People Fixing The World: The man who grew a rainforest
He couldn't bear to watch the Amazon rainforest get cut down – so he grew a rainforest of his own.Download the People Fixing The World podcast for more: https://bbc.in/3bHnTFV
Posted by BBC World Service on Friday, 3 April 2020
Regrowing the rainforest
It has taken him 40 years, but Omar Tello has turned a patch of exhausted farmland in Ecuador back into the rainforest. One of his biggest challenges was repairing the soil. His land was so degraded he had to make enough new soil – from unwanted wood shavings and chicken manure – to cover the entire plot. That alone took about 15 years.
He also traveled deep into the Amazon for days at a time, looking for seeds and plants he could rescue. Now his forest is flourishing and the wildlife has returned – it is home to snakes, toucans, monkeys, and many other animals. And he is sharing what he has learned to encourage others to protect the rainforests instead of cutting them down.
Presented and produced by Jo Mathys.