1. How to green the world's deserts and reverse climate change
Speaker: Allan Savory
Source: https://www.youtube.com/TED
"Desertification is a fancy word for land that is turning to desert," begins Allan Savory in this quietly powerful talk. And terrifyingly, it's happening to about two-thirds of the world's grasslands, accelerating climate change and causing traditional grazing societies to descend into social chaos. Savory has devoted his life to stopping it. He now believes -- and his work so far shows -- that a surprising factor can protect grasslands and even reclaim degraded land that was once desert.
2. Regreening the desert with John D. Liu
Source: https://www.youtube.com/VPRO Documentary
For more than 15 years, cameraman and ecologist John D. Liu has been working on his worldwide mission to green deserts and to restore biodiversity. It all stad in 1995 when Liu filmed the Loess-plateau in China. He witnessed a local population who turned an area of almost the same size as The Netherlands from a dry, exhausted wasteland into one green oasis. This experience changed his life. From that moment on, Liu has been travelling all over the world to convince and inspire government leaders, policy-makers and farmers with his film material and knowledge. Liu diligently spreads the message that restoration of ecosystems is not only possible, but also economically very meaningful. Backlight accompanies Liu on his mission in Jordan and shows on the basis of Liu’s own film material that a green future is possible worldwide.
3. Restoring the ancient Caledonian Forest
Speaker: Alan Watson Featherstone
Source: https://www.youtube.com/TreesForLife
Nearly 30 years ago, Trees for Life Founder, Alan Watson-Featherstone stood in the Universal Hall and in front of 300 people made a life-long commitment to restore the ancient Caledonian Forest. He stad with no resources, no knowledge, no access to land, no funds, but his passion and inspiration have carried him forward and now Trees for Life not only helps nature to restore the Scottish Highlands - it also helps people reconnect with their spirit, with hope and with the land.
4. Can sheep save the planet?
Speaker: Allan Savory
Source: https://www.youtube.com/IWTOCHANNEL
"Desertification is a fancy word for land that is turning to desert," states Allan Savory in his quiet but inspirational form. And it's happening to about two-thirds of the world's grasslands, accelerating climate change and causing traditional grazing societies to descend into social chaos. Savory has devoted his life to stopping it. He now believes, and his work so far shows, that a surprising factor can protect grasslands and even reclaim degraded land that was once desert. The role of livestock in a new agriculture that can save city-based civilization. Allan discusses how animals, such as sheep, can be used to heal landscapes, combat climate change, restore economies, increase soil fertility, produce clean water, provide healthy habitat for wildlife, and more.
5. Greening the Desert
Source: https://www.youtube.com/permaculturenews
When there’s no soil, no water, no shade, and where the sun beats down on you to the tune of over 50°C (122°F), the word ‘poverty’ begins to take on a whole new meaning. It is distinct and surreal. It’s a land of dust, flies, intense heat and almost complete dependency on supply lines outside of ones control. This is the remains of what was once called the ‘fertile crescent’. It is the result of thousands of years of abuse. It is a glimpse at a world where the environment – whose services provide for all human need – has all but completely abandoned us. This is a glimpse at the world our consumer society is inexorably moving towards, as our exponential-growth culture gorges itself at ever-increasing rates.
Although only five minutes long, it has inspired people around the globe, daring the lucid ones amongst us, those who can see the writing on the wall, to begin to hope and believe in an abundant future – a future where our survival doesn’t have to be based on undermining and depleting the very resources of soil, water, phosphorus, etc. that we depend on. The work profiled in that clip demonstrates that humanity can be a positive element within the biosphere. Man doesn’t have to destroy. Man can repair.
6. This man changed the fortunes of a barren land using traditional water wisdom - Story of Dhun
Source: https://www.youtube.com/DownToEarth
This dry and dusty piece of 500-acres of land on the outskirts of Jaipur once hardly had 30 trees on it. But today, the same land has over 120 species of birds, 70 species of native trees and thousands of animals. This land in the Phagi district once had plenty of life in it. But a devastating flood ruined the topsoil and left the land to die and be part of the desert. The fate of the land changed when Manavendra Singh Shekhawat, a hotelier from Jaipur saw the land back in 2013.
Instead of selling the land in parts, Manavendra aspired to do something different with the land, to create an alternative ecosystem to live in, to build a unique business model while keeping the land away from the unscientific and destructive practices. And the first step for his dream project was to bring water to this dry land and using traditional water harvesting practices the land today has more than 8 waterbodies in it. The water also has completely transformed the life and economy of the neighbouring villages as well. With the water feeding the land and with 100s of trees and buzzing wildlife, Manavendra is now stepping on to build an alternate living space here.
After bringing water into the land, the team ventured into the next adventure. reviving the ecology of the place. creating a forest using indigenous trees, bringing grassland back to the ecology and finally take steps to redefine living spaces. For creating a sustainable ecosystem, having an intelligent design was crucial. The team along with experts created an ecological masterplan in which they surveyed and, understood the topography and soil type and identified 108 species of native trees, grasses and shrubs to plant in these spaces. After nurturing the saplings in their own nursery, the team planted them in the land now filled with enough water for them to grow. They also used techniques like community grazing to increase the fertility of the soil. And their hard work and vision has come to fruition with
Dhun now home to around 70 species of native trees and has a grassland of its own. The transformation has also transcended the boundaries of Dhun to nearby villages. Today, Manavendra is chasing another dream. something more ambitious. He dreams of making a sustainable settlement in these spaces. one that is away from the cities. One which is close to nature.
7. 50 years off-grid: architect-maker paradise amid NorCal redwoods
Source: https://www.youtube.com/Kirsten Dirksen
In 1968, Charles Bello and his wife, Vanna Rae, moved onto 240 acres of redwood forest looking to live a simpler life off the land. They had spent their savings to purchase the land so they got to work building their home themselves. Their first structure was a panelized A-frame that they erected in 5 days (with help from a couple family members). The total cost was $2,800. The property is a half-hour drive down a dirt road and it was bare land when they arrived so Charles and Vanna Rae built their own infrastructure: roads, bridges and went decades without refrigeration nor phone (they eventually installed PV panels and cabling for phone lines).
After 15 years in the A-frame, they built a cabin in the woods, and there they lived for a decade until the trees began to block out their views. In 1991 Charles (who once apprenticed under famed architect Richard Neutra) designed the Parabolic Glass House. With a curvilinear wood roof and two curved walls of windows, the home feels enveloped in trees. Charles and Vanna Rae built it for $8,500 with the timber they milled themselves, using salvaged materials for everything from doorknobs to stoves. The couple relied on photovoltaics, solar thermal and gas for power, and a dug-in greenhouse attached to the home provided much of their food.
By canning and preserving, they could go for months without going to a grocery store. Their two boys were homeschooled. The couple suppod themselves selling Christmas trees. Nearly all the old-growth trees on the property were logged in the early 20th century, but Charles has spent the past half-century restoring the land. He and his wife set up the Redwood Forest Institute in 1997 to manage and preserve the forest. He has carefully selected 1,000 trees to be preserved for 2 millennia as the next generation of old-growth.
Now, 88 years old and a widower, Charles is determined to find successors; he hopes to find "three professional couples in their early 40's, financially independent, who want to settle on the property continuing 52 years stewardship of this special place in a sustainable lifestyle where one does for himself or herself rather than urban living". He is currently building "glamping" guest houses that he hopes will help fund the enterprise.
8. This green oasis is a drought-proof village in Rajasthan
Source: https://www.youtube.com/DownToEarth