ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Shubhendu Sharma - Eco-entrepreneur
Shubhendu 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.

More profile about the speaker
Shubhendu Sharma | Speaker | TED.com
TED@BCG Paris

Shubhendu Sharma: How to grow a forest in your backyard

休汉度.莎玛: 如何在后院种出一片森林

Filmed:
2,525,103 views

森林不一定是离我们生活十万八千里遥远的自然保护区。相反地,我们可以在自己居住的地方就能种出树林,城市里也可以。生态企业家、TED演讲家休汉度.莎玛(Shubhendu Sharma) 用构建土壤、微生物和生物质来开启成长过程的办法,在城市里种出了一片非常密集、具有生物多样性的迷你森林。我们来听听他是怎样在十年之内种出百年树林的,然后看看我们怎样能开自己的“丛林聚会”吧。
- Eco-entrepreneur
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人造 forest森林.
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这是一片人造树林
00:15
It can spread传播 over acres
and acres of area,
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它能长到几亩地
00:19
or it could fit适合 in a small space空间 --
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也能在一个小的空间生长
00:22
as small as your house garden花园.
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比如你的后花园
00:27
Each of these forests森林
is just two years年份 old.
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这些树林都只生长了两年
00:31
I have a forest森林 in the backyard后院
of my own拥有 house.
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我在自家后院也有一片森林
00:35
It attracts吸引 a lot of biodiversity生物多样性.
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它吸引了很多不同的物种
00:37
(Bird call)
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(鸟鸣声)
00:42
I wake唤醒 up to this every一切 morning早上,
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我每天早上都被鸟鸣声叫醒
00:43
like a Disney迪士尼 princess公主.
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就跟迪士尼电影的公主一样
00:45
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
00:47
I am an entrepreneur企业家
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我是一个企业家
00:48
who facilitates功能有助于 the making制造
of these forests森林 professionally专业.
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专门种植和管理这些树林的企业家
00:52
We have helped帮助 factories工厂,
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我们帮助过工厂
00:54
farms农场,
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农场
00:55
schools学校,
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学校
00:58
homes家园,
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住宅
01:00
resorts度假村,
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度假胜地
01:02
apartment公寓 buildings房屋,
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公寓楼
01:04
public上市 parks公园
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公园
01:06
and even a zoo动物园
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甚至还有动物园
01:08
to have one of such这样 forests森林.
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种植这些树林
01:10
A forest森林 is not an isolated孤立 piece of land土地
where animals动物 live生活 together一起.
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树林可不是一个
只有动物住在一起的孤立的地方
01:16
A forest森林 can be an integral积分 part部分
of our urban城市的 existence存在.
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一片森林可以与我们的城市融为一体
01:22
A forest森林, for me,
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一片森林,对我来说
01:23
is a place地点 so dense稠密 with trees树木
that you just can't walk步行 into it.
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是一片树木密到你都走不进去的地方
01:27
It doesn't matter
how big or small they are.
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无论森林是大是小
01:31
Most of the world世界
we live生活 in today今天 was forest森林.
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我们现在居住世界上的
大部分地方都曾经是森林
01:34
This was before human人的 intervention介入.
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在人为干扰之前都是森林
01:36
Then we built内置 up our cities城市
on those forests森林,
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然后我们在森林上面建起了城市
01:39
like São Paulo圣保罗,
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比如说圣保罗
01:40
forgetting遗忘 that we belong属于
to nature性质 as well,
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似乎忘记了,其实我们自己
也跟地球上的其他840万物种一样,
01:43
as much as 8.4 million百万
other species种类 on the planet行星.
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也属于大自然的
01:48
Our habitat栖息地 stopped停止 being存在
our natural自然 habitat栖息地.
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我们的栖息地不再是
大自然栖息地
01:52
But not anymore for some of us.
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但我们有些人可不这样认为
01:54
A few少数 others其他 and I today今天 make
these forests森林 professionally专业 --
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有些人像我一样,以种植森林为业
01:58
anywhere随地 and everywhere到处.
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让森林遍布我们大地的每个角落
02:01
I'm an industrial产业 engineer工程师.
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我是一个工业工程师
02:03
I specialize专攻 in making制造 cars汽车.
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我的职业是制造汽车
02:06
In my previous以前 job工作 at Toyota丰田,
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之前我供职于丰田公司的时候
02:08
I learned学到了 how to convert兑换
natural自然 resources资源 into products制品.
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我学会了怎样把自然资源变成产品
02:13
To give you an example,
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举个例子
02:14
we would drip the sap树液
out of a rubber橡胶 tree,
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我们从橡胶树上提取树液
02:17
convert兑换 it into raw生的 rubber橡胶
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制成生橡胶
02:18
and make a tire out of it -- the product产品.
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然后做成产品——轮胎
02:21
But these products制品 can never
become成为 a natural自然 resource资源 again.
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不过这些产品再也不能
变成自然资源了
02:25
We separate分离 the elements分子 from nature性质
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我们从自然资源中分离出元素
02:28
and convert兑换 them
into an irreversible不可逆转 state.
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并它们进行了不可逆转的变化
02:31
That's industrial产业 production生产.
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这就是工业生产
02:34
Nature性质, on the other hand,
works作品 in a totally完全 opposite对面 way.
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自然正好以相反的方式运作
02:37
The natural自然 system系统 produces产生
by bringing使 elements分子 together一起,
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自然系统通过一个一个
原子的聚集,来创造物质
02:41
atom原子 by atom原子.
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02:44
All the natural自然 products制品
become成为 a natural自然 resource资源 again.
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所有的自然产品
都能再变成自然资源
02:50
This is something which哪一个 I learned学到了
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这是当我在自家后院
种出一片森林的时候
02:53
when I made制作 a forest森林
in the backyard后院 of my own拥有 house.
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我心里的收获
02:56
And this was the first time
I worked工作 with nature性质,
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这是我第一次顺应自然行事
02:59
rather than against反对 it.
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而不是逆自然行事
03:01
Since以来 then,
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从那时开始
03:03
we have made制作 75 such这样 forests森林
in 25 cities城市 across横过 the world世界.
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我们在世界上的25个城市
种植了75片森林
03:09
Every一切 time we work at a new place地点,
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每到一个新地方
03:11
we find that every一切 single element元件
needed需要 to make a forest森林
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我们发现,要种出一片森林
所需的所有东西就在身边
03:16
is available可得到 right around us.
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03:18
All we have to do is to bring带来
these elements分子 together一起
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我们要做的就是把这些成分集合起来
03:21
and let nature性质 take over.
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然后让自然来接手
03:25
To make a forest森林 we start开始 with soil.
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种植一片森林首先需要土壤
03:28
We touch触摸, feel and even taste味道 it
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我们通过触摸、感受甚至品尝土壤
03:30
to identify鉴定 what properties性能 it lacks缺乏.
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来识别它缺乏什么
03:33
If the soil is made制作 up of small particles粒子
it becomes compact紧凑 --
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如果土壤是由小颗粒组成的,
它就会紧凑
03:36
so compact紧凑, that water cannot不能 seep渗透 in.
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如果太过于紧凑,水就渗不进去
03:40
We mix混合 some local本地 biomass生物质
available可得到 around,
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我们就会加入一些
当地能找到的生物质
03:44
which哪一个 can help soil become成为 more porous多孔.
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让土壤更加疏松
03:49
Water can now seep渗透 in.
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让水能够渗入
03:51
If the soil doesn't have
the capacity容量 to hold保持 water,
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如果土壤不能够涵养水分
我们就会再多加一点生物质
03:55
we will mix混合 some more biomass生物质 --
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03:57
some water-absorbent吸水性 material材料
like peat泥炭 or bigasBIGAS,
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一些像泥炭或者米粒
这样的吸水物质
04:00
so soil can hold保持 this water
and it stays入住 moist湿.
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让土壤能够涵养水分,保持潮湿
04:05
To grow增长, plants植物 need water,
sunlight阳光 and nutrition营养.
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植物要有水分、阳光和养料才能生长
04:11
What if the soil doesn't have
any nutrition营养 in it?
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如果土壤没有养分怎么办呢?
04:14
We don't just add nutrition营养
directly to the soil.
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我们并不是直接向土壤中加养料
04:16
That would be the industrial产业 way.
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这是工业化的做法
04:18
It goes against反对 nature性质.
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是违背自然的
04:19
We instead代替 add microorganisms微生物 to the soil.
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而我们是把微生物加到土壤中去
04:22
They produce生产 the nutrients营养成分
in the soil naturally自然.
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它们会自然而然地制造养料
04:26
They feed饲料 on the biomass生物质
we have mixed in the soil,
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它们以我们加到土壤中的生物质为生
04:29
so all they have to do
is eat and multiply.
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它们只要吃和繁殖就行了
04:32
And as their number grows成长,
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当它们繁殖到一定数目
04:34
the soil starts启动 breathing呼吸 again.
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土壤的透气性就又有所改善了
04:35
It becomes alive.
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它会变得有生命力
04:38
We survey调查 the native本地人
tree species种类 of the place地点.
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我们调查当地树种
04:40
How do we decide决定 what's native本地人 or not?
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我们怎样判断那些是当地物种呢?
04:43
Well, whatever随你 existed存在
before human人的 intervention介入 is native本地人.
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在人为干预前就存在的物种
就是当地的物种
04:47
That's the simple简单 rule规则.
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这是个简单的道理
04:49
We survey调查 a national国民 park公园
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我们调查国家公园
04:54
to find the last remains遗迹
of a natural自然 forest森林.
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找出最后一片自然森林
04:58
We survey调查 the sacred神圣 groves,
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我们调查罕见的小树林
05:01
or sacred神圣 forests森林 around old temples寺庙.
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或者旧庙宇周围的罕见树林
05:04
And if we don't find anything at all,
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如果我们什么都找不到
05:07
we go to museums博物馆
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我们就去博物馆
05:08
to see the seeds种子 or wood of trees树木
existing现有 there a long time ago.
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看看很久以前,这里生长的树木
或者种子是什么
05:14
We research研究 old paintings绘画,
poems and literature文学 from the place地点,
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我们从当地的旧画作、
诗歌和文学作品中寻找痕迹
05:20
to identify鉴定 the tree species种类
belonging属于 there.
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来识别当地物种
05:23
Once一旦 we know our trees树木,
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一旦我们知道是什么树种
05:24
we divide划分 them in four different不同 layers:
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我们就把它们分成四种:
05:26
shrub灌木 layer, sub-tree子树 layer,
tree layer and canopy华盖 layer.
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灌木层、草本层、乔木层和树冠层
05:30
We fix固定 the ratios of each layer,
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我们平衡各个层之间的比例
05:33
and then we decide决定 the percentage百分比
of each tree species种类 in the mix混合.
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然后我们确定各个树种
在总体中所占的比例
05:38
If we are making制造 a fruit水果 forest森林,
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如果我们种植的是果林
05:40
we increase增加 the percentage百分比
of fruit-bearing坐果 trees树木.
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我们就增加果树的比例
05:43
It could be a flowering开花 forest森林,
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也可能是观赏性树林
05:46
a forest森林 that attracts吸引
a lot of birds鸟类 or bees蜜蜂,
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那种会吸引很多鸟和蜜蜂的树林
05:50
or it could simply只是 be a native本地人,
wild野生 evergreen常绿 forest森林.
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也有可能只是一片
本地野生常绿林
05:55
We collect搜集 the seeds种子
and germinate发芽 saplings树苗 out of them.
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我们收集种子,播撒它们,
让它们长成幼苗
05:59
We make sure that trees树木
belonging属于 to the same相同 layer
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确保同一树层的树木
06:01
are not planted种植的 next下一个 to each other,
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不会种在一起
06:03
or they will fight斗争 for the same相同
vertical垂直 space空间 when they grow增长 tall.
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不然它们就会竞争
同一个高度上的空间
06:07
We plant the saplings树苗 close to each other.
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我们把幼苗密集地种在一起
06:10
On the surface表面, we spread传播
a thick layer of mulch护根,
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我们会在表面上
复盖上厚厚一层护盖物
06:13
so when it's hot outside
the soil stays入住 moist湿.
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这样即使室外温度很高,
土壤也能保持湿润
06:16
When it's cold,
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室外温度很低时
06:18
frost formation编队 happens发生 only on the mulch护根,
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也只有护盖物上会结霜
06:21
so soil can still breathe呼吸
while it's freezing冷冻 outside.
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这样外面很冷的时候,
土壤仍能透气
06:25
The soil is very soft柔软的 --
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土壤很柔软
06:28
so soft柔软的, that roots
can penetrate穿透 into it easily容易,
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非常柔软,让植物的根部容易舒展
06:32
rapidly急速.
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且能快速舒展
06:34
Initially原来, the forest森林 doesn't
seem似乎 like it's growing生长,
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一开始,树林好像没什么变化
06:36
but it's growing生长 under the surface表面.
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不过它们在地表下生长
06:38
In the first three months个月,
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在最初的三个月里
06:40
roots reach达到 a depth深度 of one meter仪表.
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树根能够扎到一米深
06:42
These roots form形成 a mesh网孔,
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这些树根形成网状物
06:44
tightly紧紧 holding保持 the soil.
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紧紧地抓住土壤
06:46
Microbes微生物 and fungi菌类 live生活
throughout始终 this network网络 of roots.
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微生物和菌类佈满在
错综複杂的根部网路中
06:50
So if some nutrition营养 is not available可得到
in the vicinity附近 of a tree,
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所以,如果树木周围缺乏某种养分
06:54
these microbes微生物 are going to get
the nutrition营养 to the tree.
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它们就能够提供该种养分
06:57
Whenever每当 it rains降雨,
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每当下雨的时候
06:59
magically神奇,
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蘑菇就会像魔法一样
07:00
mushrooms蘑菇 appear出现 overnight过夜.
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在一夜之间冒出头来
07:02
And this means手段 the soil below下面
has a healthy健康 fungal真菌 network网络.
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这证明了土壤拥有正常的菌群
07:06
Once一旦 these roots are established既定,
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根系建立起来之后
07:08
forest森林 starts启动 growing生长 on the surface表面.
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森林就在地表上生长
07:11
As the forest森林 grows成长 we keep watering洒水 it --
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森林生长的时候我们不断灌溉
07:16
for the next下一个 two to three years年份,
we water the forest森林.
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在接下来的两三年里
主要任务就是灌溉
07:20
We want to keep all the water
and soil nutrition营养 only for our trees树木,
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我们想让树木
得到所有的养料和水分
07:25
so we remove去掉 the weeds杂草
growing生长 on the ground地面.
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所以要不断除草
07:28
As this forest森林 grows成长,
it blocks the sunlight阳光.
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森林生长起来后,会遮住阳光
07:32
Eventually终于, the forest森林 becomes so dense稠密
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最终,森林变得十分密集
07:35
that sunlight阳光 can't reach达到
the ground地面 anymore.
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阳光无法再照射到地面
07:37
Weeds杂草 cannot不能 grow增长 now,
because they need sunlight阳光 as well.
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野草因为照不到阳光而无法再生长
07:42
At this stage阶段,
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在这个阶段
07:43
every一切 single drop下降 of water
that falls下降 into the forest森林
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落到树林里的每一滴水
07:46
doesn't evaporate蒸发 back
into the atmosphere大气层.
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都不会蒸发回大气层
07:49
This dense稠密 forest森林 condenses冷凝 the moist湿 air空气
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密集的树林使空气变得湿润
07:52
and retains保留 its moisture湿气.
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而且使它保持这种湿度
07:54
We gradually逐渐 reduce减少 and eventually终于
stop watering洒水 the forest森林.
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我们慢慢减少浇灌量,
最终停止浇灌
07:59
And even without watering洒水,
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现在即使不浇水
08:00
the forest森林 floor地板 stays入住 moist湿
and sometimes有时 even dark黑暗.
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森林的地表也能保持湿润,
甚至肥沃
08:05
Now, when a single leaf
falls下降 on this forest森林 floor地板,
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现在,当一片树叶落到地面上
08:09
it immediately立即 starts启动 decaying衰减.
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它会立即开始腐烂
08:12
This decayed biomass生物质 forms形式 humus腐殖质,
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腐烂的生物质形成森林的食物——
08:15
which哪一个 is food餐饮 for the forest森林.
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腐殖质
08:17
As the forest森林 grows成长,
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森林继续生长
08:19
more leaves树叶 fall秋季 on the surface表面 --
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更多的树叶会落到地上
08:20
it means手段 more humus腐殖质 is produced生成,
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产生更多的腐殖质
08:22
it means手段 more food餐饮 so the forest森林
can grow增长 still bigger.
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森林的养分更加充足,能长得更大
08:26
And this forest森林 keeps保持
growing生长 exponentially成倍.
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这片森林会迅速生长
08:30
Once一旦 established既定,
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一旦种植成功
08:31
these forests森林 are going to regenerate再生
themselves他们自己 again and again --
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这些树林会不断繁衍
08:35
probably大概 forever永远.
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永不停息
08:38
In a natural自然 forest森林 like this,
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在这样的自然森林中
08:40
no management管理 is the best最好 management管理.
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不用管理就是最好的管理方式
08:44
It's a tiny jungle丛林 party派对.
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就像这个小型的“丛林聚会”
08:46
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
08:48
This forest森林 grows成长 as a collective集体.
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这片森林聚集了各种树种
08:51
If the same相同 trees树木 --
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如果将同一种树
08:52
same相同 species种类 --
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同一个物种
08:54
would have been planted种植的 independently独立地,
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分开种植的话
08:56
it wouldn't不会 grow增长 so fast快速.
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它不会长得这么快
08:58
And this is how we create创建
a 100-year-old-岁 forest森林
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这就是在十年之内
种出一片百岁森林的办法
09:02
in just 10 years年份.
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09:04
Thank you very much.
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谢谢
09:05
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
Translated by Yang He
Reviewed by Yi-Fan Yu

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Shubhendu Sharma - Eco-entrepreneur
Shubhendu 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.

More profile about the speaker
Shubhendu Sharma | Speaker | TED.com