- John Liu set up a CBS News bureau in China during the 1980s, where he was witness to rising pollution levels caused by rapid industrialization across the country.
- The rapid diminishment of China’s landscape at the time struck him deeply and he decided that restoration was key to reclaiming lands and livelihoods for people, both there and globally, and so he left journalism to promote it worldwide.
- “We should recognize what true wealth is. This isn’t just an environmental imperative; it’s a moral one. We must ensure our planet remains vibrant and life-supporting for generations to come,” he argues in this op-ed for Mongabay.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
I’ve spent a significant part of my career exploring and documenting how ecosystems function, and the profound impact humanity has on nature. Over time, I’ve come to recognize that not only is the way we treat the environment critically flawed, but so too is our current economic system.
Conventional economic theories, like Keynesian economics, focus on transactions — the buying and selling of goods — as the primary measure of wealth. They insist that to prosper, societies must continually extract more resources, manufacture more products, and engage in more commercial activities — it’s all about ‘growth.’ However, there’s a fundamental problem with this approach: it overlooks the intrinsic value of nature.
True wealth is not found in the commodities we trade, but in the functionality and health of our ecosystems. These provide us with “services” like clean air, water and fertile soil, which are the real foundations of our economy and very survival. Unlike the limited and often destructive traditional economic model, we must foster an economy that places higher value on natural systems and benefits all life — not just the interests of the 1%. Climate breakdown and biodiversity loss affect us all in the end. No one will be immune if we run out of soil to produce food, or clean water to drink.
Whose responsibility is it to make change?
When I was setting up a CBS news bureau in China during the 1980s, rising pollution levels caused by rapid industrialisation across the country struck me deeply. I’d see a stream running purple saturated with industrial waste on the drive to work each day. Every time I passed by, I thought to myself: “When is somebody going to do something about this?!” Then I realised, if everyone thought like this, no one would ever solve the problem.
That “someone” needed to be me.
In our news studios, we covered the biggest global stories, the main geopolitical and cultural issues of the time. But as I delved deeper, I found that these stories were often superficial compared to the more pressing, underlying issue — our dependence on the natural world for air, water, and climate regulation.
This epiphany led me to pivot towards environmental and, as I understood it more, “ecological” film-making. But filmmaking wasn’t enough – soon my life’s work turned into how to inspire humanity to physically restore all degraded lands on the Earth.
One of the most striking moments came when I visited the Loess Plateau in China, once the cradle of Chinese civilisation, and found myself on a mountaintop surrounded by a barren landscape. I thought, “How is it that the largest ethnic group on the planet comes from a place that looks like the moon?” It was a clear and harsh depiction of how extensively humans have altered natural landscapes.
From megafauna extinction to the introduction of settled agriculture (when farmers farm on the same plot for many years), humans have reshaped the Earth’s ecosystems dramatically. Now, we are seeing the consequences of these actions in altered climate patterns, massively depleted biodiversity, and disrupted natural cycles. We’ve created immense challenges for ourselves, but we also have the knowledge to reshape the Earth’s ecosystems for the benefit of all. The ability, capacity and willingness all exist to make positive change, in ways both big and small.
![The Ho Family Gully on the China Loess Plateau before [ A late August 1995] and after [ B late August 2009] the "Grain for Green" conservation program. Photo Credits: Liu & Hiller (2016).](https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/12175139/The-Ho-Family-Gully-on-the-China-Loess-Plateau-before-A-late-August-1995-and-after-B.png)
The power of people and plants
On a micro-level, I’ve seen how planting halophytes in the desert – a type of salt-tolerant plant – can reduce surface temperatures by 45 degrees C when compared to direct solar radiation (with no plants present). Plants have the power to bring us back from the brink – and they’re ready and willing to help. Bringing back vegetation and restoring at the landscape level has the potential to rehydrate water catchments, prevent floods and make soil more resilient and healthy: a better home for all life.
We can achieve so much when we work together with nature and harness its life-giving power.
And yet, implementing landscape restoration as a solution requires a radical shift in how we think about and organise our societies. We need to embrace collective intelligence, recognizing that our fates are interconnected.
Imagine a world where all human activities contribute positively to the environment, where, instead of competing, we collaborate to restore degraded landscapes and care for each other. This vision is not idealistic; when you look at how communities are already being affected by climate change and biodiversity loss, you realize it’s necessary for our survival.
Through my work in ecosystem restoration camps and community projects around the world, I’ve seen first-hand the power of collective action. These initiatives aren’t just about planting trees or cleaning rivers; they’re about rebuilding community connections and integrating Indigenous wisdom into our modern lives.
While the media, especially film, plays a crucial role in spreading awareness and inspiring action, the real change happens when people come together in person. It’s about moving beyond watching and discussing, to doing. In these communities, people of all backgrounds learn from each other and work towards a common goal—healthy, sustainable ecosystems.
Together, we can rewrite our economic models and societal norms to create a world where nature and humanity thrive in harmony. We should recognize what true wealth is. This isn’t just an environmental imperative; it’s a moral one. We must ensure our planet remains vibrant and life-supporting for generations to come.
John D. Liu is Commonland Ambassador and Founder of Ecosystem Restoration Communities, and his 2012 documentary Green Gold offers a glimpse into the power of large-scale landscape restoration.
Banner image: Before and after comparison of a restoration project in Spain conducted with the guidance of Commonland and other organizations. Image courtesy of AlVelAl.
Related audio from Mongabay’s podcast: A conversation with award-winning restorationist Tony Rinaudo, champion of farmer managed natural regeneration (FMNR) which has re-greened and reforested millions of hectares of land globally, listen here:
See related coverage of landscape restoration:
From rat-ridden to reserve, Redonda is an island restoration role model
Citation:
Liu, J. D., & Hiller, B. T. (2016). A Continuing Inquiry into Ecosystem Restoration: Examples from China’s Loess Plateau and Locations Worldwide and Their Emerging Implications. In Land Restoration (pp. 361–379). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-801231-4.00027-6
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