TURTLE (OR TORTOISE) TUESDAY ☀️ In the southern Sahara, where degraded, baked, crusted soil prevented any seedlings to establish, ecological restorationists dispatched 500 "ecosystem engineers." More commonly known as African spurred tortoises, the ecotechnicians went to work digging burrows to avoid the desert heat and cold. 🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢 🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢 🐢🐢🐢 🌧️ Water stayed in the soil. Plants grew. Insects and microorganisms moved in, followed by birds and small mammals. 🛰️ From space the region even looks alive. ✅ This is another example of a successful low-tech nature-focused rewilding effort. (Recall my incessant beaver updates.) https://www.thecooldown.com/outdoors/sahara-desert-ecosystem-restoration-tortoises/ #TurtleTuesday #Environment #Rewilding #EcologicalRestoration #EnvironmentalRestoration #Conservation #Biodiversity