Section 3: Fast & Easy Ways to Help Heal Earth

The stage is set. We now have enough background information to understand how the systems of photosynthesis and soil formation work, and how they affect water availability, carbon sequestration, and all other life on land. We also understand how we are damaging these systems and causing incredible harm to other life and Earth as a whole. Now what?

It’s time for hope and action! Let’s learn new landscape paradigms and practices that help heal Earth by addressing the issues we read about in the previous section. The new approach is simple: increase photosynthesis and build soil. Plant native trees, flowers, and grasses. Help them attain a long, healthy life. Preserve existing and mature trees. Get rid of lawns. Stop using fertilizers and harmful chemicals. Do everything we can to increase the diversity and abundance of life. From here on, I’m going to use the term outrageous diversity (a term from Michael Phillips, author of Mycorrhizal Planet) when referring to the diversity and abundance of life.

We can use the land where we live, work, and play to foster powerful natural systems and help heal Earth. These systems have been tried and true for millennia. More native trees and flowers means more photosynthesis, which means more soil, more water, more life, and less CO₂ in the atmosphere. Indeed, there are great case studies demonstrating this point. Here are two of my favorites:

1. Yacouba Sawadogo is a farmer from Burkina Faso who transformed a section of the Sahara into forest and positively impacted the lives of many members of his community. A film called The Man Who Stopped the Desert was made about this work.
2. John Liu worked with the Chinese government and the local population to turn a dry, exhausted wasteland called Loess Plateau (an area the size of the Netherlands) into a green oasis. Here is a case study about this project:

I hope this section and those that follow bring you more free time, more joy, and the satisfaction that comes with making positive change. It’s a triple win and it all starts with the ground under our feet.