In fourteen hundred and ninety two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. In fourteen hundred and ninety eight, Duarte Pacheco Pereira made Amerigo Vespucci a little too late. Based on the Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis, the Portuguese explorer Pereira appears to have sailed down the coast of Brazil one year before Vespucci. Just think, the New World could have been labeled North and South Pereira if not for the politics of the time. Alas, Amerigo got the credit, and in the year of our lord 1500, Pedro Alvares Cabral got the credit for discovering Brazil. Regardless of how history recalls these events, Pereira wrote about entering the mouth of the Amazon River Delta. He also reported that the region was densely populated.
European explorers were in an epic race to discover a brave new world, in search of new trade routes. Spices from the far east were initially the goal, but conquest for untold riches soon eclipsed all other endeavors. The hunt was on. Silver, gold, gems, and perhaps, even a famed fountain of youth was just beyond the river bend. The thirst for conquest dominated humanity for centuries to come.
Indigenous peoples were displaced, enslaved, and eradicated in search of European dreams. This drive blinded many explorers to a true discovery of global significance.
In fifteen hundred and forty two, Francisco de Orellana entered the Amazon too. This Spanish conquistador reported a dense population, just as Pereira had. However, within a few years this thriving indigenous culture disappeared. They vanished like an urban legend. Later exploration revealed only a dense rainforest.
It was not until the 1980's that archaeologists discovered one of Brazil's most valuable resources. Known as Terra Preta (or black soil), this nutrient rich miracle grow had been deliberately developed by the ancient inhabitants, predating European invaders by centuries. Also known as Amazonian dark earth, this man made black soil is characterized by its high charcoal and phosphorus content. This along with other factors contributes to a mulch of sorts, that can grow produce, in the most infertile regions. Rather than a fountain of youth, it would appear that the Amazon rainforest is home to the soil of life.
Terra Preta could hold the key to ending world hunger. Just imagine if this soil could be produced and distributed to the global agricultural nations. In the past century many countries have abandoned the old agricultural model. We have been separated from the soil beneath our feet, by shoes, and pavement, and sky scrapers. We have lost touch with our agrarian roots. This is having a devastating effect on our diets and our health, not to mention our overall wellbeing.
Conquest and greed have separated modern humanity from the life giving, over tilled soil of our planet. We are faced with a choice in the next few years. We can continue to disconnect from our environment through technology, or we can reverse course, take off our shoes, and reconnect with our bio-diverse world.
Rather than hunting gophers and moles to extinction, we could use these creatures to restore barren wastelands. We could use Terra Preta to supercharge our potential for growth. We could do so much more to change our course of climate destabilization. We could truly conquer the land through cultivation.
So then why don't we? What is holding us back? It seems so simple, and yet our foot remains on the gas pedal and break at the same time. We know we are depleting our fossil fuel supply at an alarming rate, but we also seem committed to using every last drop before we will even consider changing course. History seems doomed to repeat itself. What do I mean by that? When has something like this ever happened in the history of our planet before? Don't you remember? Did we all forget? Turn the page if you don't recall.
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God Please Save Your Planet...from us.
Non-FictionThe perspective that could change everything.
