SUGi Talks

SUGi Talks 🌿 EP05: Community: How a Miyawaki Forest at Yakama Nation is healing generations.   Since time immemorial the traditional lifeways of the Yakama people have been deeply rooted in the natural world. However, the ongoing trauma inflicted on the community has left this connection to the land fractured, with indigenous knowledge dwindling amongst many of the younger generations. In 2020 Chief Alvarez, of the Yakama Nation Corrections & Rehabilitation Facility, was looking for ways to help the inmates reconnect to the land and plants that once shaped their culture. Turning to the Miyawaki Method for its communal methodology and ingenuity in creating rapid-growth native forests, he contacted our SUGi forest maker Ethan Bryson. Together with the inmates and the guidance of traditional gatherer Marylee Jones, they built the Healing Forest, with the support of SUGi. On this episode of SUGi Talks, we speak to Marylee Jones and Ethan Bryson about the growing impact of the forest on the community there. Make sure you Like and Subscribe wherever you get podcasts for more SUGi Talks. 🌿 Donate to SUGi: https://www.sugiproject.com/

SUGi Talks 🌿 EP04: The Miyawaki Method: A brief history of life-saving forests with Professor (Dr) Kazue Fujiwara. In the 1970s, Japan was undergoing an industrial boom. As the skies filled with smog and pollution soared, public health became a grave concern. In response ⁠Professor (Dr) Akira Miyawaki⁠ turned to native forests. Understanding their power in mitigating pollution and natural disasters, he developed The Miyawaki Method as a means to rapidly build dense biodiverse forests. Professor (Dr) Kazue Fujiwara was instrumental in the development of the Miyawaki Method, collaborating closely with Miyawaki right up until he retired. Today she is a vital guardian of the method traveling the world educating people about the power of Miyawaki forests. Together we dive into the history of the method and understand just how exactly these robust forests can protect life. Thank you Professor (Dr) Kazue Fujiwara. Make sure you Like and Subscribe wherever you get podcasts for more SUGi Talks. 🌿 Donate: ⁠https://www.sugiproject.com/support⁠

SUGi Talks 🌿 EP02: India’s Lost Desert Forests: Can life thrive in the desert? Rajasthan, the Desert State of India, has always been considered barren land. Because of this misconception it has become one of the most ignored places for ecological restoration. However ancient literature and fossils have shown that there were once forests where the Thar Desert now resides. Today our Forest Maker Gaurav Gurjar is on a mission to restore a piece of these lost desert forests, but can life really thrive in the desert? On this episode of ⁠SUGi Talks⁠ we speak to Gaurav. He is a jungle tree expert at Afforestt and the Director of the Maruvan Foundation in Rajasthan. Over the past few years, Gaurav has been restoring an area of India’s lost desert forest, and with the support of SUGi he’s begun the second 4,000 sqm phase of the project. Living on the land, enduring intense heat and drought, Gaurav has worked tirelessly to harness the elements in order to restore the land, and the results are astonishing. We talk about the power of deep observation, ancestral wisdom, and how as a society we could live in better harmony with Nature to create abundance for all. Make sure you Like and Subscribe wherever you get podcasts for more SUGi Talks. 🌿 With thanks to  Gaurav Gurjar. More info: SUGi: https://www.sugiproject.com/Gaurav Gurjar: https://www.sugiproject.com/forest-makers/gaurav-gurjar

SUGi Talks 🌿 EP01: Urban Biodiversity: Can Pocket Forests save our cities? Our cities are expanding. Green spaces are being gobbled up by concrete and asphalt. And what is the cost of this rapid urbanisation? Why do we need Nature in our cities? How can urban forests help biodiversity and community wellbeing?  On this episode of SUGi Talks, we meet James Godfrey-Faussett. As SUGi’s lead Forest Maker, James manages our global urban Pocket Forest and afforestation efforts. In the UK alone he has planted 20 forests, including the UK and Europe's biggest Miyawaki forest in Barking and Dagenham. Focussing on cities and the chronic lack of biodiversity in our urban areas, we reimagine what healthy cities could look like. Alongside this, we speak about the healing power of Nature and the UK’s at-risk temperate rainforest biome.  Make sure you Like and Subscribe wherever you get podcasts for more SUGi Talks. 🌿 With thanks to James Godfrey-Faussett. Support Nature-based Solutions that build biodiversity, climate resilience, and wellbeing in cities. 🌿 https://www.sugiproject.com/support Project Links: Southbank Centre — Natura Nostra Forest https://www.sugiproject.com/projects/southbank-natura-nostra-forest Koswik Law — A temperate rainforest in Cornwall https://www.sugiproject.com/projects/koswik-law Ancestral Forest — Wonderfruit's interactive festival forest https://www.sugiproject.com/projects/ancestral-forest