Eco Hero Award Honoring John D. Liu

Santa Barbara Permaculture Network Eco Hero Award Honoring John D. Liu Journalist, Filmmaker, Scientist, & Founder & Ambassador for Ecosystem Restoration Camps Sunday, March 17, 6:30 9pm Reception with John D. Liu follows in the Lobero Courtyard 33 E Canon Perdido St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Tickets on Sale Now: Lobero Ticket Office https://www.lobero.org/events/sb-permaculture-honoring-john-d-liu/ A Community Event Hosted by Santa Barbara Permaculture Network Together, we can help restore paradise on earth. John D. Liu Vast areas of the Earth have been degraded and turned to desert by human activity over the millennia, causing drought, poverty, and releasing carbon into the atmosphere. The U.N. currently estimates the Earth has almost 5 billion acres of deforested and degraded ecosystems, an area larger than the South American continent. As a young Chinese American, John D. Lius early career started as a cameraman and journalist covering major geopolitical events. In 1995 he got an assignment to film the Loess Plateau, one of the driest and poorest regions in China, where the Chinese government and the local people of the region transformed a massive degraded area the size of Belgium into a verdant and productive green oasis. Stunned by what he saw and with the realization this ecosystem restoration model could be replicated around the world, Liu was inspired to become a soil scientist, and spent the next 20 years visiting more than 80 countries documenting similar large scale ecosystem restoration projects, eventually creating the award winning What if We Change, and Hope in a Changing Climate film series. Broadcast on CBS, BBC, National Geographic and other outlets, these film series cover successful ecosystem restoration projects in Portugal, Jordan, China, Ethiopia, Sweden, Rwanda, Spain, Mongolia, Uganda, Australia and more. With his work and films John D. Liu shows what is possible for the Earth with ecosystem restoration, delivering a message of hope and inspiration. But Liu also feels the human species is at a crossroads, to survive or not survive as a civilization. Former cradles of civilization have failed by depleting their ecosystems, but for the first time, there is the potential of losing the planet as a home by disrupting all its functioning systems. Understanding how the ecological functions of our planet work is key to our survival, and Liu suggests healthy ecosystems are where all of our wealth actually comes from. Will we design economic and production systems from scarcity and ignorance, continually depleting and extracting, or from abundance, with new models that protect, enhance, and preserve ecosystems, working with nature to assist with what an evolving planet is always prepared to do, rehabilitate itself and flourish. Bringing this restoration vision into the 21st century, Liu and others launched the Ecosystem Restoration Camp movement, and currently serves as Ambassador for the global Ecosystem Restoration Camp network. The Ecosystem Restoration camps are for youth and all ages to come together and learn practical hands on skills and effective strategies for restoring soil and water cycles, reversing desertification, and ultimately mitigating climate change. Camp Altiplano, the first ecosystem restoration camp, located in an emerging desert in Spain, celebrated its first anniversary last summer. Other camps are in the works, including a camp in San Miguel Allende, Mexico, and a developing site in Paradise, California, where devasting wildfires took place last Fall. After the Eco Hero award is presented, John D. Liu will share personal stories about his experiences over the decades, and update the audience about the developing Ecosystem Restoration camps and how others might get involved. Santa Barbara Permaculture Network will also recognize individuals and groups doing regenerative and ecosystem restoration work in the Santa Barbara and Southern California area. A reception follows the event in the Lobero Courtyard, where all are welcome to meet and converse with John D. Liu. The event takes place at the Lobero Theatre on March 17, from 6:30 9pm, tickets on sale at the Lobero Ticket office, 805.963.0761; Lobero.com. Please visit our website for more information, www.sbpermaculture.org Echoer John D Liu Facebook event page https://www.facebook.com/events/342630719670718/ More Info: John D. Liu Bio: Founder of the Environmental Education Media Project (EEMP), Senior Research Fellow with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN): Visiting Fellow with the Critical Zone Hydrology Group; Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences at the Vrije University Amsterdam. Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Ecosystem Camps Foundation, and currently serves as Ecosystem Ambassador for the Commonland Foundation. UN Ecosystem Proclamation: March 1, 2019 Just Released: Official Announcement from UN Environment: https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/press-release/new-un-decade-ecosystem-restoration-offers-unparalleled-opportunity Ecosystem Restoration Camps: A grassroots non-profit organization that is engaging people to transform damaged landscapes into thriving, biodiverse ecosystems. The organization was founded in response to a groundswell of support from people worldwide who see the amazing potential of soil restoration https://www.ecosystemrestorationcamps.org Ecosystem Restoration Camps in California Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2197059180534835/