Tag: ecosystems

Jonathan Lundgren – You need more cows, not fewer, to save the planet

28th October 2025 koenvanseijen Animals' Role, Regenerative Agriculture, Role of Animals 0 Comments

A new conversation with Jonathan Lundgren, one of the world’s most interesting and most cited scientists when it comes to regenerative agriculture. For the last four years, Jonathan and his team have been in full swing with their 1000 Farms Initiative, where they document research and follow regenerative farms, actually closer to 1600 farms now.
An episode where we talk about data, data, and more data. We unpack a four-year effort that spans commodities, ecoregions, and management styles, revealing how regeneration scales in the real world. The results are striking: equal or better yields, stronger profits, higher biodiversity, improved water infiltration, and a path to substantial soil carbon storage, all without needing more land.

But it isn’t just about that. It’s about farmers’ health and happiness. It’s about pushing our imagination of what farmland could look like. It’s about the outliers in these studies that show us what is possible: more people on the land, more farmers connected to every acre being managed. It’s about producing food for your family and community. It’s about revitalizing rural communities and bringing back the life that has been sucked out of there. Enjoy this wide-ranging conversation with Jonanhan (though, as always, it feels too short!).

Matteo Mazzola – Walking the land of Iside Farm with a regenerative farmer

2nd April 2024 koenvanseijen Landscape Design 2.0, Nutrient Dense Food, Nutrients to Soil, Regenerative Agriculture, Walking the Land with a Regenerative Farmer 0 Comments

This is a special episode, the first one ever of the Walking the Land with a Regenerative Farmer, where we walk the land of the farm with a farmer while we talk about regeneration. 

Walking through Iside Farm on the Iseo Lake in Italy, with regenerative farmer Matteo Mazzola, we unlock the secrets of regenerative agriculture as we traverse the innovative landscapes crafted by Matteo, Paola and the Iside crew. We embark on a profound exploration of sustainable farming, showcasing Matteo’s expertise in farm design, water systems, and the integration of olive trees and animals into the land. Learn how access ways are more than just paths across a farm; they’re a vital component in the flow of energy and resources, helping to prevent erosion with concrete strips and alfalfa, and offering additional crop space. Matteo’s wisdom extends to the creative reuse of shipping containers, illustrating a commitment to terraforming that marries functionality with environmental stewardship.

Rodger Savory – Restore the water cycles and reverse desertification in California, regenerating 150.000 acres with 600.000 cows

17th November 2023 koenvanseijen Nutrients to Soil, Regenerative Agriculture, Role of Animals, Water Cycles 0 Comments

A conversation with Rodger Savory, ecologist, land manager, and ranch owner, about scale and cows, how to kickstart regeneration in desert situations, changing local weather patterns, abundance, soil bacteria, conventional agriculture, WW2 and much more.

Zach Weiss – On a mission to train hundreds of thousands of people in key water restoration techniques

15th August 2023 koenvanseijen Farmers First Tech, Landscape Design 2.0, Regenerative Agriculture, Water Cycles 0 Comments

A check-in interview with Zach Weiss, founder of Elemental Ecosystems and Water Stories, about his mission to train hundreds of thousands of people in key water restoration techniques, institutions, how would Zach make the space investable and bankable, and much more.

Ties van der Hoeven – The regreening project we can’t afford not to do, restoring the water and weather systems in the Med, starting with fish

8th August 2023 koenvanseijen Farmers First Tech, Landscape Design 2.0, Regenerative Agriculture, Water Cycles 2 Comments

A conversation with Ties van der Hoeven, founder and creative director of The Weather Makers, about restoring the water cycles in the Mediterranean, the effect of water vapour on cooling the planet, our tunnel vision focussed on carbon, and much more.

Alpha Lo – What if water is more important than carbon

21st July 2023 koenvanseijen Landscape Design 2.0, Regenerative Agriculture, Water Cycles 7 Comments

A conversation with Alpha Lo, physicist and writer of the Climate Water Project, about the importance of slowing water down, the connection between drought, fire, and floods, and the massive role water plays in heating and cooling our planet.

Soil Regeneration: The Four Keys to Restoring Healthy Soil

26th October 2021 antonellatotaro Diet Change, Ecosystem Services Payments, Farmers First Tech, Nutrient Dense Food, Nutrients to Soil, Ownership, Regenerative Agriculture, Short Food Webs, Transition finance 4 Comments

Guaranteeing access to sufficient nutrients to the entire global population, which is set to reach 10 billion by 2050, will force a radical rethinking of the current agri-food system. The industrial, linear model of farming has created diversity-free systems that require enormous quantities of pesticides and chemical fertilisers to keep yields high. Cropping and farming practices, with their intensive use of inputs, have led to the exhaustion and erosion of soil and natural systems. The long-term health and resilience of our ecosystem are in danger. However, this trend can and must be reversed.

Russ Carrington on why Knepp, after rewilding, is moving into regenerative agriculture

4th May 2021 koenvanseijen Ecosystem Services Payments, Farmers First Tech, Landscape Design 2.0, Nutrient Dense Food, Nutrients to Soil, Regenerative Agriculture, Role of Animals, Short Food Webs 2 Comments

Russ Carrington, manager of Knepp Regenerative Farms, on how and why did one of the most well-known rewilding examples in the world has recently started a regenerative farming enterprise.

Judith D Schwartz on why our current economic framework is completely inadequate for regeneration at scale

9th February 2021 koenvanseijen Landscape Design 2.0, Ownership, Regenerative Agriculture, Role of Animals 5 Comments

The landscapes around us are a reflection of our consciousness and wealth is found in our functional ecosystems. The author Judith D. Schwartz joins us once again to discuss her new book, The Reindeer Chronicles, wherein she dives deep into regeneration at a large scale.

Paula Costa and Valter Ziantoni, scaling agroforestry by complexifying growing systems using software

21st July 2020 koenvanseijen Farmers First Tech, Landscape Design 2.0, Nutrient Dense Food, Regenerative Agriculture 1 Comment

With Paula Costa and Valter Ziantoni of Pretaterra, an innovative way of thinking complex and regenerative ancestral production systems for a changing planet, we unpack the wonders of agroforestry, the opportunities, the challenges and why it is having its breakthrough now.