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Shubhendu Sharma: How to grow a forest in your backyard
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Forests don't have to be far-flung nature reserves, isolated from human life. Instead, we can grow them right where we are -- even in cities. Eco-entrepreneur and TED Fellow Shubhendu Sharma grows ultra-dense, biodiverse mini-forests of native species in urban areas by engineering soil, microbes and biomass to kickstart natural growth processes. Follow along as he describes how to grow a 100-year-old forest in just 10 years, and learn how you can get in on this tiny jungle party.
Shubhendu Sharma - Eco-entrepreneur
Shubhendu Sharma creates afforestation methods that make it easy to plant maintenance-free, wild and biodiverse forests. Full bio
Shubhendu Sharma creates afforestation methods that make it easy to plant maintenance-free, wild and biodiverse forests. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
This is a man-made forest.
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It can spread over acres
and acres of area,
and acres of area,
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or it could fit in a small space --
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as small as your house garden.
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Each of these forests
is just two years old.
is just two years old.
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I have a forest in the backyard
of my own house.
of my own house.
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It attracts a lot of biodiversity.
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(Bird call)
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I wake up to this every morning,
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like a Disney princess.
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(Laughter)
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I am an entrepreneur
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who facilitates the making
of these forests professionally.
of these forests professionally.
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We have helped factories,
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farms,
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schools,
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homes,
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resorts,
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apartment buildings,
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public parks
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and even a zoo
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to have one of such forests.
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A forest is not an isolated piece of land
where animals live together.
where animals live together.
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A forest can be an integral part
of our urban existence.
of our urban existence.
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A forest, for me,
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is a place so dense with trees
that you just can't walk into it.
that you just can't walk into it.
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It doesn't matter
how big or small they are.
how big or small they are.
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Most of the world
we live in today was forest.
we live in today was forest.
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This was before human intervention.
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Then we built up our cities
on those forests,
on those forests,
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like São Paulo,
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forgetting that we belong
to nature as well,
to nature as well,
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as much as 8.4 million
other species on the planet.
other species on the planet.
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Our habitat stopped being
our natural habitat.
our natural habitat.
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But not anymore for some of us.
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A few others and I today make
these forests professionally --
these forests professionally --
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anywhere and everywhere.
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I'm an industrial engineer.
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I specialize in making cars.
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In my previous job at Toyota,
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I learned how to convert
natural resources into products.
natural resources into products.
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To give you an example,
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we would drip the sap
out of a rubber tree,
out of a rubber tree,
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convert it into raw rubber
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and make a tire out of it -- the product.
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But these products can never
become a natural resource again.
become a natural resource again.
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We separate the elements from nature
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and convert them
into an irreversible state.
into an irreversible state.
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That's industrial production.
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Nature, on the other hand,
works in a totally opposite way.
works in a totally opposite way.
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The natural system produces
by bringing elements together,
by bringing elements together,
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atom by atom.
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All the natural products
become a natural resource again.
become a natural resource again.
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This is something which I learned
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when I made a forest
in the backyard of my own house.
in the backyard of my own house.
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And this was the first time
I worked with nature,
I worked with nature,
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rather than against it.
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Since then,
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we have made 75 such forests
in 25 cities across the world.
in 25 cities across the world.
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Every time we work at a new place,
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we find that every single element
needed to make a forest
needed to make a forest
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is available right around us.
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All we have to do is to bring
these elements together
these elements together
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and let nature take over.
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To make a forest we start with soil.
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We touch, feel and even taste it
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to identify what properties it lacks.
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If the soil is made up of small particles
it becomes compact --
it becomes compact --
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so compact, that water cannot seep in.
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We mix some local biomass
available around,
available around,
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which can help soil become more porous.
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Water can now seep in.
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If the soil doesn't have
the capacity to hold water,
the capacity to hold water,
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we will mix some more biomass --
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some water-absorbent material
like peat or bigas,
like peat or bigas,
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so soil can hold this water
and it stays moist.
and it stays moist.
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To grow, plants need water,
sunlight and nutrition.
sunlight and nutrition.
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What if the soil doesn't have
any nutrition in it?
any nutrition in it?
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We don't just add nutrition
directly to the soil.
directly to the soil.
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That would be the industrial way.
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It goes against nature.
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We instead add microorganisms to the soil.
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They produce the nutrients
in the soil naturally.
in the soil naturally.
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They feed on the biomass
we have mixed in the soil,
we have mixed in the soil,
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so all they have to do
is eat and multiply.
is eat and multiply.
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And as their number grows,
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the soil starts breathing again.
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It becomes alive.
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We survey the native
tree species of the place.
tree species of the place.
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How do we decide what's native or not?
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Well, whatever existed
before human intervention is native.
before human intervention is native.
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That's the simple rule.
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We survey a national park
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to find the last remains
of a natural forest.
of a natural forest.
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We survey the sacred groves,
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or sacred forests around old temples.
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And if we don't find anything at all,
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we go to museums
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to see the seeds or wood of trees
existing there a long time ago.
existing there a long time ago.
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We research old paintings,
poems and literature from the place,
poems and literature from the place,
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to identify the tree species
belonging there.
belonging there.
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Once we know our trees,
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we divide them in four different layers:
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shrub layer, sub-tree layer,
tree layer and canopy layer.
tree layer and canopy layer.
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We fix the ratios of each layer,
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and then we decide the percentage
of each tree species in the mix.
of each tree species in the mix.
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If we are making a fruit forest,
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we increase the percentage
of fruit-bearing trees.
of fruit-bearing trees.
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It could be a flowering forest,
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a forest that attracts
a lot of birds or bees,
a lot of birds or bees,
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or it could simply be a native,
wild evergreen forest.
wild evergreen forest.
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We collect the seeds
and germinate saplings out of them.
and germinate saplings out of them.
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We make sure that trees
belonging to the same layer
belonging to the same layer
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are not planted next to each other,
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or they will fight for the same
vertical space when they grow tall.
vertical space when they grow tall.
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We plant the saplings close to each other.
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On the surface, we spread
a thick layer of mulch,
a thick layer of mulch,
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so when it's hot outside
the soil stays moist.
the soil stays moist.
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When it's cold,
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frost formation happens only on the mulch,
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so soil can still breathe
while it's freezing outside.
while it's freezing outside.
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The soil is very soft --
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so soft, that roots
can penetrate into it easily,
can penetrate into it easily,
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rapidly.
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Initially, the forest doesn't
seem like it's growing,
seem like it's growing,
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but it's growing under the surface.
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In the first three months,
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roots reach a depth of one meter.
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These roots form a mesh,
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tightly holding the soil.
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Microbes and fungi live
throughout this network of roots.
throughout this network of roots.
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So if some nutrition is not available
in the vicinity of a tree,
in the vicinity of a tree,
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these microbes are going to get
the nutrition to the tree.
the nutrition to the tree.
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Whenever it rains,
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magically,
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mushrooms appear overnight.
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And this means the soil below
has a healthy fungal network.
has a healthy fungal network.
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Once these roots are established,
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forest starts growing on the surface.
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As the forest grows we keep watering it --
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for the next two to three years,
we water the forest.
we water the forest.
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We want to keep all the water
and soil nutrition only for our trees,
and soil nutrition only for our trees,
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so we remove the weeds
growing on the ground.
growing on the ground.
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As this forest grows,
it blocks the sunlight.
it blocks the sunlight.
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Eventually, the forest becomes so dense
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that sunlight can't reach
the ground anymore.
the ground anymore.
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Weeds cannot grow now,
because they need sunlight as well.
because they need sunlight as well.
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At this stage,
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every single drop of water
that falls into the forest
that falls into the forest
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doesn't evaporate back
into the atmosphere.
into the atmosphere.
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This dense forest condenses the moist air
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and retains its moisture.
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We gradually reduce and eventually
stop watering the forest.
stop watering the forest.
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And even without watering,
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the forest floor stays moist
and sometimes even dark.
and sometimes even dark.
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Now, when a single leaf
falls on this forest floor,
falls on this forest floor,
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it immediately starts decaying.
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This decayed biomass forms humus,
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which is food for the forest.
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As the forest grows,
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more leaves fall on the surface --
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it means more humus is produced,
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it means more food so the forest
can grow still bigger.
can grow still bigger.
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And this forest keeps
growing exponentially.
growing exponentially.
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Once established,
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these forests are going to regenerate
themselves again and again --
themselves again and again --
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probably forever.
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In a natural forest like this,
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no management is the best management.
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It's a tiny jungle party.
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(Laughter)
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This forest grows as a collective.
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If the same trees --
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same species --
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would have been planted independently,
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it wouldn't grow so fast.
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And this is how we create
a 100-year-old forest
a 100-year-old forest
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in just 10 years.
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Thank you very much.
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09:05
(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Shubhendu Sharma - Eco-entrepreneurShubhendu Sharma creates afforestation methods that make it easy to plant maintenance-free, wild and biodiverse forests.
Why you should listen
Industrial engineer Shubhendu Sharma was working at Toyota in India when he met Japanese forest expert Akira Miyawaki, who'd arrived to plant a forest at the factory, using a methodology he'd developed to make a forest grow ten times faster that normal. Fascinated, Sharma interned with Miyawaki, and grew his first successful forest on a small plot behind a house.
Today, his company Afforestt promotes a standardized method for seeding dense, fast-growing, native forests in barren lands, using his car-manufacturing acumen to create a system allowing a multilayer forest of 300 trees to grow on an area as small as the parking spaces of six cars -- for less than the price of an iPhone. Afforestt has helped grow forests at homes, schools and factories. Sharma seen improvement in air quality, an increase in biodiversity -- and the forests even generate fresh fruit. Afforestt is at work on a platform that will offer hardware probes to analyze soil quality, allowing the company to offer step-by-step instructions for anyone who wants to grow a native forest anywhere in the world.
Shubhendu Sharma | Speaker | TED.com