The Agroforestry Tipping Point. When the work is worth it! (with video)
Getting to the tipping point...
I'll be blunt here.
The transition to a productive and diverse agroforestry system from a monoculture is not easy at the beginning. Actually, it's flippin' hard. It's not just about planting trees, vines, and shrubs and watching them grow. In many cases, especially in the wet tropics where soil compaction and erosion wreak havoc on the soil biome in the absence of a forest canopy.
As this video shows, the difference between the first year and a few years on can be a true transformation. But be patient. Remember that life makes the conditions for more life possible. The return of diversity brings a balance of microbial and wildlife helpers that monocultures and other biosphere unsuitable farming systems all but destroy.
At some point--and when it happens depends on your climate, crops and other factors--BUT a time WILL come when the tasks and costs begin to go down. Way down. And then the rewards start to come. Not just the crops and revenue, but the pleasure of working in the shade of the tree canopy, watching a host of birds, lizards, and frogs take care of "pests" for you. The day will come.
Hang in there. It's so worth it.
At Sueño de Vida we work in a meaningful way to heal land ravaged by deforestation. How meaningful? According to a recent UN Foresight Brief on climate change,
--It is of the utmost importance to stop deforestation and to increase reforestation efforts around the world. Agricultural practices should focus on soil building, year-round soil cover with plants and the use of agroforestry methods.
That is exactly what we do here at SdV. You can help by helping us do what we do every day: plant forests that nurture soil, people, and community.
Click HERE to donate directly to our reforestation fund OR make a monthly pledge on our Patreon.
Thank you.
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Kristen Krash is the director and co-founder of Sueño de Vida, a regenerative agroforestry farm, education center, nature reserve in Ecuador’s Chocó Andino Cloudforest. Prior to moving, Kristen was known for her guerrilla gardens — productive green spaces she created in any available space. Now an urban transplant in the South American rain forest, she has adapted her urban gardening and sustainability skills to large-scale reforestation of degraded land. She takes a practical and accessible approach to helping others achieve more balance and self-sufficiency in their lives.
Kristen’s articles and interviews have been featured on popular sustainability platforms like Abundant Edge and The Mud Home, and in the Rainforest Regeneration Curriculum at the Ecological Restoration Camps.