logo
episode-header-image
May 2021
28m 10s

Regrowing the rainforest

Bbc World Service
About this episode

It has taken him 40 years, but Omar Tello has turned a patch of exhausted farmland in Ecuador back into rainforest. One of his biggest challenges was repairing the soil. His land was so degraded he had to make enough new soil - from unwanted wood shavings and chicken manure - to cover the entire plot. That alone took about 15 years. He also travelled deep into the Amazon for days at a time, looking for seeds and plants he could rescue. Now his forest is flourishing and the wildlife has returned - it is home to snakes, toucans, monkeys and many other animals. And he is sharing what he has learned to encourage others to protect the rainforests instead of cutting them down. Presented and produced by Jo Mathys.

Repeat - first published 31 March 2020.

Up next
Jun 2
Slow down!
Is our modern obsession with speed damaging us? This week we explore the slow movement - a philosophy that challenges our fixation with productivity and suggests slowing down could offer a more meaningful way to live.Joined by Dr Joanne Lee from the University of Warwick, we visi ... Show More
23m 18s
May 26
The dogs that bring hope
Rescued street dogs in Uganda help survivors find comfort, healing and renewed hope.Northern Uganda was torn apart by a violent insurgency led by the Lords Resistance Army some twenty years ago. Kidnapping, rape and mutilation were commonplace. Many thousands of people were left ... Show More
24m 15s
May 19
How to thrive with ADHD
People with ADHD can face many challenges including struggles with attention, impulsivity and time management. In this programme we go to global creative company DRPG’s offices in the UK where they are doing things differently to support their ADHD colleagues. We also hear about ... Show More
23m 13s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2012
Saving the Brazilian Amazon
The Amazon rainforest is perhaps the world's greatest single environmental asset. For years the accepted wisdom has been that the remorseless tide of destruction there is unstoppable. Justin Rowlatt travels to Brazil to question this conventional account and finds that over the l ... Show More
27m 58s
Feb 2024
How poop turns into forests | Ludmila Rattis
Did you know the world's largest tropical forest is partly formed by seeds emerging from poop? Ecologist Ludmila Rattis reveals the surprisingly fruitful benefits of letting nature take care of its own business, sharing how the digestive habits of tapirs — pig-like creatures that ... Show More
7m 29s
Dec 2021
Les forêts tropicales se régénèrent plus vite que prévu ?
<p>C'est peut-être la bonne nouvelle de cette fin d'année marquée par une COP26 sans relief, les forêts tropicales se régénéreraient beaucoup plus vite qu'on ne le pensait. C'est en tout cas le constat de chercheurs français et ivoiriens, d'après qui une forêt tropicale coupée po ... Show More
2m 4s
Nov 2020
The burning scar
Indonesia is the world’s largest exporter of palm oil, a product found in everything from shampoo to soup; in the last two decades vast areas of forests have been cleared to make way for plantations. The remote province of Papua, home to Asia’s largest remaining rainforests has e ... Show More
26m 28s
Jan 2023
The Sunday Read: ‘Has the Amazon Reached Its “Tipping Point”?’
<p>In the past half-century, 17 percent of the Amazon — an area larger than Texas — has been converted to croplands or cattle pasture. Less forest means less recycled rain, less vapor to cool the air, less of a canopy to shield against sunlight. Under drier, hotter conditions, ev ... Show More
58m 17s
Apr 2022
Turning Old Cell Phones into Forest Guardians
What happens when a tree falls in a forest and no one is listening? The sound starts with truck engines and chainsaws and ends with a small piece of forest being silenced. Illegal logging is slowly thinning out the world’s forests, paving the way for widespread deforestation. Wit ... Show More
25m 24s