Willie Smits: How to restore a rainforest

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By piecing together a complex ecological puzzle, biologist Willie Smits believes he has found a way to re-grow clearcut rainforest in Borneo, saving local orangutans -- and creating a thrilling blueprint for restoring fragile ecosystems. UPDATE: December 2012: The core content of this talk has been challenged on a number of grounds. For details, and for Willie Smits' response to these criticisms, please see this page: www.ted.com/pag...
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Watch the Top 10 TEDTalks on TED.com, at www.ted.com/ind...

Пікірлер: 211

@DaslowAizelasi 5 жыл бұрын

This man deserves a Nobel Prize!

@johns6454 3 жыл бұрын

It's been 12 years since I've seen this lecture and I still think about it every year imagine if they added it into the coding for new building structures enough tree cover to restore the hydrological cycle

@09scor 10 жыл бұрын

Humans don't need to be entirelyyy excluded from the environment in order for conservation to be successful. We just need to be sustainable, working with nature and not against it. That is what Willi Smits has done - initially stepping in but eventually the rainforest naturally grows and becomes a fully functioning ecosystem. I am glad that he has shown that in order to help a species you must protect their habitat, because habitat degradation is responsible for the endangerment and extinction of so many species.. AND that he showed how important local people and culture is in order for a project like this to be successful in the long-term. I love this, so inspiring!

@miracleshappen4483 3 жыл бұрын

Our species is on the brink of extinction, either we change and return to Mother or we die. End of the story! 😩

@TheLastLogicalOne 9 жыл бұрын

He knows how to tell a story, one of my favorite talks.

@ebriggs3498 9 жыл бұрын

When I first saw this TED Talk in a college Bio class, I wanted to stand of and cheer! I'm so sick of hearing how humans ARE the problem! No, they are not - they are the SOLUTION to problems. All that was done benefited BOTH the animals AND the people. Bravo!

@mira55x-planetnalzena15 4 жыл бұрын

it's also what Ecosia is doing! making sure they're not just doing tree planting for the Eco-systems but also to benefit the people that live amongst those Eco-systems which is why Im glad Im supporting Ecosia the best of my ability! ^^

@jasonlajoie 15 жыл бұрын

Well worth the standing ovation. If we had a million more like him our world would be an even more wonderful place.

@sugar33spice 5 жыл бұрын

You are a hero Dr. Smits. My mother was born in Samboja and I have visited your Samboja Lestari twice now. I stayed in your eco lodge just last month with my husband and brother. We loved it. What you are doing there is amazing. But I do worry about when you are gone, who will oversee the project then and make sure it continues forever? Because in my experience people never learn and it is a scary thought and very disheartening that all this can disappear again in a matter of moments. Thank you for your dedication and hard work to help save the orangutans, sun bears and rainforest. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. We desperately need more people like you in the world.

@ChrisOrillia 15 жыл бұрын

There is no words (I actually sat here, trying to think of them) to describe the honor and respect this man deserves.

@PamelaClare 7 жыл бұрын

I can't imagine doing anything more rewarding than rebuilding a rain forest.

@der_teemo5300 5 жыл бұрын

Maybe restoring all the other types of ecosystems like coral reefs and grasslands which are equally important.

@DontStopBrent 4 жыл бұрын

How about rescuing abandoned street children in Tegucigalpa Honduras? Would that be better? Saving a child… Would that be more rewarding?

@tparker2095 4 жыл бұрын

@@DontStopBrent Nope.

@DontStopBrent 4 жыл бұрын

@T Parker You’d rather a child die?

@tparker2095 4 жыл бұрын

@@DontStopBrent Humans are garbage, 8 Billion of us and growing everyday. Our impact on this planet is responsible for the death of countless living creatures and destruction of our beautiful planet. Humans deserve what we get. That child isn't worth anymore than the animals burned alive in forest fires each year.

@adamdm87 14 жыл бұрын

I love the momeny 1:15 or so in when he stops applause...

@lincoln7184 4 жыл бұрын

adamdm87 Yeah after he says he doesn't deserve applause for saving orangutans. No one then clasp when he says they've created 300 jobs

@god6210 4 жыл бұрын

I can’t believe it’s 11 years later niw

@etiennealive 14 жыл бұрын

This certainly is worth a standing ovation !!!!! Just Wow !!!!!

@granvilleguy 15 жыл бұрын

this is the most fantastic and hopeful thing i've seen in a long time

@rageofreason 13 жыл бұрын

Huge respect for his mindset, perception and persistence. This is correct and compassionate way to put knowledge to use.

@jamesrosales89 10 ай бұрын

tears seeing/listening to him. what a legend !

@tecnoblix 15 жыл бұрын

This is fantastic! Let the people take responsibility for their environment and they do, with a passion. Go figure.

@myopeneyesopenmind 12 жыл бұрын

Congratulations Willie........what if this was possible everywhere?? WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD IT WOULD BE

@myronplatte8354 2 жыл бұрын

It is. The key word that willie doesn’t mention here, although it’s behind his way of thinking, is permaculture.

@sunnycriti9809 5 жыл бұрын

Willie Smith has Amazing Solutions. We need these kind of solutions to save Planetary Live. We don't need Oil Palms. Keep the Forests green and and let its creatures live in Peace. Willie Smits an example to follow

@Kaffielo 12 жыл бұрын

He is my hero too. It's great to have worked with him. But he had to deal with various difficult situations surrounding him.

@prokzmourne 15 жыл бұрын

This man was so great! they give them standing ovations, we can use the richness, the science in a proper way like helping us to build a forest that can help more lives. and to save the world from green house effect. if i will be a rich people someday this is my first project or plan to be a nature lover, and save more lives.

@loopy194 10 жыл бұрын

Thank you Doctor Willie, you the man! :)

@BigO8872 15 жыл бұрын

Wow I am very impressed with this man. This is a great idea, and one that could help undo a part of what humans have done to the environment. Not saying it was wrong what we have done in the past, but this will help us in the future.

@aliwan2007 8 жыл бұрын

Great work what Willie Smits do!!

@kangerol 2 жыл бұрын

Saya orang Indonesia. Saya berterima kasih kepada anda yang telah memberikan pelajaran penting bagaimana hidup dengan alam. Save urang utan.

@hancho17 15 жыл бұрын

wow this man is incredible. nobel peace prize for him.

@star67ist 14 жыл бұрын

When I need a little hope, Willie's work helps me get there.

@DeletedDelusion 15 жыл бұрын

This is awesome, there is still hope....

@abyssquick 15 жыл бұрын

this is excellent; an increasing understanding of how dynamic nature is. fungi & bacteria are keystone organisms in any forest. every tree represents an entire community of plants, fungi and microorganisms, and it takes centuries to restore it to a truly natural state. we need, more than anything, to learn not to clear-cut in the first place.

@esama2 15 жыл бұрын

Utterly mindblowingly amazing and inspiring. This was a privilidge to watch.

@kevg415 15 жыл бұрын

Thoughtful, practical, and profitable. It is nothing less then brilliant. I hope to see more and more of this guys work.

@sisforshayla 15 жыл бұрын

wow, i really hope he has a lot of students that can apply this to many other places in need. especially the difficult to corrupt part, that is brilliant, this man has thought it all through..excellent.

@paulwheaton 14 жыл бұрын

is there an update?

@AKAOJ 13 жыл бұрын

You know when i feel like giving up. I turn to TED.

@lockynboycannen 15 жыл бұрын

Great idea with the subtitles! Other languages that could be good to translate this into, would be: Portuguese (Brazil), Hindi, Bengal and Assamese (Eastern India and Bangladesh), Burmese (Myanmar), Vietnamese and Thai, and also African languages that are spoken in the areas where rain forests grow.

@ozarkchinquapin6010 4 жыл бұрын

This is so inspiring. We are saving an important tree species here in the Ozarks of the United States.🙏 I pray we have the same success

@RawolutionRawelation 15 жыл бұрын

I see his effort together with Geoff Lawton and Paul Stamets as the creative suite of superheroes that we should support

@RebeccaHappys 15 жыл бұрын

This is an icredible story of inspiration and hope. VEry well thought out and implemented. I really enjoy the oall encomappssing approach including local community and code of honour accountability. Bravo! Let us all learn form this and see how we can come up with similar solutions to complex situations. rh.edbd

@Murdock13 15 жыл бұрын

Awesome presentation. I hope this kind of project spreads fast.

@bowakowa 15 жыл бұрын

Simply beautiful. It is this micromanagement by the directly involved populace that is our only path forward. Bravo. Join your local Maker community. Educate yourself. Flex your muscles and make an impact.

@haveawhaleofatime 14 жыл бұрын

Willie Smits is my hero too!!!! Thank you for this amazing inspiring awesome brilliant video!!!! Bless I wanna work with Willie!!!! :)

@cam..4744 3 жыл бұрын

37 people are simply that sad they cannot not dislike this lol

@cheri425 13 жыл бұрын

God bless you. You are doing a great job!

@ChrisMarx 15 жыл бұрын

Thats amazing. Really complicated though. There must have been a huge amount of planning involved

@aoikage 14 жыл бұрын

Man.. I talked to this guy and take a picture at the Indonesian Ambassador House in DC in 2005. He was so passionate about Indonesian biolife, especially Orang Utan. I believe he lives in Borneo now...

@livany542 15 жыл бұрын

Every single minute was completely woth it!

@conancat 15 жыл бұрын

yeah, i agree that this should be the model for future economy. to help out the people while helping out the environment as well :D kudos to Willie! he definitely did a great job!

@1966human 15 жыл бұрын

Very good, we need him in Victoria Australia. when i was a kid my boots would sink in the mud in winter. Now it is a desert, with no rain and no small insect life, there used to be heeps of all sorts of life there.

@mrmaciejm 15 жыл бұрын

This is fantastic. So much work and the results... great. This is the way to stop climate change

@CounterCultureVegan 13 жыл бұрын

Jaw droppingly amazing!!!!!!

@reuse_or_die 4 жыл бұрын

Why is there a BMW advert asking drivers to switch to diesel at the back end of this video? Switching to public transport is far more sustainable.

@ddwkc 15 жыл бұрын

The point isn't restore it to 100% as it was before. The point is restore the basic of the rainforest and its relationship with humans as well. This talk is to give hope and it's possible to be profitable, to unite a broken community, and to save the environment.

@citysnidget 15 жыл бұрын

...that was breathtakingly amazing.

@sunnycriti9809 5 жыл бұрын

We have to commit ourself totally to save our Planet. Worldwide the Example of Willy should be followed

@BrianMack 15 жыл бұрын

Mycorrhizae is key to regrowing a forest.

@junglie 4 жыл бұрын

So true, paul stamets has the answers........wish he was leader of america......

@thenewhope8171 3 жыл бұрын

we need you people in the tropics to step it up i can only stop supporting the cut down from here

@ikhsanarif7953 4 жыл бұрын

waaaww.........your method is valuable to me, i also have my own nursery of trees , so that i can plant them around my neighborhood and around my company mining site.....i love forest, that i used to see when i was a litle kid, now part of the forest are changing to palm oil plantation... regard from sumatera - indonesia

@austinshackles549 6 жыл бұрын

Willie Smits you rock! awesome work.

@SophiesMinion 15 жыл бұрын

I don't think the point of this lecture was to argue that clear-cutting is now "okay". It's just solving a very old and very big problem in a practical way.

@rakeshkumarchourey3257 3 жыл бұрын

Mr Willie please write a conservation book.

@Elderien 15 жыл бұрын

This talk has my vote

@syedalishanzaidi1 9 жыл бұрын

This program would be so much more effective if the presenter could take a breath and slow down. You might think it is not important how facts are presented, as what we need is information to make the necessary changes. But change will only come from effective communication of useful information. Great respect for this man who did so much, but he could benefit from the advice of professionals to do a more relaxed presentation. Slow down, allow people to breathe and take in what you are saying.

@nathanlewis42 5 жыл бұрын

Anzay Warid I think he is too slow and I watched this at 1.5x speed.

@vangcruz4442 4 жыл бұрын

He have to talk fast because of the time constraints.

@atokzain 5 жыл бұрын

You can and are able to stop forest destruction, you have resources, we can only shout please ... help us ... our forests are threatened by finding solutions with the environment and the natural environment we can try to find food, greetings from the interior of west Kalimantan

@ecoloscabos 15 жыл бұрын

I have a question. I saw that there are no subtitles. I think that in order to make these projects a normal global effort, that there should be integration, Ive noticed that there are no subtitles in your videos. I would like to colaborate and make the subtitles for some of these videos (spanish) I believe my country could benefit from these great ideas, I would like my non english speaking brother to learn these topics. Where can I send you the subtitles or what steps should we take to makethem

@klhighbury 13 жыл бұрын

How can I help? This is truly magnificent. Thank you Willie Smits.

@andreasoloansihotang122 5 жыл бұрын

as an Indonesian...i'm ashamed that i just now knowing this man after 27 years living this earth.....

@ThanksgivingWalk 13 жыл бұрын

Amazing and very inspiring. Great teaching tool. I was looking for some permaculture videos and was very fortunate to have came across this video. Thanks for sharing. TGW - USA - Louisiana - Beaureagard Parish

@Beachapeeater 15 жыл бұрын

I'm not sure why someone gave you a thumbs down for that....jerks. Anyway yeah I watched that Benjamin Zander talk probably three times and nearly burst into tears the first time...lol. He was brilliant! And I shall raise your -1 thumb down to a zero!

@cupofkoa 3 ай бұрын

I've never seen someone shut down an appaulse before in order to make a deeper point.

@Beachapeeater 15 жыл бұрын

Thanks I'll check it out!

@IdleBystander1 15 жыл бұрын

They had Nellie McKay on it a while ago, definitely worth seeing.

@TheCuriousSeb 11 жыл бұрын

My goodness, what a legend!

@doffy1 14 жыл бұрын

My hero.

@therealpeterhorvath 5 жыл бұрын

Having a BMW diesel ad around this talk is how people don't understand this whole idea of having clean future.

@freekuki 8 жыл бұрын

really enjoyed the video great work! but at this point in time, I find it really counterproductive and a joke to see a "diesel" sort of commercial placed right after the speech, especially after what happened with Volkswagen & co and their Fake low-emission statements...

@3877michael 13 жыл бұрын

Love this video. Gives hope.

@efiddy08 15 жыл бұрын

absolutely amazing. totally inspiring

@DreamsCatcher101 13 жыл бұрын

After the first outburst about the applause nobody wants to clap after that lol

@Mags291 15 жыл бұрын

Great work. Respect!

@lobsopdoy 15 жыл бұрын

My God, this is amazing!

@Tapecutter59 15 жыл бұрын

This man opitimizes a Scientist, a Hippy, and a CEO living happily in the same brain.

@momentary_ 15 жыл бұрын

Exceptional!

@Kaffielo 12 жыл бұрын

Willie is a Dutch, but spent most of his life in Indonesia to protect the orangutan. He even became Indonesian citizen and married Indonesian woman.

@jasonlajoie 15 жыл бұрын

When a people are destroying a forest nature cannot always repair what they've done. His point is placing ownership with the people so they have a vested interest in doing the right thing by keeping the forest healthy/prosperous. I know what you're saying, "we belong to the earth, the earth does not belong to us". The reality is that people will often destroy nature for immediate gain until they are taught to do differently for their own benefit of a sustained gain.

@oraclebjj 14 жыл бұрын

Loved it. End to end. Not theory bit actual practice. Every tedster should follow lead.

@sexdrugsRnR 15 жыл бұрын

i love how he stopped the clapping

@tushluasfresno 11 жыл бұрын

The best way to restore a rainforest is to give it space and times with no human interferences. Given it space and times, nature will rebuilt itself. At least, that is what I believed.

@lotto5742 5 жыл бұрын

That can take centuries. We need humans, science, and technology to fasten the process.

@ArjunSingh-yl3nd 5 жыл бұрын

No bro human have spread invasive species all over the world (weeds) if we allow to grow forest on its own on a barren land then we have to restore soil by planting trees and their leaves make soil fertile if we then leave it weeds will take the area so we have to give a helping hand and their forest becomes self sustaining

@21des1994 5 жыл бұрын

You need lisen the video again, borneo can became grassland action not taken, same happen with green land that dosen have trees anymore

@BigBodyBiggolo 5 жыл бұрын

@@ArjunSingh-yl3nd the saharah desert is a direct product of not doing anything, we are so much the problem now that we are also the only solution left

@gmuralid 5 жыл бұрын

Yeah but accelerated restoration is a far better way to do it. Helps to have the humans be guides and stewards for the forests.

@calvinwithhax 10 жыл бұрын

Dr Willie Smits came to our school

@supermanx8 15 жыл бұрын

THIS IS TRUE HARMONY

@DavidOCru 14 жыл бұрын

willie smits is the man

@trashmn 15 жыл бұрын

we have to do our part.

@krachenford9594 3 жыл бұрын

Never saw this phantastic man on german telly. Lack of information is steering us!

@freekuki 8 жыл бұрын

inspiring work

@hangintreefrog 14 жыл бұрын

I urge everyone to see this.....what has been dine inspires hope....I bet you he sleeps well at night. Congratulations!! Hangintreefrog

@miracleshappen4483 3 жыл бұрын

We must change lifestyle, wake up from ego-centered delirium and return home. We are the only species who created a monetary system, an economy to survive now its purpose has been fulfilled and we need to open our hearts to reality: everything is a miracle and we are part of it. Let's love again! 💖😁😍

@Nebiros21 15 жыл бұрын

He is an Indonesian national. He was originally from the netherlands.

@evalerchesecher4623 5 жыл бұрын

Yes the only lasting way to do it :)

@JHamList 4 жыл бұрын

what an awesome dude

@FrenulumLabii 14 жыл бұрын

Chapeau!!!

@Zigahertz 15 жыл бұрын

This is the guy which whom the greedy capitalists should be re-modeling themselves on. He knows the way to the future for humanity.

@miracleshappen4483 3 жыл бұрын

Energy comes from the Sun the Wind and the Sea...

@MdMehediHasan-iw4tf 4 жыл бұрын

This video is from 2009. I wonder what's the current condition of that place now.

@nmhong8289 7 жыл бұрын

In the past 20 years, more than 30 millions Ha of forests had been destroyed for soybean planting versus that of a negligible area for others including oil palm. Where are the actions against soybeans?