What if humanity already knows how to restore the ecosystems we have degraded? For more than three decades, filmmaker and ecologist John D. Liu has documented some of the world’s most ambitious efforts to bring damaged landscapes back to life. His work on the restoration of China’s Loess Plateau showed him something that would shape the rest of his life: large-scale ecological degradation is not necessarily irreversible. So if we know that restoration is possible, why aren’t we doing it everywhere? In this conversation, John takes us from the Loess Plateau to the possibility of restoring the Sinai Peninsula and even parts of the Sahara. We explore how vegetation, soil, biodiversity and the water cycle interact; why degraded landscapes struggle to retain water; and what happens when ecological function becomes the starting point for how we manage land. But John’s argument goes much further than restoring individual landscapes. We discuss why our economic system often rewards extraction rather than ecological health, why GDP is such an incomplete measure of wealth, whether perennial polycultures could reshape our food system, and what it would mean to organise human civilisation around restoring the living systems on which we depend. John also reflects on ageing, responsibility, his friendship with Jane Goodall, the creation of the Ecosystem Restoration Communities movement, and his work as an Ecosystem Ambassador for Commonland. At 73, after decades spent travelling the world documenting both ecological destruction and extraordinary recovery, John remains convinced of something profoundly hopeful: 👉 Humans don’t have to be a destructive force on this planet. We can become a restorative one 👈 This episode was produced in partnership with Commonland, a global organisation working to enable large-scale landscape restoration through its holistic Four Returns approach. ⎯⎯⎯ 🎙️ JOHN D. LIU John D. Liu is a filmmaker, ecologist and ecosystem restoration advocate whose documentaries have helped bring global attention to the potential for large-scale landscape restoration. ✨ COMMONLAND Commonland is a global organisation working to restore degraded landscapes at scale. Through its Four Returns framework, Commonland brings together local communities, farmers, businesses, governments and investors to build healthy and resilient landscapes for generations to come. https://commonland.com/ ✨ THE DEEP SEED The Deep Seed is a podcast exploring the people, ideas and solutions helping regenerate our food systems and ecosystems. Through long-form conversations with farmers, scientists, entrepreneurs and leading thinkers, we explore how we can build a healthier relationship with the living world. 🔔 Subscribe for more conversations on regenerative agriculture, soil health, ecosystem restoration, biodiversity and the future of food.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

Related