Brian Cartwright will show a short film, “Hope in a Changing Climate,” and lead a discussion about methods of ecological restoration for degraded lands around the world. 

The filmmaker is John D. Liu, who founded a global organization called Ecosystem Restoration Camps.  His vision is to set up camps in locations where volunteers learn by restoring damaged and degraded landscapes to health and productivity. John has been learning and documenting methods for this kind of restoration over the past twenty years in collaboration with governments and environmental organizations.

The 25-minute film documents the project that first got him involved in this work. Spearheaded by scientists and the Chinese government, the farmers and livestock herders of a remote area were mobilized to work on a massive landscape repair project, motivated by a commitment that they would be the beneficiaries of the results. Those results were miraculous, and provided John the inspiration to promote ecosystem restorations in Rwanda, India, Somalia, and other locations. 

The film can also be seen online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLdNhZ6kAzo