This is a man-made forest. It can spread over acres and acres of area, or it could fit in a small space -- as small as your house garden. Age of this forest is just two years old. I have a forest in the backyard of my own house. It attracts a lot of biodiversity.
這是一片人造森林。 它的面積可以大到數英畝, 或小到 -- 就像你家的花園那麼小。 這些森林都僅有兩年之久。 在我自家的後院也有一片森林, 它帶來了可觀的生物多樣性。
(Bird call)
(鳥鳴)
I wake up to this every morning, like a Disney princess.
我每天早上聽著這個聲音起床, 像個迪士尼的公主一樣,
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
I am an entrepreneur who facilitates the making of these forests professionally. We have helped factories, farms, schools, homes, resorts, apartment buildings, public parks and even a zoo to have one of such forests. A forest is not an isolated piece of land where animals live together. A forest can be an integral part of our urban existence. A forest, for me, is a place so dense with trees that you just can't walk into it. It doesn't matter how big or small they are.
我是一個企業家, 我用專業的方式幫助營造這些森林。 我們幫助過工廠, 農場, 學校, 家庭, 度假勝地, 公寓, 公園, 甚至動物園, 讓他們擁有這樣一片森林。 森林並不是一片只有動物群居 但與世隔絕的土地, 森林可以與我們的城市融為一體。 森林,對我而言, 是一個有著茂密樹木的地方, 樹木多到你沒有辦法走進去。 面積的大小並不重要。
Most of the world we live in today was forest. This was before human intervention. Then we built up our cities on those forests, like São Paulo, forgetting that we belong to nature as well, as much as 8.4 million other species on the planet. Our habitat stopped being our natural habitat. But not anymore for some of us. A few others and I today make these forests professionally -- anywhere and everywhere.
現今,絕大部分我們生活 居住的地方都曾經是森林。 這是在人類干預自然以前。 之後,我們在森林上建造了我們的城市, 比如聖保羅, 忘記了就像地球上其他 八百四十萬個物種一樣, 我們也同屬自然。 我們的棲息地不再是我們的自然棲息地。 但是對於我們中的一些人,這種情況在改變。 我和一些人現在以專業的方式建造森林 -- 在世界各地的任何地方。
I'm an industrial engineer. I specialize in making cars. In my previous job at Toyota, I learned how to convert natural resources into products. To give you an example, we would drip the sap out of a rubber tree, convert it into raw rubber and make a tire out of it -- the product. But these products can never become a natural resource again. We separate the elements from nature and convert them into an irreversible state. That's industrial production.
我是一個工業工程師, 我專門從事汽車製造, 當我以前在豐田工作的時候, 我學會了如何把自然資源變成產品。 舉例來說, 我們收集橡膠樹中流出的汁液, 轉變成生橡膠, 然後做成了輪胎這項產品。 但是這些產品永遠都不能再變回自然資源了。 我們從大自然中分離出各種元素, 將它們轉變成一種不可逆的狀態。 那就是工業生產。
Nature, on the other hand, works in a totally opposite way. The natural system produces by bringing elements together, atom by atom. All the natural products become a natural resource again. This is something which I learned when I made a forest in the backyard of my own house. And this was the first time I worked with nature, rather than against it. Since then, we have made 75 such forests in 25 cities across the world. Every time we work at a new place, we find that every single element needed to make a forest is available right around us. All we have to do is to bring these elements together and let nature take over.
這與大自然的運作方式, 有著天壤之別。 大自然的系統是透過一個一個的原子, 把各種元素匯集起來而製成產品。 所有大自然的產品又會成為自然資源。 這是當我在自家後院 創造那一小片森林的時候, 所學到的東西。 這是我第一次順應自然與其同工, 而不是違背自然而行。 從那以後, 我已經在全世界25個城市 創造了75片這樣的森林。 我們每到一個新的地方工作時, 便會發現創造森林所需的每個元素, 就在我們身邊。 我們需要做的就是把這些元素放在一起, 然後,讓大自然展現它的鬼斧神工。
To make a forest we start with soil. We touch, feel and even taste it to identify what properties it lacks. If the soil is made up of small particles it becomes compact -- so compact, that water cannot seep in. We mix some local biomass available around, which can help soil become more porous. Water can now seep in. If the soil doesn't have the capacity to hold water, we will mix some more biomass -- some water-absorbent material like peat or bagasse, so soil can hold this water and it stays moist.
要創造一片森林,我們從土壤開始。 我們觸摸、感受、甚至品嚐土壤, 從而確定它缺少什麼特質。 如果土壤是由小顆粒組成的,它會變得密實-- 特別密實,以至於水都不能滲入。 我們把當地可用的生物量混合在一起, 這可以幫助土壤變得更疏鬆多孔。 水這時就可以滲入了。 如果土壤沒有涵水能力, 我們就混入更多的生物量 - 一些吸水的生物量,比如泥碳和甘蔗渣, 然後土壤就可以留住水分 並且保持濕潤了。
To grow, plants need water, sunlight and nutrition. What if the soil doesn't have any nutrition in it? We don't just add nutrition directly to the soil. That would be the industrial way. It goes against nature. We instead add microorganisms to the soil. They produce the nutrients in the soil naturally. They feed on the biomass we have mixed in the soil, so all they have to do is eat and multiply. And as their number grows, the soil starts breathing again. It becomes alive.
植物需要水、陽光和養份才能生長。 如果土壤裡沒有養份怎麼辦? 我們不是簡單地把養份直接加到土壤裡。 那是工業的方法。 它是違背自然的。 相反地,我們把微生物加到土壤裡。 它們會自然地在土壤中製造養份。 它們以我們混到土壤中的生物量為食, 它們所需做的就是進食和繁衍。 隨著它們數量的增加, 土壤又開始呼吸了。 它恢復了生命力。
We survey the native tree species of the place. How do we decide what's native or not? Well, whatever existed before human intervention is native. That's the simple rule. We survey a national park to find the last remains of a natural forest. We survey the sacred groves, or sacred forests around old temples. And if we don't find anything at all, we go to museums to see the seeds or wood of trees existing there a long time ago. We research old paintings, poems and literature from the place, to identify the tree species belonging there.
我們調查當地的土生樹種。 我們如何確定樹種是不是土生的? 任何存在於人類干預自然以前的植物 都是土生的。 這是一個簡單的法則。 我們勘查了一個國家公園 找到最後一片自然森林的殘跡。 我們調查了神聖的樹林, 或是古老寺廟旁邊神聖的森林。 如果我們什麼都沒有找到, 我們就去博物館 去看種子或者很久以前就在那裡的樹木木材。 我們研究那個地方的古畫、詩歌和文學作品, 來確定屬於那裡的樹種。
Once we know our trees, we divide them in four different layers: shrub layer, sub-tree layer, tree layer and canopy layer. We fix the ratios of each layer, and then we decide the percentage of each tree species in the mix. If we are making a fruit forest, we increase the percentage of fruit-bearing trees. It could be a flowering forest, a forest that attracts a lot of birds or bees, or it could simply be a native, wild evergreen forest.
一旦我們了解了樹種, 我們就把它們分成四層: 灌木層,亞喬木層,喬木層和樹冠層。 我們確定每一層的比例, 然後我們確定混合森林中 每一個樹種的百分比。 如果我們要創造一片果樹森林。 我們就增加果樹的百分比。 它可以是一片鮮花盛開的森林, 一片吸引了很多鳥和蜜蜂的森林, 或者它只是一片土生的、野生的長青森林。
We collect the seeds and germinate saplings out of them. We make sure that trees belonging to the same layer are not planted next to each other, or they will fight for the same vertical space when they grow tall. We plant the saplings close to each other. On the surface, we spread a thick layer of mulch, so when it's hot outside the soil stays moist. When it's cold, frost formation happens only on the mulch, so soil can still breathe while it's freezing outside. The soil is very soft -- so soft, that roots can penetrate into it easily, rapidly.
我們收集種子,使其發芽長成幼樹。 我們確保屬於同一層的樹木 不會彼此種在一起, 否則,當它們生長的時候, 它們會爭奪相同高度的空間。 我們把幼樹一棵挨著一棵地種植。 在土壤上,我們鋪一層厚厚的護根物, 所以當外面的天氣很熱的時候, 土壤仍然可以保持濕潤。 當天氣很冷的時候, 霜凍只在護根物上形成, 所以當外面很冷的時候,土壤仍然可以呼吸。 土壤很柔軟 -- 非常柔軟, 所以樹根可以很容易地扎根深入土壤, 而且非常迅速。
Initially, the forest doesn't seem like it's growing, but it's growing under the surface. In the first three months, roots reach a depth of one meter. These roots form a mesh, tightly holding the soil. Microbes and fungi live throughout this network of roots. So if some nutrition is not available in the vicinity of a tree, these microbes are going to get the nutrition to the tree. Whenever it rains, magically, mushrooms appear overnight. And this means the soil below has a healthy fungal network.
最初,森林似乎沒有生長的動靜, 但是在土壤下面,它正生長著。 在前三個月裡, 樹根可以達到一米深。 這些樹根形成一個網, 緊緊地抓牢著土壤。 微生物和真菌生活在樹根形成的這個網裡。 所以假如樹木無法獲取某些養份, 這些微生物就會把養份供應給樹木。 每當下雨的時候, 就像變魔術一樣, 蘑菇一夜之間就長出來了。 這意味著土壤下面有一個健康的真菌網。
Once these roots are established, forest starts growing on the surface. As the forest grows we keep watering it -- for the next two to three years, we water the forest. We want to keep all the water and soil nutrition only for our trees, so we remove the weeds growing on the ground. As this forest grows, it blocks the sunlight. Eventually, the forest becomes so dense that sunlight can't reach the ground anymore. Weeds cannot grow now, because they need sunlight as well.
根系一旦成形穩固, 森林就開始在地面上生長了。 隨著森林生長,我們不停地給它澆水 - 在接下來的兩年到三年裡,我們持續地澆水。 我們想讓樹林充分得到 所有的水份和土壤養份, 所以我們除掉地上的雜草。 當森林不斷地生長,它會擋住陽光。 最終,森林變得很茂密 以至於陽光不能照射到地面。 雜草這個時候就不能生長了, 因為它們也需要陽光。
At this stage, every single drop of water that falls into the forest doesn't evaporate back into the atmosphere. This dense forest condenses the moist air and retains its moisture. We gradually reduce and eventually stop watering the forest. And even without watering, the forest floor stays moist and sometimes even dark. Now, when a single leaf falls on this forest floor, it immediately starts decaying. This decayed biomass forms humus, which is food for the forest. As the forest grows, more leaves fall on the surface -- it means more humus is produced, it means more food so the forest can grow still bigger. And this forest keeps growing exponentially.
在這個階段, 每一滴落入森林的水珠 都不會蒸發回大氣中。 這片茂密的森林凝聚了濕氣 並且保持它的濕度。 我們漸漸減少澆灌森林, 最終停止澆灌。 即使沒有澆灌, 林地也可以保持濕潤、甚至成深色的沃土。 現在,當一片葉子落在林地上時, 它立刻開始腐爛。 這腐爛的生物量形成腐殖質, 成為供給森林所需的養分。 隨著森林不斷生長, 更多的葉子落在地上 -- 這意味著更多的腐殖質產生, 也意謂著更多的食物, 可以讓森林不斷地茁壯生長, 而且是迅速地生長。
Once established, these forests are going to regenerate themselves again and again -- probably forever. In a natural forest like this, no management is the best management. It's a tiny jungle party.
一旦植林成功, 這些森林就可以一遍遍地自我繁衍-- 也許能永續進行。 在這樣的自然森林裡, 沒有管理就是最好的管理。 這是一個小型的叢林派對。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
This forest grows as a collective. If the same trees -- same species -- would have been planted independently, it wouldn't grow so fast. And this is how we create a 100-year-old forest in just 10 years.
這片森林是群聚生長而成的。 如果同樣的樹木-- 同樣的樹種 -- 被獨立種植, 它就不會長得這麼快了。 這就是我們僅在十年內, 就能創造出百歲森林的方法。
Thank you very much.
非常感謝。
(Applause)
(掌聲)