00:00Will olive trees soon disappear from the Mediterranean?
00:04They give us what the world wants, olive oil.
00:07And demand is growing.
00:09Global consumption has roughly doubled since the 1990s.
00:13The trees mainly grow here, around the Mediterranean.
00:16But every year, heat and drought are getting worse.
00:20Olive trees suffer under these extreme weather conditions.
00:26So, does the olive tree need a new home further north?
00:30Maybe even Austria?
00:32You have to be an optimist to try something like this.
00:38Sounds crazy, or is it a smart climate solution?
00:42One person who knows a thing or two about growing plants under extreme conditions is Markus Fink.
00:48The physicist has spent years researching how to grow food in space,
00:53for astronauts on the ISS or future habitats.
00:57Today, he's bringing unusual crops to Austria.
01:01He's the co-founder of AgroRebels.
01:03Their idea is simple.
01:05Climate change is already here.
01:06We may not stop it, but we can adapt.
01:09And that means questioning old habits.
01:11So, olive farming in Austria?
01:13Why not?
01:16I honestly never imagined you could harvest olives in Central Europe.
01:24Will it work?
01:25Like AgroRebels, Matthias Veleschitz believes olives could find a new home.
01:30He's preparing his trees for spring, pruning branches, thinning the canopy, all to help them bear fruit.
01:37His family has always farmed fruits and vegetables.
01:41But for Matthias, olives are an investment in the future.
01:44He has nearly 100 trees, now 7 years old.
01:48They produced their first harvest in 2024, just over a kilo.
01:52The thing is, olive trees take 5 to 7 years to bear fruit.
01:57So, turning Austria into an olive-growing country is still a way off.
02:05Olive trees in the Mediterranean go back thousands of years.
02:08Over time, they've adapted perfectly to this climate.
02:12Some can live for up to 4,000 years.
02:15They thrive in rocky soil, with mild winters, hot summers and rain in spring and autumn.
02:24Here, a single tree can yield between 15 and 200 kilos, depending on age, location and care.
02:31On average, it's about 30 kilos.
02:33Spain is the world's top olive oil producer, with over 1 million tonnes per year.
02:38Other top producers are Italy, Greece, Turkey and Tunisia.
02:43But today, they're also being grown in places like South Africa, China and Pakistan.
02:47Local demand and shifting weather patterns, like in Pakistan, are pushing olive farming into new regions.
02:55And at the same time, climate change is putting more pressure on the Mediterranean itself.
03:05The hardest time is July and August, when the olives are forming oil.
03:12That's when we run out of water.
03:15I even drilled down 80 metres and found nothing.
03:24Milenko Zagorac has been growing olives for 20 years.
03:28His family tends about 1,000 trees on nearly 5 hectares in Polace in southern Croatia.
03:34Then came 2022, no rain, extreme heat.
03:38They had to buy water.
03:42My family and I managed to bring in 1,000,000 litres of water.
03:47Around 700 to 800 litres for each tree.
03:52Just to save the harvest in October.
04:00And if climate forecasts are right, years like this could become the norm.
04:07Every year, temperatures keep rising and records keep getting broken.
04:12According to the EU's Copernicus programme, Europe is the fastest warming continent on Earth.
04:21Olive oil has a reputation as a superfood.
04:25It's rich in unsaturated fats that can help lower cholesterol, reduce inflammation and help protect heart health.
04:34As part of the Mediterranean diet, it can even prevent or help manage diabetes.
04:41So it's no surprise demand keeps growing.
04:44More and more people are cooking with olive oil.
04:46And new markets are emerging.
04:49In India, for example, a health-conscious middle class is driving demand for imported olive oil.
04:54So what can people around the Mediterranean who rely on olive trees do?
05:00Croatian researcher Tatjana Klepo is looking for answers.
05:04We need to find something that is genetically adapted to severe weather changing.
05:14The main solution lies in all varieties.
05:17Trees that we can find all over the Mediterranean related to olive growing, of course.
05:24This olive tree is 1,500 years old and it may hold important clues.
05:29For centuries, it survived everything nature could throw at it.
05:33Older varieties often have much greater genetic diversity than modern high-yield trees,
05:38and that could make them more resilient.
05:41Heat-resistant trees, whether ancient or newly cultivated, for example from Tunisia, could also play a role.
05:49But developing those trees takes time.
05:55We don't have the perfect variety.
05:59It doesn't exist.
06:00Because you have different zones, you have a different climate, different soil.
06:07So you need to have several perfect varieties to have it all covered up.
06:15So are new growing regions like Austria the future?
06:21This started as an experiment.
06:23And if you don't believe in it, there's no point in experimenting.
06:26There are about 300 to 400 olive varieties.
06:30I focused on those from colder parts of southern Europe.
06:36In the end, only 30 varieties were left.
06:39At first, even the rebels were sceptical.
06:42I wasn't even sure the olives would ripen here,
06:45or if we'd find varieties that mature early enough to produce fruit.
06:50But slowly, the experiment is paying off.
06:54Today, more than 7,000 olive trees are growing in Austria,
06:57and another 2,000 are planned for 2026.
07:00And that's not all.
07:02Together with Vienna's Boku University, we're developing a truly Austrian olive variety.
07:08Olive trees and olive oil made in Austria.
07:11And one day, that could really pay off.
07:16Because olive oil has become expensive.
07:20After extreme heat waves across the Mediterranean,
07:23harvests collapsed in 2023.
07:25Spain, the world's largest producer,
07:27harvested only about half its usual amount.
07:30Prices doubled.
07:31In Germany, olive oil was 45% more expensive in 2024 than the year before.
07:37And they still haven't returned to previous levels.
07:40Demand for high-quality olive oil is still strong.
07:43Now Austria just has to prove it can deliver.
07:46But if Austria's experiment works, does that mean the Mediterranean loses out?
07:52Researcher Tatjana Klepo says the future will be challenging,
07:55especially for farmers, but she believes the answer lies in the olive tree itself.
08:02The beauty of olive tree, it's very, very resistant.
08:07And I believe it will resist for so many, many, many, many years to come
08:13and to adapt to climate change.
08:16Optimists in the Mediterranean, pioneers in Austria,
08:20and a tree tough enough to withstand a changing world.
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