SUGi Talks

Brett Krause, a SUGi Forest Maker from Northern Queensland, grew up surrounded by sawing logs and witnessing the harsh realities of deforestation. He shares his journey from despair to action through the Miyawaki Method, a technique for creating lush, biodiverse forests. Brett highlights how community engagement is vital for reforestation efforts, emphasizing the transformative bond people can develop with nature. His mission is to restore habitats for endangered species like the Cassowary and Mahogany Glider, promoting environmental stewardship and sustainability.

Since the Enlightenment public space has served a pivotal role in the exchange of ideas, the cultivation of national identity, and the integration of communities. In Beirut however, money-hungry privatisation and hostile policies have left much of its public spaces dwindling. In 2019, in a demand for change protestors reclaimed Beirut’s historical public space, Martyrs' Square.During the revolution, environmental architect and one of our first SUGi Forest Makers, Adib Dada was in the 2nd phase of his RiverLESS SUGi Pocket Forest, a project designed to help regenerate the Beirut River, and reclaim it as a public space. After a protest at Martyrs’ Square, he took people directly from the streets and brought them to plant trees on the banks of the Beirut River. 

Amman, Jordan is one of the fastest growing cities in the world, and the ongoing desertification of the region continues to threaten its resources. Our SUGi Forest Maker Deema Assaf watched her hometown of Amman become almost unrecognisable as urbanisation swept through its landscapes.Understanding the cost of losing so much Nature she trained to become a Forest Maker and in 2018 she planted the first Miyawaki Forest of the Arab world.Focussing on preserving the genetic diversity of Jordan, Deema’s important work has protected some of the country’s most endangered tree species. On this excerpt of SUGi Talks, we speak about Amman’s rapid urbanisation, and the importance of changing mindsets towards Nature

On this excerpt of ⁠SUGi Talks⁠ we speak to Gaurav Gurjar. Gaurav 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.

In this engaging conversation, Lucy Jones, a writer and journalist known for 'Losing Eden: Why Our Minds Need The Wild,' shares insights into the profound impact of nature on mental well-being. She discusses research showing how views of nature can aid hospital recovery and the importance of reconnecting with the environment for stress relief. Lucy also explores the need for green spaces in urban planning, advocating for designs that enhance our connection to nature and promote health, encouraging listeners to embrace the healing power of the wild.

Our cities are in trouble and it’s not just the climate crisis. Urban areas are facing multiple interconnected challenges, including the ecological crisis, the human health crisis, and the climate crisis.  In this episode of SUGi Talks, we speak to Cecil Konijnendijk about how Nature-based Solutions, like our SUGi Pocket Forests, can help mitigate the growing issues in our cities.  With over 30 years of experience studying, teaching and advising with the likes of the United Nations on urban forestry and the implementation of Nature-based Solutions, Cecil is passionate about using trees to develop better cities and always stresses the importance of building meaningful relationships between people and places.  Together we uncover the barriers and challenges in implementing equitable green strategies in cities, and why it is so important. 

Did you know that underneath the forest floor resources can be transferred from one tree to another in need? The Mycorrhizal Network is a fungal web that resides in soil. It functions like Nature’s internet, connecting many plants and enabling the transfer of resources and chemical messengers. On this excerpt of SUGi Talks we speak with ecologist and SUGi Forest Maker Gabriel Orrego about the magical inner workings of fungi. Make sure you Like and Subscribe wherever you get podcasts for more SUGi Talks.

What would happen our minds if one day we woke up to a world with no trees, forests, or even grass? If birds and butterflies were a thing of the past, and green spaces were non-existent. What if our only experience of Nature was through a simulation on a screen? This is the stark future depicted in the opening of Lucy Jones’s book Losing Eden: Why Our Minds Need the Wild. It traces her own journey through addiction and depression, recalling the healing impact of Nature in her own recovery while diving deep into the studies and research that point to why being in Nature makes us feel good. In this episode of SUGi Talks we speak to Lucy about why she felt compelled to write Losing Eden, and together we explore the research that explains the science behind our profound connection to the living world. Make sure you like and subscribe wherever you get podcasts for more SUGi Talks. 🌿

Roaming the lush rainforests of Northern Queensland and Papua New Guinea, the Cassowary bird is a striking sight to behold. Resembling something like an exquisite dinosaur at 6 feet tall, this at-risk flightless bird is now in a fight for survival. As a keystone species, the Cassowary is facing endangerment due to the fragmentation of its habitat by development and industrial agriculture.  On this episode of SUGi Talks, we speak with SUGi Forest Maker Brett Krause.  Since 2014, with our support, Brett has been planting Miyawaki forests in Tropical North Queensland as a way to create habitats for endangered species like the Cassowary and the Mahogany Glider.  Together we’ll speak about how he went from growing up on a sawmill witnessing deforestation, to now leading the way on Miyawaki forest building in Northern Australia.  Make sure you like and subscribe wherever you get podcasts for more SUGi Talks. 🌿 More info: SUGi: https://www.sugiproject.com

Our cities are heating up, and fast. Rising global temperatures means the urban heat island effect in our cities will be amplified. Trees are a proven way to help cities combat this growing issue. On this excerpt of ⁠SUGi Talks⁠ we speak to Dr. Grey Coupland. Grey is our lead scientist at SUGi, and she holds the key to the rich data behind our Pocket Forests. With a PhD in ecology, her most recent work is dedicated to investigating the use and effectiveness of Miyawaki forests in cities, specifically their impact on cooling, biodiversity and wellbeing. Together we’ll speak about the hard data our Miyawaki Forests.  Thank you Dr. Grey. Make sure you Like and Subscribe wherever you get podcasts for more SUGi Talks. 🌿 ⁠https://www.sugiproject.com/support⁠