipes draining the surrounding farm land into the river. I recall thinking at the time that if a person dedicated their life to the river and tracked each source of pollution to its origin and helped correct the problem, in a lifetime the river could heal and everyone would enjoy a pristine river in their community. And it seemed to my child's mind that a life dedicated to a river would be a life well spent. Now, near life's end, I still think the same. If you wish to be contented in your later years, be a river caretaker and have a life well spent.

[joshvines]

Been following your channel for about a year now, what you guys are doing is awesome. Now your here in my country making changes for the better. People like you are the reason i decided to go back to education. I'm about to conclude my first year at uni studying ecology and conservation. Which is surreal being a decade older than the other students.
Carry on your inspiring adventures.

[emmalyondelsordo]

So cool to see this technique being used in other places! I was part of a project in Montana that was building beaver dams to restore riparian habitat and combat erosion. We used a succession of small dams made from native willow and pines on ours. Excited to see how yours goes.

[conwy_water_gardens]

I have been trying to create a few dams on our short section of river, my hope is to reduce the effects of the flooding in the winter, so far I have seen positive results. As we have a lot of trees I opted for the simple method of putting large branches across the river, and allowing them to dam up naturally.

[falcolf]

Absolutely adore that you're doing this. I hiked 600 km of the Scottish National Trail in 2020 and I gotta agree about those conifer plantations - they are real deadzones, with the only life in them (apart from the trees, ) being mushrooms and moss. They were quiet and dark, like the scary forest in Disney's version of Beauty and the Beast. They're downright creepy to be in; they just don't feel right. The uniform rows of trees are spooky in their unnaturalness and I never enjoyed hiking in these plantations; I don't believe that I ever camped in one. The natural scotch pine forests were so much friendlier so I did camp in those and it was always a big relief whenever I left a plantation far behind me. Even a local I spoke to agreed that the plantations felt creepy! Coming from a lifetime growing up in the relative biodiversity of British Columbia, Canada, I would love to see Scotland returned to a natural state someday, hopefully with some lynxes and wolves padding along after the red deer. They'd do a far better job keeping the deer in check and healthy which actually helps protect humans as wolves especially will go after deer with prion disease while their presence also helps forests grow by keeping deer on the move - protecting the riparian habitat that fish like salmon need, which keeps anglers happy downstream. Best of all, these carnivores work for free! Please keep up the great work.❤

[one_field]

OMG I LOVE YOU. The beaver imitation was so unexpected and so fabulous. I snorted tea! You guys are awesome.

[AnotherDuck]

I like that you portray regulations and bureaucracy as something positive rather than something that just slows things down. There's a reason those exist, and in the end they help with managing projects like these properly.

[matthewdavies]

Great work everyone! I can't wait to see this area in 2-3 years from now.

[Brubarov]

A dam to give life to our Mother Earth, not one to take it away from her.
We need more people and projects like this, where our skills are used to create life, not to destroy it.
I love you guys, thanks for your initiative!!

[relentlesslyquirky]

In projects like this in the USA trickle dams will be built once every 50 or 75m along large stretches of river. Maybe these projects arent so common in scotland so its harder to build multiple, but really youd want at least 4 or 5 dams to create a significant result.

[troyclayton]

9:15 I can hardly wait for the survey! The river I paddle regularly, here in Maine USA, is home to beavers. They don't make dams there, we did it for them (leftovers from the mill days). They just fell trees and stock larders. Thank you for doing such inspiring work to rewild impacted ecosystems. My joy in life is learning the organisms that surround me in my rural environment. Some think I'm an expert, but I know enough to know how little I know. What a blessing. Keep up the good work- I doubt I'll ever see, IRL, what my small sustaining donation is helping rebuild. And that's just fine.
edit: I wish you'd at least have mentioned Leave Curious.

[William-Morey-Baker]

this is legitimately a dream job for me... like, dam... it couldn't be more perfect.

[brauliofernandesss]

This videos get me so excited, to see that my friends and I are not alone on restoration projects, and there are people everywhere doing their best to make the planet wild again!