EARTH & US:
Spring Equinox — Regenerating Earth
As the forsythia and daffodils brighten the landscape and tiny green seedlings emerge from the soil, I am studying regeneration. Can we humans bring balance to this way of life in which we’ve so hugely overstepped earth’s boundaries? What would it take to make this shift from exploitation, pollution and destruction, to living in harmony and symbiosis with the great systems of the soil food web and the hydrological cycle? How can regenerative practices not only feed people, but help solve the climate crisis, and care for other creatures as well?
Indigenous peoples knew how to thrive without destroying the topsoil, without cutting down whole forests, without driving other species extinct, without fouling the air and water, and without impoverishing one another or the land. Far from being “ignorant savages,” they understood and had reverence for ecosystems and related to other living beings, including plants, as sisters and brothers, not as “things.” Our Mother is the Earth.
On this sacred day, let us pray for all of us to awaken to our true nature, connectedness to our earth and soil and water, and kin of all species! And awaken to our desire to care for our Mother who feeds us, and for the clean water that gives us life, and for one another, however flawed we are. What beautiful vision, o spirits of the East, can you hold for us? A world where all neighbors are able to share resources like the electric power from a handful of solar panels on tin-roofed shacks in Bangladesh today? Where gardens flourish in the neighborhoods, like Incredible Edible Toddmorden, England? People joining in large scale efforts to restore devastated lands everywhere and bring back the water cycle, while helping draw down carbon from the atmosphere?
According to Dr. Vandana Shiva, 50% of greenhouse gases come from fossil-fuel-based agriculture, which includes not only the fuel for giant machines, but the tillage of the land (releasing huge plumes of CO2), and the application of “green revolution” fertilizers and pesticides synthesized from methane and chemicals left over from war. In fact, the “green revolution” is a war upon the soil, killing the micro- and macro-organisms that provide natural fertility and structure to hold water. These chemicals require 10 times more water to grow food; this has led to a widespread water crisis. Deforestation causes another 20% of greenhouse gas emissions. Industrial agriculture leads to desertification and erosion.
Regenerative agriculture is the answer. Diversity of crops allows for relationships among species and a symbiotic relationship with insects. Returning organic matter to the earth, through composting, is where we can repair the broken cycle of nitrogen. Planting species that fix nitrogen naturally, such as legumes, also restores the soil nitrogen in a healthy way which does not lead to polluting runoff that kills fish.
A key aspect of regenerating soil is “no-till.” Tillage has led to massive erosion of topsoil. Soil left bare will erode with heavy rains, taking nutrients with it. Tilling the soil destroys the soil food web, as well as compacting the deeper layers. Only if the soil is badly compacted should it be broken up initially before planting. Better ways include use of cover crops, which can be cut down and planted into; layering on manure, compost and straw.
“When we add more nutrients to our soil, we solve nutrient deficiencies in people,” says Shiva. “Food is the currency of life.”
Dr. Elaine Ingham is widely regarded as a preeminent soil scientist, founder of the Soil Food Web Institute. She teaches how the interaction of bacteria, fungi, nematodes, protozoa, and arthropods create healthy soil. Plant roots release sugars into the soil, attracting bacteria and fungi, who release soluble nutrients in a form plants can take up: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, sulfur, and more. Other organisms eat fungi and bacteria, and poop out nutrients for plants.
John Liu documented on film, the process of re-greening and regenerating the Loess Plateau in China. It was done in major part by the impoverished residents of this desertified land. The terracing to hold the water, the amendments to build soil, the work of many hands, yielded the lush green of today and a vastly improved life for its residents. The Loess plateau was the birthplace of Chinese civilization; it was settled 1.5 million years ago and is nearly the size of France. Too many years of tilling and grazing crops on the land had devastated it. The people lived in desperate poverty. Overgrazing led to erosion and gullies. $10 million was invested over 5 years, including subsidies to the hardworking farmers. They decreased the area in cultivation, with higher yields. Trees, dams, and sediment traps were added. Much land was left in natural systems, especially trees.
Soil temperatures fell as trees and vegetation were planted; up to a 45 degree difference can be observed between bare sand and vegetated areas. Vegetation, mainly trees, cause gentler, more frequent precipitation on the parched land. Roots hold water, and soil organisms like bacteria and fungi help feed the plants. Dehydrated biomes were rehydrated!
Our civilizations have failed over human history, often for the loss of biodiversity, biomass, and functionality of ecosystems. “Restoration is the great work of our time,” says Liu. To be functional, a landscape must be accumulative, sustainable, and renewable. He went on to found Earth Restoration Camps. There are over 2 billion hectares of degraded land, worldwide, he estimates. In just 3 years, 34 Ecosystem Restoration Camps have been formed around the world, to take on this task.
“When we don’t value nature, the incentive is to degrade the land,” he says. Valuing production, consumption, and speculation over nature has led to our loss of true wealth, which alone can sustain us, and can only come from natural ecosystems. “Multidimensional, symbiotic systems lead to biodiversity, and a healthier landscape,” says Liu.
Zach Weiss, a permaculturist and student of legendary Austrian Sepp Holzer, focuses on restoring the water cycle to regenerate earth. In the natural hydrological cycle, trees drive the “pump.” Trees transpire water vapor, “making their own rain.” Rain falls on cooler surfaces such as forests and land covered with plants — not as much on bare earth, buildings or pavement, which radiate too much heat. What rain does fall in cities runs off into storm drains and rivers; it has no opportunity to recharge the soil or the aquifers beneath it. Humans dehydrate the landscape. One-third of the earth’s surface has been desertified by humans in the past 10,000 years.
He recounts the efforts of Rajendra Singh, India’s “water man,” who organized people to create small dams (johads) on the landscape to hold water back, slow and sink it. This led to the restoration of 7 rivers, filling of 250,000 dry wells, and people able to farm again.
In the Tamera community in Portugal, there is only one month of rainfall, 11 months of drought; but by installing permaculture design, they were able to retain enough rainfall to create lakes and re-hydrate the landscape.
…With great thanks to the Soil Regeneration Summit, organized by Elaine Ingham’s Soil Food Web School.