Interview with Shubhend Sharma, an experienced afforestation expert, who shares his knowledge on how to create natural, wild, maintenance-free, native forests in urban environments and on degraded lands.
About
In this Forest Landscape Stories episode, we will learn about the afforestation method developed by Dr. Miyawaki, a Japanese botanist and expert in plant ecology and natural forests. His method results in maintenance-free, wild, and native forests. These forests grow in cities, along roads, around buildings, and in our own gardens. They even grow on very degraded land, under extreme conditions.
We will learn about the six-step process that everyone can employ to grow a forest.
Check out the Open Source guide on how to Do-It-Yourself
Video tutorials on how to make your own forest will be available soon. You can follow the related Kickstarter page here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shubzsharma/video-tutorials-to-make-your-own-forest/description
Shubhendu Sharma
This episode’s guest is Shubhendu Sharma. Shubhendu started his career as an engineer with Toyota. A forest planting seminar by Dr. Miyawaki inspired Shubhendu to establish his own social tree planting company, Afforestt, in 2011. Besides being a successful entrepreneur who has planted over 130 forests in 10 countries, Shubhendu inspired the worldwide afforestation community with his TED talks.
Contact:
Email: info@afforestt.com
Website: https://www.afforestt.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/afforestt
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afforestt
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afforestt/
What we learn
Shubhendu left his secure job at Toyota to start his own afforestation company. We get to know why and how this decision changed his perspective and vision with regards to his work.
Shubhendu has also published on the Dr. Miyawaki afforestation method. With his process of planting dense and tiny forests, he has also reframed the idea of what can be a forest. Forests can be very small and planted almost everywhere.
He has inspired dozens of people and organizations to create hundreds of forests around the world. These forests grow in different climatic conditions, including on very degraded sites.
Shubhendu explains in detail how his forest creation process works and this information is available freely. Maintenance-free forests can be designed to deliver specific services like fruits, and noise and pollution reduction. He also explains how forests create a healthy environment for people and endangered species.
Shubhendu motivates us all, and especially the younger generation, to get our hands dirty and plant lasting forests. Forests that restore and preserve life through native vegetation.
About Forest Landscape Stories Podcast
Healthy forest landscapes are a mosaic of different zones: conservation, timber production, and regenerative agriculture. Water, air, nutrients, and energy flows connect these zones. Living organisms, including us, are constantly shaping these landscapes in a good or bad way.
In this podcast, we will be sharing stories of inspiring people and their projects. We learn about their way of thinking, their vision, and their passion. We will try to understand what methods have enabled successful landscape restoration. Restoration of landscapes that inspire, feed, and protect.
Learn more about our work: OpenForests
Tell your project story through your project: explorer.land
Download our free storytelling guide: DOWNLOAD
