Why are we here? What’s our meaning in this cosmic joke? This philosophical question might be as old as humanity itself.

Most people don’t think about it. Philosophical impoverishment is a big problem. Because if we don’t know where we want to go and why, we will follow the rules of the systems others built. And that might be against our innate self-interest.

The chances of us being here on Earth are so slim that we can confidently say that we are a miracle. We are floating on a rock through vast space in an atmosphere that creates just the right temperature for life as we know it. And wow, what life it creates.

I recently visited a weekend course on Syntropic Agroforestry offered by Jaime and Ana, a knowledgeable couple in the area where I live (Here is their project: Estacion Agroecologico Viveiro). They showed this picture of the process of natural succession: From pioneering to accumulating, to climax.​

Climax is the state of abundance, characterized by the greatest diversity, energy, minerals, and food within the web of life.

Let it sink in for a second: Abundance is the default “final” state of nature, if we let it do its thing.

It’s just that we work really hard against it. We use pesticides to kill “unwanted” life and then use fossil fuels to make fertilizer to replace the fertility that we killed. We are essentially killing perennial abundance (e.g., by cutting forests) to grow annual crops that need a lot of inputs. We are retreating to a pioneering landscape.

If you are not laughing at that, you are not paying attention.

Syntropic agroforestry is an antidote. It seeks to mimic the natural succession and advance more rapidly from pioneering to climax.

So what does the climax of abundance look like in that context?

Here you can see a picture. In the front, you can see our newly planted agroforestry line with 30 different species from seed, seedlings, and more developed plants.

In the back, you can see syntropic agroforestry systems that are 6+ years old, producing lemons, avocados, and other fruits. These are still accumulating and on the way to climax. Considering this is a photo taken during winter, you can only imagine what it looks like and produces in summer.

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Needless to say, Jaime and his family are self-sufficient with roughly half a hectare of land. They don’t need fertilizer or pesticides. The dense tree systems are resilient against pests because of their diversity. And the workload is manageable.

And I haven’t even zoomed in on the beauty of that space.

During the course, we had some philosophical discussions about the role of humans in this world. It made me think.

#1 Spreading seeds

According to the best of archeological and historic knowledge, the first homo sapiens were nomadic groups of hunter-gatherers. We lived off the abundance of planet earth and moved places when food got scarce.

As our survival depended upon it, we knew all the plants like we know brands nowadays. And when some plants tasted well, we very likely took the seeds and spread them. Or we just ate them whole, and when getting rid of them, we automatically planted them with some manure-based fertilizer.

This was our function in the system.

So, in the current state of the world, it is even more important to follow that function.

We are here to spread seeds again and grow abundance.

It doesn’t matter if that’s seed bombing in the city or tending a piece of land towards abundance. But I am sure that one purpose of humans in this world is to spread the seeds, metaphorically and literally.

#2 Increasing Diversity

We live in a reductionist, mechanistic world. But that is changing. Science is catching up to what religions knew all along: we are all connected.

Diversity is a strength in Syntropic Agroforestry systems. Different plants have different needs, and they support each other through a network of fungi in the soil.

The more the merrier.

Some plants fix nitrogen in the soil that other plants can use to grow.
Some plants produce biomass that then gets composted to produce more nutrient-rich soil.
Some fungi connect all the roots, enabling plants to exchange signals and share minerals

So, as humans, we should embrace and increase diversity in ecological and social systems. That's how systems become more resilient & flourish.

#3 Remove what is not useful

Sometimes things don’t grow as planned. Or one tree is taking too much sun from another.

In Syntropic Agroforestry, you trim the trees heavily to make space for the sun to enter, and interestingly, it also leads to all plants in the system growing faster. It causes a hormonal response that spreads the message among all plants: “There are animals that eat us; we need to grow faster.”

Sometimes in our lives, we need to cut something that is not useful anymore to stimulate more growth.

A destructive habit that is reducing our health, a friendship that has become a burden, a branch of a tree that takes too much light, or an economic system that breaks planetary boundaries.

What in your life is something that you need to remove?

#4 Working with Nature

Nature is doing incredible work. Syntropic Agroforestry shows this even on a very small scale.

But we work heavily against it. We put in the energy of 80 oranges in the form of pesticides, fossil-fuel fertilizer, and machine work in order to get out 1 orange. It depends on where you live, but on average, food is being shipped 1300 km to get to your supermarket. This is not sustainable in the long run. Especially with fossil fuels becoming scarce in the future.

We need to learn from nature and let it do the work.

That means refocusing on perennial food sources such as agroforestry systems that need no inputs and less work than annual vegetables. It means growing diversity locally and reducing the kilometers from production to consumption. It means keeping the soil covered, increasing photosynthesis, and supporting nutrient cycling.

Our role in this: support the processes of nature, not work against them.

#5 Embracing our unique humanity

When nature is doing the work to provide us with materials for shelter, food, and beauty, what is left for us to do?

Some studies estimate that hunter-gatherers spend 15 hours a week on satisfying their basic needs. That’s probably why we have paintings in caves.

If we have our needs covered, we can just be human.

To come together, to share food, to care for each other. To sing, paint, and dance. To celebrate the abundance of life.

In the age of AI, where everything seems to become faster and more robotic, where people are stressed and fearful, we need to be the person who stays grounded, kind, and shows a different way forward.

One that involves spreading seeds, increasing diversity, working with nature, and embracing our unique humanity.

Kindness begins with the understanding that we all struggle.
- Charles Glassman

Happy regeneration,
Jonas