But the desert fought back. Barely 10% of his saplings survived the searing heat and sandstorms. Those that did were often eaten by wandering goats or cut down for firewood by desperate families. After years of watching his work wither, Tony was ready to admit defeat.
Underneath the "dead" soil lay a massive, ancient network of roots—an waiting for a chance to grow. DER.2021.German.WALDMACHER
One afternoon in 1983, while driving through the barren fields, Tony stopped to change a tire. He looked at the small, scrubby "bushes" poking through the sand—the same ones he had dismissed as useless weeds for years. He took a closer look and realized they weren't weeds at all. They were tree stumps. But the desert fought back
Tony realized he didn’t need to plant new trees; he needed to wake up the old ones. He developed a simple method called : selecting the strongest stems on a stump, pruning the rest, and protecting them from livestock. Der Waldmacher (2021) - IMDb After years of watching his work wither, Tony
