NATURE
Why Germinating Seeds Are Always Better than Just Planting Trees
The Earth and our elders remember better than we do
Tree planting is a hot subject. And among ecosystem restoration specialists, there is lots of debate about the use of local, regional species or broad planting with whatever fits the specific climate and soil.
To my story on ecosystem restoration or tree planting, David Chinook Bean reacted very wisely. He said:
“Ferris Jabr writes eloquently about the social relations of the forest playing off Dr. Suzanne Simard’s brilliant work captured in The Mother Tree about how interspecies connection underground creates an immune system… that remembers.
There is so little said about the age of trees, hey, or even having elders in our own culture(s). So good to understand indigenous culture Where It Lives. To generalize about Tropical, or Temperate or Arid is to forget about soil, exposure, elevation, weather and … people.
Earth is not a spreadsheet. We do not need to reinvent a relation to it… but we must begin to revere our elders, the original people. They were part if this life, this place, not mere users. It is the relation with nature and place that needs to change. Our relation… is so alienated that it is hard for us to recognize our removal from earth, the cycles and time.”
And of course, he is so very right! I didn’t mention anything about elders in my story. About the Earth remembering. About how the forest is so much more than a collection of trees. So, let me correct that. In my own way.
Elders in an Industrial European Country
I live in the Netherlands. Do we have elders? Yes, I suppose we do. But I don’t know many. Or rather, I don’t know any. I can imagine old farmers, old herb collectors, old spiritual people being the elders of our lowlands. And perhaps, I will visit them someday and write about them. Because to be honest, I don’t know them.
“Earth is not a spreadsheet. We do not need to reinvent a relation to it…” — David Chinook Bean
We are a country of rivers. Real Lowlands. We are a basin of fertile soil at the end of the Meuse and the Rhine. Water from European sources in Switzerland and France flows to our soils via Austria, Germany, and Belgium.
We are an industrial country. A country full of rational solutions. A large Rotterdam harbor and many, many distribution centers are polluting our soils and our souls. Do we even know what a relationship to our land means?
We f*cked up our soil with industrial agriculture. We became one of the largest exporters of industrially grown vegetables and meat. And now a fast-growing group of farmers, leaders, and people like you and me are trying to reinvent our practices.
Introducing regenerative farming with permaculture practices and life’s principles. Re-inventing ownership of land with commons. And applying the ‘new’ way of being to our daily lives.
Regeneration is our topic. Regenerating soils, seas, and souls. Making our ways of being resilient and self-healing.
Part of this has to be about healing the colonialist genes in our bodies. The Netherlands has been one of the biggest colonialist countries after the UK. We were in South Africa, Indonesia, and Caribean countries like Aruba, Curacao, and Surinam.
We are now at the forefront of new movements like the Regeneration. And if we don’t heal the colonialist genes in ourselves, we will do more harm than good. I do realize that every day of my life! And oh, how these genetic and cultural pitfalls trigger me sometimes…
Trees from Seeds
I write. By now, I’m very aware of (some of) my own pitfalls. And this colonialist worldview and super-rational upbringing of mine is a big pitfall. I know it. And I try to deal with it the best I can.
I wish I could feel the indigenous life in me better than I do. I must confess, it comes to me in my dreams. It comes to me in conversations. And please, let it become stronger this decade! I want my words to breathe my own indigenous wisdom. To inspire this regenerative resurrection of being human on a self-regulating planet.
So, what does this all mean for the tree planting, ecosystem restoration, and nature-based solutions movement?
In our Dutch food forest, we observe. There’s not much age of trees (yet). But the land has been evolving for 8 years now and trees grow. However, we observe that the trees growing from seeds in the soil are much stronger than other trees or plants. They hold their water and their spirit much better than the trees who are planted.
Do they have stronger connections to the micro-organisms in the soil? Do they have stronger connections to the fungi? I don’t know. But I do know that this observation is not unique. People all over the planet are observing this.
Trees from seeds, plants from seeds, are much stronger than planted ones.
And here comes the big change in ecosystem restoration practices. Please do not just plant trees! Make the environmental conditions such that the seeds that are dormant in the soil can germinate and grow. It is the best way to arrive at a strong forest. Wetlands. Or another ecosystem.
Make the environmental conditions such that the seeds that are dormant in the soil can germinate and grow
Luckily, many people in the field of ecosystem restoration understand this now. I’ll give you some rational, practical examples.
Las Gaviotas
In Las Gaviotas, Colombia, they have been building a local, vibrant economy on restored ecosystems for more than 30 years now. It is a great example of how people work together with the land and create nature-based solutions with benefits for the biodiversity and local economy.
In the early 1980s, Gaviotas began planting a Caribbean pine tree in the otherwise barren llanos of eastern Colombia. These trees were able to survive in the highly acidic soil with the help of mycorrhizal fungus applied to their roots. The processing of tree resin provided an income for the community and the trees provided shade. And as it turned out, the shade was the best benefit of all.
Observation made clear that the shade gave the right conditions for dormant rainforest seeds in the soil to germinate. And now the pines are slowly being crowded out by the regeneration of indigenous species.
It turns out that the non-local tree species that were planted, like the palm trees, aren’t there for the long run, anyway. They turned out to be infertile. They cannot procreate. So, this way nature makes sure the ecosystems are recreated right for the local land. Nature knows so much better how to do this than we humans do.
Regeneration at her best. A succession of plants at her best. Evolution at her best. Abundanism!
The pines are slowly being crowded out by the regeneration of indigenous species
The Sinai Desert
The holistic engineers of the Weathermakers are working together with the locals of Egypt to restore the ecosystem of the Sinai desert. It is a hugely ambitious project stabilizing the climate of a large area and perhaps even the whole world.
Complexity is about butterfly wings creating storms on the other side of the planet. Complexity is about feeling, understanding, and finding the acupuncture points of change. Complexity is about creating new conditions in which the world can thrive. Humans can thrive and other species can thrive.
These holistic engineers are of course working closely with Egyptian communities. Elders. Wise people who know the land. And they use their engineering skills to make large-scale ecosystem restoration possible. They dredge the sediments of the lake where all the soil flushed towards and put it back on the land. Planting trees in key places to create the right conditions. And letting the dormant seeds in the soil do the rest.
Ecosystem restoration can be stabilizing the climate of a large area and perhaps even the whole world
Wetlands in Indonesia
In the north of Java, a beautiful project of wetlands restoration has become a showcase example for many other restoration projects along coasts that want to adapt to climate change. I visited Demak a while ago and wrote about this excellent nature-based solution.
The consortium of Building with Nature builds bamboo dams to trap sediments that arrive on ocean waves. These sediments create the right condition for the soil to make dormant seeds germinate. And now biodiverse mangrove forests are being rebuilt. Protecting the coast. Recreating land.
In collaboration with nature. With elders and their communities. Combined with ecological fish farming. Creating opportunities for the local economy with food and other products. They make vegan ‘prawn’ crackers from the mangrove leaves for instance.
I tasted them. A real delicacy!
My talks with Indonesian locals made me realize though that sometimes my romantic nature is of more use than local, indigenous knowledge to create nature-based solutions. The most important elder of the villages was definitely not impressed.
He said literally that the hard, concrete dams were a better solution. They just couldn’t afford the concrete and thus settled for the solutions their government gave them. He liked the perceived safety behind concrete. According to him, concrete was definitely the best way to go.
Luckily, the young Indonesian project manager was patient with all opinions. He inspired. He motivated. He trained. And he shifted mindsets. I loved Pak Eko’s approach to education and inspiration. I really think that sometimes young people remember better what it’s like to be connected to nature than some older ones…
And I’m glad that the lead partner in this project, Wetlands International, gives such a high priority to social skills. It is the only way to make nature-based solutions successful in the long run.
“Dancing and Daring with Diversity” — Abundanism
Conclusions
- Seeds are always stronger than planted trees
- Create conditions instead of creating forests by just planting
- Planted trees provide shade quickly. And it gives the local community motivation. Providing food and an income. But please, design wisely. Let natural regeneration do the rest
- Social skills are most important to include all visions and make it happen without fights about who’s right
- Local elders should always play a strong role in all projects, whether they remember their connection to that land or not. And young, local people should play a strong role too…
Want to connect? You can subscribe to our newsletter on our website Abundanism.com or find me on social media. I’ll be somewhere on our beautiful planet, with my hands in the soil and my eyes gazing at quantum leaps towards a better future. Thank you, Mike, for adding your wise energy to my words.
© Désirée Driesenaar
