Regreening the planet | VPRO documentary (2014)

Regreening the planet looks at the profit that comes from the recovery of ecosystems in Spain, Egypt and India. Restoring ecosystems does not only generate ecological profit but also economic. In Regreening the desert, the makers of VPRO Backlight showed that the greening of deserts is very well possible. They followed the American-Chinese cameraman and ecologist John D. Liu.
He filmed how an inhospitable dry mountain area as large as the Netherlands was transformed into a lush green oasis. The greening caused not only ecological recovery but also economic growth of the region. Since then, John D. Liu has traveled the world to inspire people in other countries to follow this example.
Dutch ecologist Willem Ferwerda was inspired by Liu and decided to work together with him. This cooperation has grown into a new organization, Commonland, a foundation with a clear mission: to restore the ecosystems on a large scale worldwide. The point of departure is that restoring landscapes not only yields ecological profits but also money, work and hope for the people living there.
We can see that this works in Egypt: in 1977 Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish SEKEM, experimented to green the desert at Cairo. In 2014, SEKEM has grown to be the leading supplier of ecological products in Egypt and far beyond. Dr. Abouleish has built not only a flourishing business in the desert but a complete community with schools and their own medical and cultural facilities. A better proof that greening and social innovation go hand in hand is almost impossible to find.
That all areas can grow alive, even if they are completely eroded by erosion, also appears from the special story of Indian Jadav "Molai" Payeng. When he was 17, he worked for a replanting project in Assam province. After the project was completed and the other laborers had disappeared, he decided to continue propagating wood by hand. Now, Molai forest is 300 acres and populated by elephants, Bengal tigers, deer, rhino and numerous birds. Payeng is also called The Forest Man in India because he has been able to create a jungle singlehandedly.
That is something that Spain might well use. Large areas in Spain are dry and abandoned due to misused agricultural subsidies, unintentional water and land use and large-scale erosion. The population is turning its back on the countryside and moves to the cities, but there is also unemployment there. In Ayoo de Vidriales, a graying village in the middle of Spain, agricultural engineer Pedro Alonso Fernandez has begun to recover land. He wants to show that the Spanish silted and eroded soils are in fact Green Gold.
Originally broadcasted by VPRO in 2014.
© VPRO Backlight Octobre 2014

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Credits:
Directed by: Rob van Hattum & Gijs Meyer Swantee
Production: Helen Goossens
Senior editors: Henneke Hagen & Frank Wiering
English, French and Spanish subtitles: Ericsson.
French and Spanish subtitles are co-funded by European Union.

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[azscab]

I can't get enough of these greening the earth, restoring ecosystem videos. I've known about this for decades but I haven't really known about it. Now I really want to know about it. I want to live it. I want to do it.

[faizalakhsan]

"You can't restore ecology without restoring human being"

[joaniewaller]

Love! Now I want to buy desert land and try.

[TiempoNuevo-ewty]

Agriculture is the real foundation of all civilizations, cultures, and wellbeing whether it is a small community or a nation. All ancient cultures who survived had well maintained bio diversity, and agriculture practices.

[hudsonjaxson]

I love these kinds of documentaries. I wish the Australian goivernment would do something similar in central australia

[lowesonia]

The Forest Man was the most inspirational because the purest. phenomenal what he has done His last words 'The very infime to larger insects' if they are alive in the forest, then everything lives.The Egyptien father and son equally fascinating phycology, Comes from ecosystem evolution of turning sand into soil.Heartening changes terminating . The  rule of Monsanto) and the like that have polluted the planet with their poison since the 80's.

[legit]

one of the best documentary i have encounter in my entire life..a documentary with inspiration, hope and future in real time

[precisiont]

I love the concept of regreening deserts, it has such a positive impact in so many ways.

[BoogsterSU]

I wish Arizona can do something like this...it's a good model for re-greening deserts.

[treehugger]

Excellent documentary. Very inspirational. How can a simple man like Jadeth Payang (SP?) (29.30) have so much ecological insight while we, with our sophisticated education systems have no clue?

[CopingsCorner]

34:36 " It's not what the land can do for me, It's what I can do for the land"
My mantra! :D
Super inspiring, having done something like this, digging, charring etc to make water-reservoirs, and soil for more forest, , but ecological succession from barren beginnings to this, hand-tool like I did, is not even remotely comparable. Impressive beyond description, the man has more grit, than grit itself

[RafalAndHisThoughts]

Another great document. You are doing amaizing job by spreading the right knowlegde and educating people about our planet. I'm really impressed.

[walterbeaulieukootenayslim]

Great way to start for any of us who are near or affected by these problems. "A man who planted trees " is a wonderful story with the same premise. The reforestation of the planet in areas that were forested has been proven over and over now to be possible. A garden of Eden of sorts is only a few seeds sown away.

[beautifulfouse]

Humans seem to not do something until they have to. I am seeing this video as revealing we are in fact in that time, when we have to Regreen. I hope it isnt to late.

[stonew]

I don't understand the European policy to subsidize "farmers" for merely plowing the land. That policy should be changed. Why don't they subsidize based on production? Instead they are merely encouraging erosion and destroying the land further. That Indian man is a hero. The world needs more people like him. In China, they are in the process of restoring the Loes Plateau, an area the size of France that became degraded after centuries over mismanagement, and they are succeeding. As the world goes forth, we need more of these efforts, but instead we are seeing places like the US electing a president who couldn't care less about environmental issues. The only green he sees is money.

[wendyaridela]

Wow! I found this so inspiring and deeply touching. We hear so much about deforestation and environmental degradation. So it's truly wonderful to see people like this who are developing new, sustainable models for fixing the mess,

[nelsonvaz]

In Spain, instead of the EU paying for them to just plow the land, have them plant trees. Verify that they are indeed planting trees successfully before handing out any money. Checks and balances!

[dogan]

This is what I like, people working together and making the planet better and everyone's making money at the same time.

[studionumberfive]

The man from India in the show is the wisest of all.. his theory is so enlightening and full of wisdom..
we should learn from him.
European always has an arrogant mind thinking we are better than others..
the truth shows, we are just clueless.. industrialisation has destroyed so much