One man regenerates a native forest (video)

Man spends 30 years turning degraded land into massive forest

(Happen Films, 7/27/19) This is the incredible story of how degraded, weed-infested farmland has been regenerated back into beautiful New Zealand native forest over the course of three decades.

Fools & Dreamers: Regenerating a Native Forest is a 30-minute documentary about Hinewai Nature Reserve, on New Zealand’s Banks Peninsula, and its kaitiaki or manager for the last 30 years has been Botanist Hugh Wilson.

In 1987, when Wilson let the local community know of his plans to allow the introduced "weed" gorse to grow as a nurse canopy to regenerate farmland into native forest, people were not only skeptical but outright angry.

The plan was the sort to be expected only of “fools and dreamers.” Now considered a hero locally and across the country, Wilson oversees 1,500 hectares resplendent in native forest, where birds and other wildlife are abundant and 47 known waterfalls are in permanent flow.

He has proven without doubt that Nature knows best and that he is no fool.

Host a screening of the film: While this film is free to watch on YouTube, if one is holding a public screening a license is needed. The fees are very low to be accessible to all communities and we'll be splitting the income with Hinewai Reserve. Check out foolsanddreamers.com​ to learn more about the film and screening licenses. Thanks for the support.

• More about Hinewai Reserve hinewai.org.nz
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FILM CREDITS: Directed by Jordan Osmond and Antoinette Wilson. Written by Antoinette Wilson, Jordan Osmond, and Nick Tucker. Produced by Antoinette Wilson. Executive produced by Quatro Trust. Cinematography by Jordan Osmond and Jason Hosking. Edited by Jordan Osmond. Sound recording by Anna Veale. Original score by Karl Steven and Ariana Tikao. Sound mixed by James Henderson. Color graded by Mike Kelland. Subtitles and closed captioned by many people who have translated for Happen Films here on YouTube. If you’d like to be part of that community, you can contribute by clicking the "..." below the video and selecting "Add translations" from the dropdown menu. Thanks.