Forests play an essential role for humanity by providing a wide range of ecosystem services. To name just few, forests clean the air, filter water supplies, control floods and erosion, sustain biodiversity and genetic resources. Standing forests are powerful carbon sinks, but cut them and they will become carbon emitters.
Currently, forests all over the world are in danger, putting in danger the wildlife that inhabits it, and the humanity itself that relies on it.
While individually we may lack resources to protect endangered forests, we can plant our own, tiny forests that bring huge benefits to the environment.
In this episode, we will talk a lot about forests with my guest Nikolaus Tarouquella-Levitan. What is the difference between a forest and a plantation? Who is Sebastiano Salgado? What is a tiny forest? How tiny forests help with biodiversity? and how one can grow her or his own tiny forest in a place as small as a backyard?
Nikolaus is a filmmaker. He has two decades of documentary expertise around the globe. He made films about the beautiful and endangered Amazon, Portuguese speaking Africa, Greenland and Mongolia. He worked for large public European TV broadcasters like ARTE, ZDF, ARD, DW, and BBC, but also as a director for NGOs like WWF and Greenpeace and governmental development agencies like BMZ and GIZ. Recently, Nikolaus started a foundation in Poland to plant tiny forests, to enrich intercultural exchange and to speed up green transition.
Donation page of the foundation: https://gogetfunding.com/rozwarowo/
Fundacja Perspektywa | Facebook
Website: Fundacja Perspektywa (fundacja-perspektywa.org)
Absolutely inspiring talk by Shubhendu Sharma: https://www.ted.com/talks/shubhendu_sharma_an_engineer_s_vision_for_tiny_forests_everywhere?language=en
Video lectures how to plant tiny forests by Mr Sharma: Trailer | Forest Creation Tutorials | English - YouTube
New episode is published every second Tuesday. It is available on Google podcasts, Apple podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
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3:37 – Forests at the center of the movie-making career
5:03 – Forests around the world: they role in human life
5:58 – Forests vs monoculture plantations
9:03 – We have forgotten how healthy forests look like
10:00 – Amazon flying rivers and their relationship to agriculture
14:00 – Indigenous people
15:00 – We are part of the nature
18:16 – Nature – human conflict
19:10 – Solutions to the seeming conflict
21:02 – Summary of the problems with forest around the world
23:12 – Nikolaus’ cultural projects
24:43 – Planting tiny forests in Poland
28:04 – Concept of a tiny forest
31:15 – Community’s perception of the tiny forest project
38:15 – Main struggle: money
43:15 – We feel more connected and united
43:55 – Learning from first indigenous people with Internet
45:25 – We have to learn to live with forests standing
45:45 – Agroforest system
48:00 – About Sebastiao Salgado
52:00 – Future plans for Nikolaus’ foundation
59:45 – People in Poland are close to food production but sometimes they forget their connection to nature
1:03:40 – Agriculture: producing food for humans not for animals
1:05:25 – I used to be a huge meat eater
1:06:10 – Influencing the community in a kind way
1:11:00 – What inspires Nikolaus