Our Bizarre Approach to Rewilding Sea Cliffs
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- Опубліковано 1 чер 2024
- For two years now we've been fighting invasives on the vertical slopes of these wonderful sea cliffs. In this video we tell you all about our battles and why we are trying to save these unique plants.
🌾 To support our work you can become a member here: mossy.earth
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
Learn more and become a member here: mossy.earth
⏱️TIMESTAMPS⏱️
00:00 Intro
01:50 The Cliffs
03:40 Narrow Endemic Plants
05:00 The Iceplant
06:20 Our Project
🔎 ABOUT THIS PROJECT
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On a stunning 15 km stretch of Portuguese coast two special cliff plants found nowhere else on earth are facing extinction. The main threat comes from a dominating invasive species carpeting the cliff called the ‘ice plant’. Access to the sheer cliff faces poses a challenge for their conservation. This is why we’ve gathered local rock climbers and cavers, passionate about local biodiversity, to remove the invasive ice plant. We’re also using drone technology to document changes to the vegetation. Protecting these precious plants not only reduces biodiversity loss but treasures nature in all its glorious forms.
Find out more about this project here: www.mossy.earth/projects/savi...
If you want to support this project and contribute to a growing diversity of rewilding projects, please head to www.mossy.earth/ to become a member!
As always, worth every penny. Why not link to the new channel in the description or better yet by linking to a video of that channel at the end of this video? Keep up the great work!
One of the problems here is that the ice plant is so commun, many people just think its native. That was my case to before watching the project
Exactly! We need more people to be aware that it isn't :)
Thats the same with dandelions and yellow Tansy in Alberta canada, people say its been here so long that its native now🤦♂️🤦♂️
@@Dougles_prospecting People say that...?
@@joaquimbarbosa896 all the time, ive gotten in arguments with people over it
The same thing happens with the hydrangeas (hortensias) in the Azores and Madeira archipelagos. People think they are beautiful and part of those ecosystems when in truth they are invasive species in both archipelagos and are harming the local species.
Doing habitat restoration in Hawaii, it's such an uphill battle to restore endemic ecosystems because you have to not only remove the invasives, but also set up the habitat to actually recover from its partial conversion. Whether we like it or not, biotic interchange & competition are facts of nature, but we can still do our part to mitigate the impact of Human-caused disruptions.
Right! Actually the work done in Hawaii provided inspiration and a case study for us. Ben Nyberg at the National Tropical Botanical Garden there was very generous and gave us some useful tips. Thanks for the comment! Tiago
@@MossyEarthThose guys do great work, there are several other places like the Maui Nui Botanical Gardens & Native Nursery that are fantastic at endemic plant propagation. Simulating natural soil & climate conditions is an artform so I've been blessed to learn so much from those around me. I've been inspired by your work since my undergrad, so if I ever get the opportunity lend a hand or provide expertise I'd be more than willing to help :)
It's not that ppl don't care. It's just that it's LITERALLY impossible to prevent invasive plant & animal species from reproducing. There are likely tens of thousands, if not millions, of individual seedlings already growing across your island & the CA coast. If just a SINGLE seed or spore exists anywhere island WIDE, then the plant won't be eradicated. It's a mostly pointless endeavor spending time & money removing invasive species from a single locale - much less HAND removing them. The same applies to invasive fish & reptile species. FL will NEVER eradicate invasive boas, pythons, iguanas, capybaras, and nutria from the Everglades. Same as NYC, Chicago, Boston and EVERY other city in the nation will never eliminate the Norwegian Brown Rat (ie. the rat) from existence. It's like Fish & Game spending hundreds of thousands per year trying to manually electrocute to death Chinese carp in the Mississippi River using bass boats, and also paying fishermen per-fish-bounties to catch & kill carp. It's a pointless waste of funds... but I guess it keeps people employed which is why they continue budgeting these projects.
It's always amazing to see just how many people from all types of backgrounds get excited and involved in a project!
Exactly! Once you dig a bit deeper even a topic like invasive plants can be super interesting :) - Cheers, Duarte
Ice plants are a huge problem on the norther coasts of California where my family is from, and it can be a battle to get the aging population of the town to agree to have them removed because they are so used to the beauty they provide. Not realizing all the endangered native coastal flowers that could be providing that beauty!
I'm so happy with my membership! It is so amazing to see what you all do around the world. Thank you for all you do :)
Thank you for being a member Killian! - Cheers, Duarte
That ultra rare sub succulent shrub sounds like it would also be an ideal houseplant! Could it be cultivated as such to help "bank" it's unique genetic makeup?
That is an interesting idea! We are thinking of creating a nursery at some point to help with expanding the range a bit. - Cheers, Duarte
@@MossyEarth Reusable cotton tea bags have been used over the fruits to catch the seeds when they are flung out, in some ornamental Euphorbia species in greenhouses. They let light and air in and humidity out, so the fruit still ripen normally.
@@MossyEarth As you probably know, there's a big trend in collecting rare houseplants among many younger people who are priced out of the housing market and confined to smaller condos and flats, as everyone feels the need to connect to nature. Perhaps some volunteers could harvest seeds to sell to those collectors to help fund new nurseries? Or simply to ensure that the plants are being cultivated in various places while your nursery is still in the planning phase, thereby crowdsourcing the best methods of cultivation?
@@MossyEarthThat would be amazing
Finally became a member because I turned 18 and could get my card to work online! Can't wait to see how your projects continue to progress
Amazing! It is what makes all of this possible. Thank you! - Tiago
I am from South Africa, so I'm sorry that our plants are causing such a problem 😢. Ice plants aren't all bad though.... We used to use Ice plant leaves for Portuguese Man of War stings. Which was really handy, since they grew just above the high tide mark, and we're always available when we got stung. My mom also used to make an antibacterial mouth wash from them that was great for throat infections. Be careful eating the fruits, though. They work as a laxative if you have too many😮😮😮
I’m a Wildlife Biologist in New Zealand, and am really interested in your work. If you ever are interested in getting a project going on this side of the world would be super keen to be involved. Cheers,
David Thomas
Me, too! Or get involved with one of our existing groups like Project Island Song!
I am bumping this! I am sure they have a project backlogue, but I am also sure that New Zealand's unique ecological challenges would be well suited to Mossy Earth's expertise!
Iceplant is an issue here in Cornwall, UK, too. It spreads over sand dunes and cliffs, smothering much of our rare, native flora.
The UK doesn’t really have rare native fauna. But yes I agree that it should be kept under control.
Hmmm ....
@@JasonAtlas ?
@@billyfullwood4974 The UK has a relatively impoverished ecology. And has few (almost none) endemic species. Most species died out after the glaciations. And relatively few returned. But my comment was a bit random because this isn’t the subject. (Sorry for my bad English, it’s not my native tongue)
Super nice way of integrating the climbing community in the preservation.
Terrific work! Hopefully the rope master was well compensated by the volunteers... that's a lot of lives in his hands!
He was well compensated certainly! Important work! - Cheers, Duarte
It's amazing how this went from a speculative hike to a full blown rewilding project. Well done,Tiago!
What a beautiful place!
And i agree, diversity should be both cherished and protected!
As usual, I’m impressed with your “out of he box” problem solving! As well, I believe every thing on earth deserves its chance to survive and thrive, irregardless of the “value” people put on it. For heavens sake, penicillin came from mold, but it still had its intrinsic value before we figured that out. Thank you for seeing the importance of preserving and helping these species, especially because they are at risk because of human activity in the first place! Hugs to all of you working to make the world better.
Thank you for the nice words! I agree :) - Tiago
South African reporting in. ngl... kinda refreshing to hear about South African invasive plants, its always European/Australian plants causing issues here. Fun fact, here it's called suurfig (sour fig) and was a staple part of the first nation summer diet and is still used to today as a street food delicacy or jam. ( you harvest the fruit when its dried up and brown, not yellow).
if Mossy Earth is ever this side - you have a volunteer. Love your work.
Yeah- a lot of South African species are invasive in Australia and vice versa. We had a bit of a swap over the centuries.
Interesting that you guys call it sour pig- we call it pig face in Australia
Don't forget the opuntia from america
Mossy Earth is legit. Going to sign up for a membership right now, and you should too. Cheers guys, and keep it up
Thanks for the support it means a lot! - Tiago
I wasn’t really aware iceplant was a major invasive plant globally, I live in Australia and we have a native plant called pigs face which kinda just grows wherever on coasts in summer and I’m pretty sure its in the same family or something, because of this video I found a paper that shows iceplant and other similar invasive plants in the same family have been hybridising with natives, but usually hybrids tend to have the yellow flowers of the invasive and not purple ones of the natives (but this is not 100% guaranteed)
Ice plant (sensu lato ) mean all the spreading mating speciese of Aizoaceae. they can br founa ll around the word. The ice plant i nthis viedo is Carpobrotus edulis. the pig face u talk about is Carpobrotus rossii . the are in same genus.so hybrid is totally possible.
I am familiar with the iceplant from Santa Cruz, California. I was not aware that it was an invasive species. In fact, as I remember it, there were signs posted telling people not to step on the iceplants. Granted, I haven't lived there for almost 30 years now, but that's what I remember of it from when I was growing up.
They were introduced there with the aim of stabilizing roadside areas before the people understood the damage it causes to biodiversity. Now there are control efforts in the area too. Interesting to hear from someone who actually witnessed that. - Tiago
it is an invasive, non-native menace in CA. Please step on the ice plants.
I live in Lisbon and love hiking in this area. I've seen the ice plants so many times here and elsewhere in Portugal and never realized they're crowding out other plants. Great work with this project!
It brings hope back to humanity 🥰
Glad our simple project gives you some hope! - Cheers, Duarte
I would love to watch a project dedicated to fight Acacia in Portugal.
I think we will be doing some of this in 24/25 but in the context of a specific project. More on this effort then. - Cheers, Duarte
Now that is a big problem as well here in South Africa. To give an example of how bad Acacia is. A few years ago they did a big removal of Acacia plantations growing along side a long dried up river in the Cape Province. A year after cutting down the river started to flow. Old people along the entire length of this river said that it was the first time since they were kids that they remember the river flowing with huge amounts of flow. That one incident was a huge wake up call to a lot of South Africans of the detrimental affects of Acacia trees known as Wattle trees here.
Regards from South Africa
Everytime i see a new MossyEarth video, i know i will be amazed from what i'm going to see. I really love the passion you put in all your projects, it's clearly a mission for you and i can say it by simply looking at your faces!
Great to hear the passion is shared! Thanks for the support - Tiago
Seeing invasive species covering an area is always such a bummer. Love seeing this work, thanks guys
Just commenting again to try to help algorithm recommend this video to more people. A perfect exemple of what Mossy Earth is, and can do
Doing it again
This is quite ironic because as a South African I'm used to other country plants being invasive. So seeing our plants doing it is quite intresting
I remember this is the first mossy earth project I saw on youtube
I don't understand how you manage to be so quick! Thanks for sticking around Joaquim Barbosa :) - Cheers, Duarte
@@MossyEarth Just luck haha. I player football with my friends in the morning, went home, open the phone and 3 seconds after I received the notification and clicked by accident
I love seeing how you are helping students with research and change at the same time. Awesome work !!!
I am really excited to see what Joao will find with his thesis work. Glad to know you think this is valuable too. - Tiago
When I was little I was surprised by a friend's garden. It was full of tall grasses and looked untidy. He said his father believed this was better. He also planted Carpobrotus edulis in a slope nearby, apparently to stabilize it. Now I think he was ahead of his time, and showed both respect for local species and good use of a potentially invasive plant.
Always impressed with your work and dedication. Well done.
Thank you for the support! - Cheers, Duarte
The "Ice Plant" or Sour Fig as we call it is an incredibly useful plant here in South Africe. We have 2 species in our project area, and we use it extensively in our rewilding. It binds the soil and accumulates a tremendous amount of biomass in the soil. Can imagine though its a nightmare as an invasive.
I imagine and would love to see it in its native habitat. One thing you notice here is that there is nothing feeding on the iceplant although some pollinators visit the flowers. Do you notice the plants being eaten there? - Tiago
Its not the most complex project you've made. But surely its an important one. Saving species that otherwise nobody, even here in Portugal, cares or even knows about. Truly thankfull for such amazing work, and wish all the luck to you guys. Keep saving small, unheard species!
Was very confused for a second. The ice plant is almost identical to Karkalla/Carpobrotus rossii (Australian pigface - (pigface is what we call Iceplant here in Australia)) which is the native Australian relative of the Iceplant which I plant often at work in coastal areas and gardens. Has beautiful bright flowers but can be a pain to maintain as it spreads very quickly and is very heavy when hauling away in mass.
Here in South Africa, your "alien plant" is vital on ocean dunes to stop erosion along our harsh stormy coastline. There are many varieties and all known as Vygies. The plants are synonymous with coastal vegetation and vital for insect and small animal protection against the harsh summer heat here. It is also used in landscaping.
Regards from South Africa
It’s a menace everywhere else
Another amazing project! I’m so proud to be a member and see all of your amazing work. I’ll be in Lisbon in a few weeks. It makes me happy to know I’ll be really close to such a worthwhile project ❤
Glad you think this is worthwhile, it's so rewarding to see that people can come together to tackle a complex problem like this one. Thank you for supporting us as a member, it means a lot! - Tiago
I love how transparent mossy earth is with there projects and how funding is being used it really shows what we are contributing towards
These videos and projects always amaze me. How something that at first could easily be dismissed as pointless, tiny, uninteresting or low impact can be so full of big ideas, big potential, big impact, big inspiration and also just a great piece of storytelling. This channel has really been changing the way I see the world.
Thank you for the very nice words! Means a lot to everyone involved. Tiago
Commenting for algorithm. Hope this one gets the deserved attention
We are happy with whatever it does but of course that would be nice!
Mossy Earth shows us that humans are a keystone species for the entire planet. For centuries, we caused harm without knowing the wider implications. Now people are working together to heal that damage.
As always thank you to all the people who are involved in these projects for the wonderful work that you are doing. Big 👍for biodiversity !!
I love seeing how many people got involved, this was really a community effort. If you guys hadn’t made a video about this, I never would’ve known there was a problem. Thank you for all you do!
I spent three days in California's last salt marsh, ripping out ice plant to replace with natives, with Channel Islands Restoration.
You can pull them out but they go on forever and mat over each other. Such hard work, and you're doing it vertically!
WHY cant more people be like these great people ,mossy earth You guys are giving me hope in humanity , I love everything that you guys do , I look up to you guys , you Guys are my heroes my inspiration to not give up . i love all your educational videos thanks so much I apprecciate everything you guys are doing , we need more people like you guys,
There are a lot of people like this, like those qorking in ecosia
Nice work!
The names of the plants referred to for anyone interested are:
Carpobrotus edulis, Convulvulus fernandii, Euphorbia pedroi
That's correct! More info on the project webpage too for people to browse: mossy.earth/projects/saving-rare-cliff-plants
Every project u guys do is PRICELESS. Just ty ty ty ty for all u guys do. I wish I could be out there instead of working for a company who contributes to these world issues. Being as smart as we are n yet we do so much negative. ❤
When will be like these ppl ?!? As a whole.
I really enjoyed this video. I lived in the Azores for a few years as a kid, and I remember the ice plants there as well. They are beautiful but I can see how aggressive they can be. Keep up the goo work guys! Um abraco e boa sorta.
Obrigado e um abraço!
Ice plant is beautiful, but those sub succulent shrubs are incredible. This seems like an extra difficult job for you guys. Be safe!
great to see climbers all over the world working toward a better future :D
You guys are just so FREAKING AWESOME! Doing the work I dreamed of doing! Setting up a charity/non-profit doing amazing work for our lovely planet!
6:08 plants in the same family (Delosperma) are native to Australia, I believe. They're called pigfaces and they are smaller versions of the ice plant.
Another incredible project.
Glad you like the project! We think it is really unique and are happy to be doing something about this issue :) - Cheers, Duarte
Mossy Earth is the best UA-cam channel.
I am going to keep on writing this comment on every video I saw. So that more people can know and support them.
Thank you! That really means a lot to everyone here :) - Cheers, Duarte
Rockclimbing and protecting endangered species at the same time? This is the dream.
Exciting work for sure! - Tiago
6:11 thats some big damage done by the ice plant. Wonder if other organisations are also fighting it in other countries
It is one of the most fought invasives because it is one of the hardest ones to fight. It would be hard to get rid of it but in some places we could make it locally extinct to protect certain species. - Cheers, Duarte
Yay! Weeding nature! I hope you are able to save them long term.
We should be able to keep this up with all the climbers who monitor the area and with the drone. - Cheers, Duarte
As the guy says it shouldn't matter what a species does or doesn't do for us it's worth protecting any from being killed off completely.
I'm just so amazed every time you upload and show us how much can be done with conservation projects!!
I see the wonderful work you are doing, and I get very excited! Then I look out my window and get very depressed. I live in the US, in a heavy agriculture state. Where all the farmers use chemicals on the fields, my ground water is contaminated, and to top it off there are oilwells everywhere in this county, and surrounding counties as well. Yet wildlife thrives, it is limited to a few key species; deer, coyotes, birds of prey including the bald eagle, and more,; all eke out a living here!
I admire you guys for starting all your projects, that seem big from here looking on. but when I look out my window, I realize are quite small.
To make matters worse, I am old and tired! lol But I love the outdoors, and I care about the land.
Keep up the good work, and maybe someday, the changes will happen in my area, and perhaps yours, if you are reading this comment, and it sounds all too familiar.
In Australia, its known as pigface, and is used in dune restoration, and as ornamental pieces in gardens and lawns. The fig like fruits are quite delicious aswel. Im surprised to learn of its invasive properties. I read that it is a major problem on the Californian coastline aswel
I find it hard to believe that Australia is planting an invasive to do dune restoration
Pigface is an Australian native, but is related.
Hey from south Africa i have so many of these plants in my garden we call them sour figs...they are so great if you let the fruit dry out for a bit, they become very sweet. This is the first time ive heard they are this invasive, makes alot of sense the way they grow, we have yellow and purple flowers
They are native in South Africa though, so not invasive there.
@@billyfullwood4974 yeah i get that, just saying i didnt know its that invasive in so many countries, first time I've heard of the "ice plant" 😅
NEW MOSSY EARTH VIDEO JUST DROPPED LETS GOOOO!!!!
Tack!
03:05 ...deos this tiny Oak have many marvellous seeds? How cute is that?!
Superb work guys, thank you for your energy and commitment. It's efforts like this that inspire others and raise optimism for our shared future.
Beautiful area, and another great project involving local volunteers
Great job!
I loved learning about you guys, thank you for your efforts to preserve nature. I used to climb here when i lived in Portugal and never imagined this plant batlle was going on... Really nice video, thanks for sharing!
Olá Matt, um prazer ver-te outra vez!
🙏🤗
Hey Mossy Earth, I absolutely love your content and think each and every project you do is wonderful and amazing. Lots of Love from Belgium.
I was wondering if it were possible to do any project in Belgium, Flanders maybe, it is an extremely urbanized and concrete-heavy environment, I can't find any groups like yours that handle projects like these and was wondering if you'd guys ever consider finding some in Belgium to bring environment health more into the public eye of the good Belgian citizens.
Thank you for your hard work. Always glad to share your videos. Keep up the great work!
What a mesmerizing place! Must be truly fascinating and exciting to discover what potential diversity has in different ecosystems! I learn so much from watching your videos and it gives me hope for the future 😊
Grande João!! Orgulho!!
I'm glad someone will do that cause you aren't going to find me by those cliffs.
I've just increased my monthly donation from 18 EUR to 24 EUR. Great job, Mossy Earth Team!
What a wonderful project again!!!
This is so cool!
Enjoy the video :) - Cheers, Duarte
That was a really wonderful video. Thank you so much. It was amazing to see all these young (and brave!) people, dangling on ropes to removed this invasive plant. And it is SO invasive - I've seen it in many, many of the countries I've sailed to. (Sailing of course, brings you close to the coastline!) I'm excited to see your new channel - I've been dying to see more follow up reports on so many of your amazing projects. Keep up the good work!!
Thank you for the nice comment and happy sailing! Tiago
Another great project. Well done to everyone involved.
Very cool and important work! Great video too. I liked the longer format.
Really nice to get to know something new! Keep up the good work
Thanks!
Thank you! - Cheers, Duarte
loved this one! what a great project :)
Glad it resonates, it is not always easy to great to see people excited about this little plants. Thank you for the comment - Tiago
Great job you guys!
Always an inspiration, well done.
Cheers Tiago!
Great video!
This was such a fun video!
How do you get alerted to these projects? Is it from a Government or charity or looking at research?
Enjoy watching all this environmental work regardless!
We either look for partners or in this case one of our biologists (Tiago) found this problem and decided to act. So the answer is we find the projects ourselves :) - Cheers, Duarte
Your works is impressive and inspiring as always
great job, thanks
On the other hand, what a marvelous species those ice plants are.
Agreed! Would love to see them in their native South Africa.
@@MossyEarth it grows along the west coast and is more common than grass.
Another great project! Can't wait to see where it goes. :)
Great video - interesting project 👏👏
You all are amazing doing amazing work🙏☺️🙏☺️🙏☺️🙏☺️
It is so encouraging to see the work that Mossy Earth is doing! Does anyone here know if there is a North American equivalent I've missed that is doing similar work?
Amazing keep it up
I like your approach!
Great video, length of the video was perfect for giving enough detail on the project.
Glad you enjoyed the deep dive! - Cheers, Duarte
11:39 Pretty much the plot of the movie Mato Grosso, we might don't know why we should protect every species, but we must do it as you'll never know the richness you lose otherwise
You are brave! Thank you tho!
Thanks! The work is carefully done with ropes but I think it does require some nerve. - Cheers, Duarte
You should compost them and use the compost in your Rocky areas your trying to re tree.
There are so many piles that it would be quite hard to remove them. We are essentially composting them there on location. - Cheers, Duarte
Won't these compost piles be perfect beds for new ice plants, risking all the effort?
@@ricardofbn not if done at a building that's hot composting it you know temperatures up to 180 to 210f sometimes more but it slows down at higher.
@@DeathsGarden-oz9gg They are composting them on location
@@ricardofbnAfter all this effort I'm sure the local climbing group will be keeping an eye on this