my mom is a freak nature
passionate she’s always hugging those
trees my dad he’s a banker a businessman
always wearing his suits when these two
opposites come together amazing things
can happen well myself I myself I’m a
perfect example of this effect so that’s
why I was convinced that business and
nature don’t have to be just opposites
but if they start collaborating great
things can happen and I will show you
what I mean when I was 18 years old I
decided to drive with a friend to the
Amazon rainforest in Brazil during our
journey realize how rich and abundant
our nature really is when we arrived in
the Amazon we spent a few days of
indigenous and local communities so we
learn how to leave how they make their
clothes and also how they source their
food and medicine we were touched by
their knowledge and how to manage the
forest resources an amazed by the
intelligence and resources of nature
itself but when we went back home we
drove past the massive deforestation in
the borders of the Amazon thousands of
hectares of destroyed rainforest mostly
for soybean cattle and logging
industries the site of those trees
falling down to grow one single crop is
scared the hell out of me I saw first
hand how we are killing our planet since
then I committed myself to take action
and find a solution to this global
challenge my first step dive into
sustainable agriculture and that’s how I
met my admirer will teach er Aaron
Snitch a swiss farmer and scientist who
grows Kokua in the brazilian tropical
forest when I rather Aaron’s farm I grab
my tools and my machete ready to rock
and roll and I ask eres what can I do
sir
and she looks at me in amusement and
replies first you observe by now I feel
like Luke Skywalker getting his first
lesson from Master Yoda so I grab my
tools
and start walking through the fields
observing the Kokua forests seeing all
these fruits all these different plants
working together the soil looks all
moist it’s got a clay feel to it it
makes even want me to take a bite out of
it
the sound of the water running through
the rivers the monkeys is screaming at
each other the birds singing and the
beasts zooming the abundance it feels
like paradise a real rain forest it
grows the best and the most expansive
Kokua of the world now when I thought I
had seen everything I went back to
Aaron’s asking again Eris what can I do
now sir so Aaron’s looked at me and
replies now you go observe our neighbors
cocoa farm now as I walk to neighbours
cocoa farm I would like to invite you
all to do a little experiment with me to
give you a feeling of what happened so I
will divide all of you guys into four
groups group number one you guys in the
balconies on the Left you guys will be
our trees representing the the forest
okay let’s give a try come on guys we
need more trees in this forest perfect
great group number two you guys in the
balconies in the middle you guys will be
our beasts representing the biodiversity
okay let’s do a try come on guys we need
more beasts
where are the beasts perfect awesome
group number tree you guys on the
balconies on the right you guys will be
our rivers representing the water and
you guys will be making the sound yeah
let’s give a try perfect awesome
less Group group number for you guys in
the ground floor just in front of me you
guys will be our consumers and
businesses representing us humans and
you guys will be making the sound okay
awesome perfect awesome now when I point
to a group number and make this signal
your group goes silent now we are gonna
make some noise but pay attention to my
signals at the count of three
we’re all going to start making your
group noise in one two three come on
by the time I arrived at a neighbor’s
cocoa farm the world gone silent this
conventional monoculture farm was all
dried out no shade
no sign of water the soil cracked open
I couldn’t hear any birds bees or
monkeys we’ve seen a couple of hundred
meters away the noise had gone from the
sound of paradise to the site to the
silence of despair by this time I
realized if we keep going the neighbors
path the planet will go silent now it’s
easy to blame industries and farmers
from deforesting and they do have a
responsibility but we as consumers have
a big part to play as well all our
actions have consequences everything we
buy has an impact on an ecosystem
somewhere you buy a coffee chances are
that you contribute into a series of
interconnected events like deforestation
loss of biodiversity climate change food
insecurity refugees flowing from their
own countries because of economic or
political instability and that is
because right now business and nature
are often in conflict nature is
perceived to be in the way of business
and that is a problem a big one now it’s
in our own interest to come up with a
solid solution we cannot and will not
stop consuming so we need to create a
system but that brings these two
perceived opposites to collaborate a
strategy that supports the economy and
in strengthening the ecosystem so my
question is can we create such a system
that you can grow profits by regrowing
nature and I can tell you yes we can and
I will show you how it’s called agra
fort agra fort is an agriculture
system that applies nature principles
preserves forest ecosystem while at the
same time produce abundance of food
crops and ami raw materials and together
with my genius business partner mark of
the boar we found a true nature a Dutch
foundation that has to go to regenerate
1 million hectares of degraded land
worldwide by 2030 this way we want to
create a new future for consumers and
businesses now how does a girl for
should work Agri for she add plants that
benefit from each other just like they
do in the original habitat you remember
the cocoa paradise that ants created
well I before she can also be applied to
other crops like palm oil or cotton
besides the social and environmental
benefits like regenerating soil tackling
climate change ensuring food security
and providing jobs Agri force you can
even produce more fruits than any
conventional way of farming for example
a conventional monoculture farm of Kokua
produced an average 400 kilograms per
hectare while in Agra for she produced
1,200 it’s three times more how
incredible is that I could for she
now businesses will not profit from
deforesting we cannot build a long-term
future with a short-term thinking Agri
for she can revolutionize the way we
think about and do business by bringing
business and nature in harmony we can
keep making profits while seeding the
road population andrey naturing our
planet so that we can pass on that
paradise that we want our children and
future generations to live in now how
can they bring these two opposites
together and make Agri force you
mainstream you might ask it starts by
speaking up as consumers why not start
now let’s show the role that we here
tedxamsterdam will not allow the planet
to go
so all in favor of a more sustainable
and healthy way of producing our food
and raw materials make a group noise one
more time and make it as loud as you can
in 1 2 3 come on guys let’s do this
thank you [Applause]
passionate she’s always hugging those
trees my dad he’s a banker a businessman
always wearing his suits when these two
opposites come together amazing things
can happen well myself I myself I’m a
perfect example of this effect so that’s
why I was convinced that business and
nature don’t have to be just opposites
but if they start collaborating great
things can happen and I will show you
what I mean when I was 18 years old I
decided to drive with a friend to the
Amazon rainforest in Brazil during our
journey realize how rich and abundant
our nature really is when we arrived in
the Amazon we spent a few days of
indigenous and local communities so we
learn how to leave how they make their
clothes and also how they source their
food and medicine we were touched by
their knowledge and how to manage the
forest resources an amazed by the
intelligence and resources of nature
itself but when we went back home we
drove past the massive deforestation in
the borders of the Amazon thousands of
hectares of destroyed rainforest mostly
for soybean cattle and logging
industries the site of those trees
falling down to grow one single crop is
scared the hell out of me I saw first
hand how we are killing our planet since
then I committed myself to take action
and find a solution to this global
challenge my first step dive into
sustainable agriculture and that’s how I
met my admirer will teach er Aaron
Snitch a swiss farmer and scientist who
grows Kokua in the brazilian tropical
forest when I rather Aaron’s farm I grab
my tools and my machete ready to rock
and roll and I ask eres what can I do
sir
and she looks at me in amusement and
replies first you observe by now I feel
like Luke Skywalker getting his first
lesson from Master Yoda so I grab my
tools
and start walking through the fields
observing the Kokua forests seeing all
these fruits all these different plants
working together the soil looks all
moist it’s got a clay feel to it it
makes even want me to take a bite out of
it
the sound of the water running through
the rivers the monkeys is screaming at
each other the birds singing and the
beasts zooming the abundance it feels
like paradise a real rain forest it
grows the best and the most expansive
Kokua of the world now when I thought I
had seen everything I went back to
Aaron’s asking again Eris what can I do
now sir so Aaron’s looked at me and
replies now you go observe our neighbors
cocoa farm now as I walk to neighbours
cocoa farm I would like to invite you
all to do a little experiment with me to
give you a feeling of what happened so I
will divide all of you guys into four
groups group number one you guys in the
balconies on the Left you guys will be
our trees representing the the forest
okay let’s give a try come on guys we
need more trees in this forest perfect
great group number two you guys in the
balconies in the middle you guys will be
our beasts representing the biodiversity
okay let’s do a try come on guys we need
more beasts
where are the beasts perfect awesome
group number tree you guys on the
balconies on the right you guys will be
our rivers representing the water and
you guys will be making the sound yeah
let’s give a try perfect awesome
less Group group number for you guys in
the ground floor just in front of me you
guys will be our consumers and
businesses representing us humans and
you guys will be making the sound okay
awesome perfect awesome now when I point
to a group number and make this signal
your group goes silent now we are gonna
make some noise but pay attention to my
signals at the count of three
we’re all going to start making your
group noise in one two three come on
by the time I arrived at a neighbor’s
cocoa farm the world gone silent this
conventional monoculture farm was all
dried out no shade
no sign of water the soil cracked open
I couldn’t hear any birds bees or
monkeys we’ve seen a couple of hundred
meters away the noise had gone from the
sound of paradise to the site to the
silence of despair by this time I
realized if we keep going the neighbors
path the planet will go silent now it’s
easy to blame industries and farmers
from deforesting and they do have a
responsibility but we as consumers have
a big part to play as well all our
actions have consequences everything we
buy has an impact on an ecosystem
somewhere you buy a coffee chances are
that you contribute into a series of
interconnected events like deforestation
loss of biodiversity climate change food
insecurity refugees flowing from their
own countries because of economic or
political instability and that is
because right now business and nature
are often in conflict nature is
perceived to be in the way of business
and that is a problem a big one now it’s
in our own interest to come up with a
solid solution we cannot and will not
stop consuming so we need to create a
system but that brings these two
perceived opposites to collaborate a
strategy that supports the economy and
in strengthening the ecosystem so my
question is can we create such a system
that you can grow profits by regrowing
nature and I can tell you yes we can and
I will show you how it’s called agra
fort agra fort is an agriculture
system that applies nature principles
preserves forest ecosystem while at the
same time produce abundance of food
crops and ami raw materials and together
with my genius business partner mark of
the boar we found a true nature a Dutch
foundation that has to go to regenerate
1 million hectares of degraded land
worldwide by 2030 this way we want to
create a new future for consumers and
businesses now how does a girl for
should work Agri for she add plants that
benefit from each other just like they
do in the original habitat you remember
the cocoa paradise that ants created
well I before she can also be applied to
other crops like palm oil or cotton
besides the social and environmental
benefits like regenerating soil tackling
climate change ensuring food security
and providing jobs Agri force you can
even produce more fruits than any
conventional way of farming for example
a conventional monoculture farm of Kokua
produced an average 400 kilograms per
hectare while in Agra for she produced
1,200 it’s three times more how
incredible is that I could for she
now businesses will not profit from
deforesting we cannot build a long-term
future with a short-term thinking Agri
for she can revolutionize the way we
think about and do business by bringing
business and nature in harmony we can
keep making profits while seeding the
road population andrey naturing our
planet so that we can pass on that
paradise that we want our children and
future generations to live in now how
can they bring these two opposites
together and make Agri force you
mainstream you might ask it starts by
speaking up as consumers why not start
now let’s show the role that we here
tedxamsterdam will not allow the planet
to go
so all in favor of a more sustainable
and healthy way of producing our food
and raw materials make a group noise one
more time and make it as loud as you can
in 1 2 3 come on guys let’s do this
thank you [Applause]
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