Meet Shubhendu Sharma
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At a time when deforestation, pollution, and urbanization are wiping out our green spaces, Shubhendu Sharma is proving that restoring forests is not only possible but can be done rapidly and sustainably. Meet Shubhendu Sharma, the man who took afforestation from a slow, centuries-long process to an innovative, science-backed revolution.
An Industrial Engineer by training, Shubhendu creates native, wild, self-sustaining forests using afforestation methodology from Japanese Scientist Dr. Akira Miyawaki. His forests grow 10 times faster than a regular plantation, they are 30 times denser and 30 times more bio-diverse. The method is completely natural and only native species are planted. In past 14 years, Shubhendu’s company Afforestt have successfully planted hundreds of forests in sixteen countries, in some of the most extreme climates and soils. Shubhendu is an Ashoka, TED and INK fellow. Shubhendu's work has resulted in a policy level change both in India and abroad. By doing detailed documentation of his methodology in multiple languages and making it open source, Shubhendu has enabled several people worldwide to make their own forest independently. He also teaches at Harvard Graduate School of Design as a guest lecturer and have lectured at several universities. Awards
Industrial engineer Shubhendu Sharma was working at Toyota in India when he met Japanese forest expert Akira Miyawaki, who'd arrived to plant a forest at the factory, using a methodology he'd developed to make a forest grow ten times faster that normal. Fascinated, Sharma interned with Miyawaki, and grew his first successful forest on a small plot behind a house. Today, his company Afforestt promotes a standardized method for seeding dense, fast-growing, native forests in barren lands, using his car-manufacturing acumen to create a system allowing a multilayer forest of 300 trees to grow on an area as small as the parking spaces of six cars -- for less than the price of an iPhone. Afforestt has helped grow forests at homes, schools and factories. Sharma seen improvement in air quality, an increase in biodiversity -- and the forests even generate fresh fruit. Afforestt is at work on a platform that will offer hardware probes to analyze soil quality, allowing the company to offer step-by-step instructions for anyone who wants to grow a native forest anywhere in the world. A former engineer at Toyota, Shubhendu left behind a promising career to dedicate his life to afforestation. He mastered and adapted the Miyawaki Method, a technique that allows trees to grow 10 times faster, become 30 times denser, and support 100 times more biodiversity than traditional forests. Through his company, Afforestt, Sharma has made it possible for individuals, businesses, and communities to grow lush, self-sustaining forests in even the most unexpected places. Whether it’s a backyard, school, corporate campus, or degraded land, his work proves that forests are not just planted—they are engineered to thrive. |
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