How This Woman Transformed Desert Into Lush Forest!

something completely unexpected is happening in the Mexican desert because growing in a remote part of this extremely hot dry harsh and sandy desert region against all the odds there is a thriving lush green forest thriving in a desert region that only receives 1.6 in of rainfall a year and where temperatures can be well over 30° C all year round which is why we have come all this way to find out how and why this unique and unusual Forest is growing in the desert hey guys we're here in vaja California and today we're going to go see something truly amazing it's a forest growing in the desert this Majestic African bab tree is not growing where it normally does in fact it's set in a location where it shouldn't be growing at all in the Mexican desert known as the Tree of Life this endangered highly symbolic tree is pretty rare in the first place so why is it growing here surrounded by a landscape of sand and Cactus well it turns out it was planted 26 years ago from seed by this woman ketsia copel cman whose life's Mission has been to create a forest with one of the most unique collections of trees in the world this is one of the oldest tree we have it's about 25 yeah 25 26 years old yeah grandfather Baba connected to Mother Africa these trees get to be huge a whole Community Embraces a tree like this it's fully edible the leaves are edible the seeds the fruit the flowers we travel deep into the Mexican desert to see a forest similar to the ancient jungle forests of the Meer in the Amazon on the way we passed by the official line of the Tropic of Cancer where we stopped to have a look the Tropic of Cancer runs through some of the hottest and driest deserts in the [Music] world when we arrived ketsia met us outside her new restaurant before taking us on a tour around the property to show us some of the incredible trees she's growing there explain how it was even possible to grow a forest in the desert in the first place kiter is part of a new movement gaining popularity around the world for growing and restoring forests the world has lost more than 13d of its forests with half of this loss occurring in the last century removing the forests cuts off the water cycle in a region drying up rivers and streams stopping the rain which leads to drought in extreme temperatures completely changing the climate Wildlife is decimated and the land becomes a Barren desert which is why people around the world are growing forests to reverse these Trends and because Kia's Forest is at the same latitude as the Sahara Arabian and Indian deserts she is a leading example of how to grow forests in the hottest deserts in the world what's happening in places like in the Amazon where they're cing the forest and now there is drought and heat and extreme temperatures instead of that here you have a microclimate places like this make the water available the roots that tap into the water table bring the water up and this is what happening to this area Kia is a landscaper and Gardener who makes School Gardens and Community Gardens with indigenous communities in Ecuador and Mexico and in 1998 she started planting seeds to grow a forest in the Mexican desert with her late husband Gabriel howth Pioneer of the organic food movement a native sea conservationist the forest is called Brenan Fortuna Gardens it's 11 acres in size it's located in laberi Era in Baja California and is part of the Sonoran Desert where it doesn't rain for 315 days of the year the forest has a unique collection of extraordinary trees and plants from all over the world these are yuu yuu is known as the Tre of immortality that's a African sausage tree that's a medicinal plant against Roma thism yeah there's the PS you have to uh ferment it and cook it this is an aarda I have a whole collection of AAS we have some of the VAR is that are from Australia some from Madagascar so it's very easy to reproduce by cins so a little piece of that you can make a new plant from a small piece this is a Sab tree it's a secret tree for the Mayan people it's the Tree of Life they call it it fell down in one of the urans but now is making it some forest look at these branches they get to be 200 over 200t high and as they go up also the roots can go you know 200 foot in the ground and the knots are edible the seed tiny and the leaves all of those leaves are edible there's food that's why it's a food Forest there's a lot of edible leaves here one of the most remarkable things about this Forest is its huge variety of fruit trees there's an assortment of tropical fruits and citrus fruits from all over the world some you will know and many you've probably never heard of it was designed by ketsia and Gabriel so there is always several fruits to harvest all year round this type of planting is known as a food Forest a food Forest also called a forest garden is a diverse planting of edible plants that attempts to mimic the ecosystems and patterns found in nature and because they have so many permanent plants growing together naturalistically over time the soil becomes extremely fertile in this experiment you can see that the soil from a forest is far more fertile than the soil in an average farm for example which means that in a food Forest the yields are higher and the food they produce is much healthier for us because the healthier soil improves and increases the quality and amount of nutrients vitamins and minerals in the fruits this food Forest is pretty much 100% useful it's been recently proven that the areas of wilderness with jungles and forests that scientists once thought were simply wild and uninhabited like the Amazon and areas of the Maya biosphere in Mexico Guatamala and B because of the high density of useful plants were actually highly cultivated and managed by humans who were using the trees and plants to survive because so many of the trees and plants growing in what we thought were wild jungles were and still are used by people in those regions for food medicine and construction we have over 3,000 plants species like 2,500 of them are edible medicinal and useful plants we have plants to make textiles plants for colors or even construction and so here's an area that is wild like naturally wild like we haven't done anything here the forest also hugely benefits Wildlife by providing much needed habitat and food sources because Kia designed the forest to a Wildlife Reserve and combined her tree planting with untouched natural areas we have foxes we have racons and on this area in particular I seen the links there's like a it's not huge it's a little bigger than a cat that a regular cat but that's kind of like his ter his territory here I will tell you one of my favorite places these are roots of a vine this is nature connect with the roots we have a lot of native plants CU it's important to maintain the native and whatever we bring in that is from other parts of the world is in a such a way that is like harmonic to the natives but what are the dangers of introducing potentially invasive species into this very specific desert ecosystem to our need these are n baby NES I have to pay attention to those you know as much as they are good for organic agriculture they can be an invasive species pser is very informed and diligent about all of the plants they're cultivating and how different species affect the environment and where and how they are grown and managed everything depends where you growing the things what's an invasive species is a plant that grows way too good and it becomes territorial you know and he grows so many seeds that he wants to take over but it's about the management of the plant and also having the Consciousness and the responsibility of the plants that you are introducing to an area so how has it been possible to grow a forest of tropical trees from all over the world in one of the hottest and driest deserts in Mexico but it comes down to the geography of this fascinating place the forest is located in Baja California the very long Peninsula on Mexico's West Coast although the landscape is mostly desert running through the center of the peninsula is a unique mountain range called the Sierra de Laguna the height of these mountains means the temperature is a lot cooler and it supports completely different ecosystems made up of pine forests and Native oak trees when the coastal regions can be hot and dry in contrast the mountains can be covered in rain clouds the severe climate in Baha also entails an extreme hurricane season and between June and October of each year severe storms region from the Pacific Ocean which drench the the the Laguna Mountain range in a day of torrential rain that then floods down its huge seasonal River beds therefore due to these mountains and the hurricane season there is a surprisingly good supply of water there are lakes rivers that run all year Springs and an abundance of groundwater stored in the aquifers deep underground so in a handful of spots around the peninsula mostly along its seasonal riverbeds it's possible to access water all year round by digging Wells so everything has drip irrigation the water comes in every other day the main artery bring water to every single part of the gardens obviously the bow B with the little line of one dripper is not enough but when you look at a tree that size he's already tapping into the water table is the small plants that need the initial tending this is the forest farming area where ketsia produces a wide range of herbs and vegetables I mean the soil here is really not that rich but it has some organic material but it's very Sandy so we put compost to it then I also plant cover crops in the season like green manure crops next to the farm has to be the largest composting area we have ever seen one of the advantages of having so many trees is the endless of supply of organic material like leaves and branches it produces for composting which helps enormously to fertilize this sandy soil KET here is a wealth of knowledge about everything to do with trees and plants from how to grow them to all the different things you can use them for including when to harvest them and their medicinal properties the best time to harvest your herbs is early in the morning because as soon as the sun touches the plants then all the oils become a ailable you know all the nutrients are up and then as the day progresses and the sun continues to touch the plants there is evaporation of the oils and then like if you harvest this in the evening it's obviously not going to be the same quality that if you do it at 8 or 9 A.M the future of the forest is in good hands this is Kar ky's 17-year-old son having grown up in the forest his parents were creating he has the wealth of knowledge and experience that's very rare for someone his age if you want to see more of the forest and Cat all and meet some of the rest of ky's family watch our other video we made here thanks for watching

Channel: Leaf of Life

Views: 266,866

Keywords: baja california, carbon credits, carbon credits forestry, desert, desert explorer, desert terraforming, facts verse, finance, global warming, heart warming, hottest places on earth, life story, make money from home, make money online, make money online 2024, mexico, off grid, off grid backcountry adventures, off grid life, off grid living, off grid living homesteading, off grid power, reforestation investment, regenerative agriculture documentary, sahara, sonoran desert

Id: GPJggoGwtu8

Length: 13min 15sec (795 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 10 2024