In 2012, The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed March 21 the International Day of Forests.
The Day raises awareness of the importance of forests. The organizers, United Nations Forum on Forests, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, and other organizations, encourage tree-planting and other celebratory events.
This year’s theme is Forests and Biodiversity.
In this short film, “The Lives of Others”, we learn about farmers in India who are returning to sustainable and cooperative forms of agriculture. This sustainable form of agriculture provides many benefits, including food, steady income, and ecological security.
The farmers are villagers who work in a cooperative system. As a cooperative, when someone needs help, they are welcome to join the collective and help plant the seed and saplings. They also share financially.
Farmers traditionally use a patch of land with many crops. They have moved away from chemical fertilizers. They learned the chemicals killed the soil and worms and insects. By returning to organic forms of fertilizers and pest control, farmers dramatically cut input costs and increase profits. Organic fertilizers, made with organic manure and prepared with cow dung, bring the soil alive and produce higher yields.
ActionAid India supports several thousand farmers and their collectives practicing cooperative and sustainable forms of agriculture.
Biodome grown and nurtured fruit trees offer a sustainable food source. A series of biodome video teach viewers how to maximize growth potential and minimize maintenance by planting long-lived food-producing fruit trees. The video series feature Daley’s Fruit Tree Nursery.
Daley’s Fruit Tree Nursery is a family-run business that grows fruit year-round via their Biodome. The business was founded by Greg Daley 25 years ago. He wanted to start a fruit tree nursery that supplied subtropical fruit, nut and rainforest trees across Australia.
Over the years, the nursery has survived a number of droughts and economic downturns. Downturns have been viewed as challenges to improve business systems, such as the installation of water recycling and sand filtration system.