BUILDING PLANT-FOCUSED
ECONOMIES THAT PROTECT
NATURE, LAND AND WATER
The African lion is in dire straits as human populations and demand for agricultural land expand. Lions were once found on three continents but have since disappeared from 94 percent of their historic range.
A LASTING LEGACY FOR THE FUTURE
Photo: Ketan Kambhatta
THE NATURAL WORLD AND WILDLIFE COME WITH IT
Plant landscapes are new frontiers that are helping reshape the path of climate change, protecting fragile ecosystems and threatened wildlife.
We can protect nature through the building of care for our environment, animals and our climate into new infrastructure for agriculture that grows sustainable forests, domesticates trees and plants on a large scale, preserves habitats for wildlife and harnesses nature's immense ability to store carbon — environmental land management that protects our planet's natural resources and the well-being of animals.
“We have an incredibly beautiful planet, a home that we will hopefully pass on to generations to come. But as years go by, it is becoming incredibly hard to imagine what kind of a world we’re leaving behind us.”
— Otto Brockway, writer, co-director,
Eating Our Way to Extinction
PLANT LANDSCAPES: THE NEW FRONTIER
What a lonely world it would be without the countless animals living on every continent and in every ocean on Earth. Yet, at current rates of extinction, three out of four species that are common will vanish. Seventy percent of Earth's land animals live in forests and in habitats that are in trouble.
The growth of modern agriculture throughout the world has had profound consequences. It is responsible for soaring deforestation and transformed landscapes, and it has become an important driver of greenhouse gas emissions. It is water-intensive, using nearly 70 percent of our fresh water supply. Animal agriculture has brought us degraded forests, dying oceans caused by overfishing, the loss of treasured wildlife, and its most unique feature, the mass abuse of farm animals, on a scale and to a degree undreamed of in human history. Current demands for animals and fish have become one of the most dominant influences on Earth in the 21st century.
Plant landscapes are the Earth’s most powerful new frontier. How do forests sustain themselves without irrigation, without pesticides, without oil-based fertilizers, not even herbicides? They are self-sustaining systems. There are ideas in the forest that need to be adopted into agriculture, because with nothing, plants can do everything.
ON ANY SCORE CARD,
NATURE IS LOSING
— Kristine McDivitt Tompkins
WILDLIFE IS ESSENTIAL TO OUR PLANET
Forests cleared for livestock production and commercial development are driving unprecedented extinctions, including historic losses of primates and birds. Monkeys have been pushed to the brink of extinction, with recent reports from Southeast Asia indicating that there will soon be no wild monkeys left in Cambodia, Laos or Vietnam.
Livestock farming takes up most of the world’s agricultural land, either through land cleared for grazing or to plant crops for feed. The number one issue for species extinction is severe habitat loss, with animals finding no place to live. By some estimates, 80% of extinctions are still impending as ecosystems continue to fragment and collapse.
Birds, declining at an alarming rate, are primary pollinators that help stabilize ecosystems. They are essential to dispersing seeds that become trees with root systems that protect soil from drought and erosion. They can transform entire landscapes by carrying seeds to distant land masses, recolonizing plants that restore degraded land and absorb carbon. Eight species of hummingbirds (left), stunning tiny creatures, are on the tipping point species list. Hummingbirds visit 2,000 flowers and eat 1,000 insects each day, helping to control pests and transport pollen.
The 2023 Living Planet Index reported wildlife populations have collapsed by 69 percent worldwide since 1970. In February 2023, a grim new report warned that 34% of plant species and 40% of animal species across the United States are at risk of extinction and 41% of U.S. ecosystems are at risk of collapse.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) reports the main driver of species decline is the habitat destruction that comes from agriculture and the expansion of agricultural production to produce food.
The Cellulosic Age
Young companies are becoming powerful catalysts that are bringing high-emission agriculture into serious contention and emerging sectors that protect our planet and wildlife critical to ecosystems into the spotlight.
Corporations, financial institutions and impact investors are increasingly focusing on the importance of protecting biodiversity and are beginning to identify their impact on animals and plants. These companies have the power to change the world we live in.
Blue Horizon is one of the world’s most influential catalysts helping to protect our planet by moving it into a promising future.
Plants as Blueprints
In the race to find sustainable technology and emerging materials that reduce our ecological footprint, plant fibres are gaining momentum as a key material in manufacturing industries.
Biocomposites (composite materials reinforced by natural materials like hemp, jute, kenaf, sisal) are used by car manufacturers because they reduce vehicle weight, which improves performance and lowers CO2 emissions. They are used in car interiors for components like door and floor panels, but they also have more structural applications and are used in aerospace and construction industries. Natural fibers are cheaper, lighter in weight, require less energy to manufacture and are easier to decompose or burn. The demand for plant fibres in plastic composites is growing by more than 50% annually.
Why should you be excited about the new bioeconomy? It can change the future of the natural world.
"We have all of this microbial diversity at our fingertips. There are more species of micro-organisms on the planet Earth than there are stars in the Milky Way. Biomanufacturing can enable us to produce foods and materials and cosmetics and functional ingredients a lot more sustainably and a lot more precisely than the current economy that is mainly based on extracting from nature."
— Friederike Gross-Holz,
Blue Horizon
REBOOTING SYSTEMS
Environmental Land Management Takes Root
“The structure of the rainforest grants a function of abundance. It’s process-based agriculture, not input-based. The design and maintenance replaces fertilizers and even irrigation. We benefit from the great advantage of creating life, not killing life.”
“Here, for the first time, I saw it on a large scale and I was extremely impressed. Here you have the possibility to make it a reference mark. You can say it’s possible.”
With reforestation, the temperature dropped, the climate changed dramatically, the soil changed completely. Nowadays his farm is considered one of the most fertile and biodiverse fragments of the Atlantic rainforest.
COLLABORATING PARTNERS
This project is supported by agricultural institutions fostering innovation in the agricultural sector and leading public entities driving job creation, land restoration and development in Africa and India. Our partners include governments, national parks, conservation organizations and business corporations.