Page 28 - Living Aloha Magazine March/April 2017 Issue

reGenerative agriculture by adam Lottig

Regenerative agriculture sounds cool. Just the word “Re-Generative” resonates on
some level with those of us who see the need for the restoration of healthy farmland,

forest land, or any other system that has been compromised. So, given our current eco/social/
political/economic climate, it makes sense that Regenerative Agriculture seems to be kind of a buzz word these
days. Regenerative practices through the teaching of Ernst Gotsch’s principles of Syntropy, show us how using
simple and cost effective methods, we can create incredibly dense and diverse, multi-level forest systems in any
climate with any mix of plants from anywhere on earth. Syntropy, the opposite of Entropy, is the phenomenon
of Life systems to become more complex, rich and organized when designed from the beginning, to maximize
abundance by focusing on biodiversity.

Succession is the study of a forest or any other type of ecosystem as it moves from less complex and diverse to
more complex and diverse through time. By studying succession, Ernst Goetsch teaches us how humans can be
the catalysts for, and caretakers of diverse and abundant forest ecosystems. This Forest structure provides a vast
majority of the important resources to life on Earth. From healthy soil, fresh air, clean water, fruits, woods, many
other medicinal and valuable resources, all the way to being one of the most powerful influences of the planet’s
weather cycle through the transpiration process and the uptake of carbon and the creation of oxygen. Forests
are clearly one of, if not the single most valuable resource on Earth that we have an active interaction with.
Starting with the pioneering weeds, grasses, and fast growing plants, and moving through the different levels
of increasingly dense and diverse “accumulating” plants and trees, a forest grows in density, complexity, bio-
diversity and abundance, until arriving at the level of Climax Forest. This was the state of the original Hawaiian
forests, the Amazon Rain forests, and the vast Boreal forests of the north.

28 MAUI Living Aloha | MARCH–APRIL 2017