How Goats are Regenerating a Forest and Protecting this Town from Bushfire
From Weedy Forests to Grassy Woodlands tells the story of a community-led permaculture initiative to mitigate forest fire risk using goats and hand tools rather than herbicides, heavy machinery, and burn-offs. On the edge of Daylesford, a town on Dja Dja Wurrung country in Victoria, Australia prone to massive bush fires, a small group of community-minded folk have pulled together to work towards restoring the ecology of their commons forest - in order to stop the future need for controlled burn-offs by the local fire authority.
Burn-offs keep the township safe from out-of-control fires, but they hinder the forest’s ability to regenerate, and thus cannot provide the environment necessary for the diversity of insects, birds and animals that are necessary in a healthy forest on a healthy planet. Restoring the forest also allows for traditional indigenous burns to take place, as the danger created by flammable non-native species has been reduced.
The work being done by the Goathand Cooperative is not only showing stunning results on the forest floor, it’s having much broader effects: the forest’s wildlife is thriving, the goats are healthy and happy, but in addition neighbours previously dubious about the project have come on board, so that new and strong community connections are being made. And as one Cooperative member says in the film, an important re-connection is also being made with nature. “We haven’t always been trammellers of land,” says Patrick Jones. This connection to the soil and to the forest is, he believes, “our way back to sanity”.
From Weedy Forests to Grassy Woodlands offers inspiration to anyone looking for ways to regenerate their own or a commons forest, anyone feeling the urgency of mitigating the potential disasters of forest fires in the most natural way possible, anyone in a locality and position to use goats for that purpose, and just anyone seeking reconnection to the earth that created and sustains us!
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goathand.blogspot.com/
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** Film credits **
Directed and written by Jordan Osmond
Story feedback by Antoinette Wilson & Nick Tucker
Cinematography by Jordan Osmond
Editing, colour grading and sound mix by Jordan Osmond
Additional footage by Michal Krawczyk vimeo.com/earthcare & Patrick Jones.
Intro song 'Walking bare' by Anthony Petrucci: anthonypetrucci.bandcamp.com/...
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Happen Films I am soo glad someone has finally seen the future of using everything but chemicals we have goats living wild here for the past 11 years here now and we have not had a single bushfire in the surrounding area and the wild life has come back to the area. The only bush fires I have seen has been outside of the area where the goats have not been. You can see the smoke for the fires but for once I know it won’t reach us anymore as the undergrowth is not there to feed the fire anymore.
have my joy having watching you, guys! Regards from Uzbekistan! :D
Thank you for your work and love in life for life.... and to be Abel to share your hope and joy in life with life makes for such a wonderful place...Bless your work and bless your rest...for blessing the land..
World owes a great deal of gratitude to you and people like you. Please keep up the good work. I hope other people in all countries follow your lead. Good luck to you.
Thank you for sharing your experience in such a thoughtful caring manner.
Around 40 years ago I moved to New Zealand. While there I met a guy who had purchased some land on the west coast of the south island. Locals laughed at him because it was filled with Gorse. He fenced it off, a bit at a time, and introduced goats. After a few years, he had the best farm in the area thanks to those goats. He turned the scorn into people then asking him for advice. Mother nature knows the answers if we just take the time to ask and listen to the answers.
Amen
Thats not mother nature. its a farm.
@@notthatguy4703 he’s saying Nature already giving us goats helpers to clear weeds, gives us milk, meats when they’re old, and yet! instead dumb humans corporate greeds don’t care, makes pesticides forced dumb farmers to buy from them that kills but gives nothing back takes but then gives cancers, costs $$$$$$$$ and don’t clear the underlying issues.
@@kateli1880 some people just don't get it.
Mother nature??? Do you mean god?
I first watched this film about 2 years ago and it inspired me to buy a small herd of Boer goats to help with clearing our riverbank, which had become quite choked with weeds and vines, including blackberry, kudzu and lantana. We’ve had our small herd working for about 18 months now and thought I’d share my observations: - They have done a magnificent job chewing down the blackberry, kudzu and another prickly vine that I don’t know the name of but was growing into and over the canopy of our big natives and strangling them. They’ve also eaten the wild tobacco, Chinese elm and to a good extent they’ve eaten back the lantana. I’ve managed to get the remaining lantana and blackberry thickets under control by cutting them back with a blade attachment on a whipper snipper. The blade slices through the woody thickets like butter and turns them into mulch on the ground. Much easier work than a machete or hand pruners! - Many of the vines were growing 20+ metres up into the canopy of some beautiful old silky oaks, and strangling many of the native trees along the riverbanks (bottle brush, banksias, wattles). The goats have chewed down what they could reach but I found I had to get in and pull down a lot of the vines that were growing out of their reach and cut some vines that were too thick to pull down. - Cutting vines at the base left a large thicket of dead vines right up to the canopy of the trees. Over a period of about 12 months, this tangled thicket has largely fallen to the ground in wind and storms and will eventually breakdown into the soil. - The goats have been very gentle and light footed on the riverbanks and get to the steep parts of the riverbank that are otherwise too hard for humans or their machinery to work on. I move them regularly so that they don’t overgraze a particular area. I had some preliminary concerns that they might cause soil erosion but this hasn’t been an issue as they don’t disturb the roots or the soil and all the big established trees are still in tact and holding the soil together. - The goats are not selective when it comes to eating the leaves of trees and saplings. The established trees with canopies out of the goats reach are generally safe and won’t be harmed by the goats. I’ve observed the goats like to rub/scratch their heads on the trunks of smaller trees with bendable trunks so I’ve had to protect a few of the smaller trees that I wanted to save by wrapping their trunk with polypipe (I cut it vertically with a slit to open and enclose the trunk), and/or with chicken mesh. I prune any lower branches on the tree to allow for an easy wrap of the trunk up to a height that the goats can reach. - Goats hate getting their feet wet and will avoid it at any cost so if using a water course/river as a fencing boundary, you only need to fence a metre or two into the river to stop them getting around it. I use the netting for the main perimeter fence and at the rivers edge, I use star pickets and poly wire to extend the fence about 2 metres into the river. - When our river floods, the debris used to bank up and dam, which created all sorts of problems. Now it has a much clearer path to flow downstream and I’ve observed that we’ve actually reduced our flood risk by reducing the density of obstructions. I hope these observations may help others who want to engage on a similar path. Goats are a bit of work to manage well but very rewarding to see the transformation and they are a pleasure to have around. My thanks to the crew who made this film and inspired me to take this journey!
Whipper-snippers can get blade attachments?! Oh, imma hafta feed my Bunnings addiction on this one. Thanks for the tip on the polypipe. Goats like scratching posts. I didn't know that before. Ta
Thank you for writing this detailed and inspiring report! I raised an abandoned baby-goat by bottle my dogs had found while hiking in the mountains. She slept in my arms the first couple of months, I really loved her. In the garden however she preferred my flowers to the blackberries. By definition she would eat and do everything she was not allowed to - a very, very funny and cheerful companion. Greetings from France !
Thanks for this, we live on an acreage so we relate to the philosophy of maintaining the land and keeping evasive weeds to almost non existent. We regularly check the 30+ acres, weed & burn off Lantana. It’s amazing fulfilling work if you keep on it. Our landlords are committed to maintain the property every weekend while they work 6 days a week because it looks lovely and it reduces fire risks and snake/rodent issues. Some of our neighbours properties need goats. While we enjoy the privacy of the house high forest of lantana & god knows what hiding in there, the risks of fire is always a fear. They’d lose everything. Our property is clear and consistently maintained which is why we rarely see snakes (believe me they’re in our local area) and are at a low fire risk. We have 9 cattle as pets/lawnmowers so they do a good job, we have multiple generations of resident wild ducks living here, grill neck lizards, fireflies, coackatoos & other birds call our property home. Being one with nature is wonderful but it requires dedication & commitment. We have the deepest respect for our landlords. They keep everything beautiful & we love helping them because we enjoy the neatness and tranquility. I love goats but goat curry is my favourite, so it will never work here. I’ll be hungry following them with my pot!
Thank you for this interesting account! All the best from far away!
@@homebuddha lol
What an amazing gift these men are. They make me proud to be an Aussie. Knowing w have ambassadors like these. Absolutely love what they're doing!
Here’s an idea unleash feral goats Because of predators
Animals deserve love and affection of humans. The only way we can have a bright future is by treating animals as partners, rather than a resource.
Don't forget eating them too. Beef, chicken and lamb are delicious
Goat Stew is delicious and very healthy for you! Animals heal the planet and heal our bodies!
they are both. just imagine lovely meadows and flowering fields with grazing animals going through, rather than huge , monocrop fields.. l love that idea.
no way!! stumbled across these goats 6 months or so back on a bush wander Didn't realise it was Patrick's doing. So awesome
A bush wander sounds so cool... where i am at that means dodging homeless tents to get a slurpee at 7 11. Yours sounds way better!!
awesome until goat gets smit by snake venoms and bush snakes.. or even other carnivores!!
@@kmlkrki918 I bet it happens. Doesn't Australia have an incredible amount of deadly snakes and insects? Or am I just being a city girl about it? We only have rattle snakes, widows, and brown recluse here they rarely make in city.
@@patriciaikeda2608 You're just being a "city girl" sunshine. The venom in a brown snake's bite can kill a healthy man in 15 minutes, but on average only two people a year are killed by brown snakes. And there are a lot of brown snakes on the east coast of Australia. It's not like they "bala up" and wait behind a bush for the unsuspecting to idle by.
@@Frombie_01 i mean, I saw a brown snake last week and my dad got bit by a funnel web while handing me a towel at the beach. Humans don’t die much because we get anti-venom quickly but 6,500 pets got bitten by snakes last year. My best friend Zac Young got killed by a Shark when we were 19 and my football coach lost his butt cheek to a great white a few years later. Doesn’t mean we don’t go outside but just be nice to people when they ask questions.
A couple of months ago, I "inherited" responsibility for 10 goats, 40 chickens and a rooster... first time in my 64 years I ever had to care for farm animals. I really loved the goats.... funny animals with great personalities, will follow you like dogs when they trust you. Really enjoyed this video, love what you are doing.
The only difference is you don't kill your dogs but you do kill your goats 😳
@@science-y9209 We kill huge numbers of dogs in the US every year.
@@science-y9209 over generalization there, depends on the person in question. Dogs to some are food.
@@science-y9209 what else good should goats have as an introduced species? The world doesn't revolve around fabricated sensibilities
@@wholeNwon no.. we don't kill dogs.. we keep em as our pets..but if some people do.. they're horrible
This film was a wonderful reminder that we CAN find our way back from the brink. That we live because there is soil, water, and sunlight. That we damn well need to stop taking those three vital things for granted. A beautiful example of people and animals on the land.
We transformed our little 55 acres here in Kansas by using a flock of hair sheep...both our pasture land and creek bottom. Our neighbors were stunned by the changes. The combination of grazing our sheep and cattle together worked wonderfully.
In Chattanooga Tn, during the 1980's, goats were used to decimate kudzu. Kudzu is an invasive plant in the southern US and it climbs up telephone poles. It smothers out everything in its path. It was originally imported from Asia to help with soil erosion. While in Asia it was in control and small but in the heat of the Southern US, it thrived and grew to excess 10X over. Goats were brought in to eat the kudzu and it helped in maintaining an invasive plant problem. I hope California can use goats in their fire problems.
I like how USA tries 'miracle solutions', but later have to deal with downsides.
Kudzu is fully edible by Humans also
My cows love kudzu!
As in Australia it’s the same in California. Those brush fires were right where high speed rail lines are to be built. Quite the coincidence.
Goats are known in the state of California to cause cancer...so...nope.
I got 3 goats this spring for the purpose of helping me reclaim my wild 5 acre property. My goal is forest pastures to rotate a small amount of livestock for our homestead. Thank you for validating my approach.
Okay, you can now, like my Dad, call yourself "a big goat farmer". When asked, about him calling himself "a big sheep farmer", he answered, "Yes I have three big sheep to keep the lawn down."
Some times, going against conventional wisdom yields more and better results. In this case, using goats to control black berry bushes from oppressing local forests has done a tremendous service to the overall environment. I would consider this a win for not only the people, but for everything that calls this area a home.
11:20 ''Every living thing comes from, & returns back to His ever changing dirt. In between those two times; are they not fashioned by His Light, & Living Waters?'' ~Just another one, of the many one's of we... awaiting His return 9621
So good to see supreme leader Kylo Ren taking initiative in managing the land
And Billy Bob Thornton is helping him!
@@Hillineunundsechzig 😂😂😂😂😂
Yep. And he can don a fire suit at the next bushfire.
ahaha... I was just scrolling down, for sure someone had to comment about Adam Driver
And the winner of the comment section is....@Mason Reeves
This video is SO reassuring. I'm in the process of using my goat herd to clear about 5.5 acres of "thicket" in east Tennessee. The plot has been grossly mismanaged in past years (completely bulldozed on three separate occasions in an attempt to convert it into a hay field, and then left to regrow without any further management). That said, it's completely overrun with blackberries, black locust trees, and other types of shrubbery and invasive plants. My goal is to let the black locust trees continue to grow into a shady canopy while grasses gradually establish on the under story. A grassy woodland, so to speak. The reason this video gives me hope, is that I have no mechanical equipment. It's just me, my goats, and a machete. For a while, I thought it must be absurd for me to walk about this plot and hack the thorns and shrubbery into something more manageable, but I now rest assured knowing that I'm not the only one utilizing this "hands on" approach! Great video.
You, your goats and a machete add up to something big! Small and slow solutions enables relationships and learning through observation. Good luck Matthew!
Good luck, Matthew! Let us know how it turns out.
Curious, how many goats on the five acres? Thanks!
@@Deadlift750 Right now I've got a total of 16 clearing out the lot. No doubt, that's not very many considering there are five acres to clear, but I'm not in too much of a hurry and am hoping that I can get at least two acres somewhat cleared this season. I've had to take my time and graze them carefully because I'm trying to save as many trees/saplings as possible and as soon as the goats have mostly cleared a section (typically about 1/10th of an acre at a time) they begin to strip the bark off of trees (mostly black & honey locust, oak, tulip poplar, and hickory). That said, I've got to move them pretty continuously and it takes almost no time at all for the foliage to return when the herd has been moved. I'm hoping that continued grazing throughout this season and into spring of 2021 will convert at least two acres into three or four paddocks that I can run my sheep through next year to help with the process. I'm also considering introducing 2-4 feeder pigs next year to clean up the plants that the goats and sheep leave behind and to aid in disturbing/stimulating the soil. Thanks for asking!
Good luck Matthew!
Blackberries are headaches but we had goats for a few years and they ate 80% of the weeds in our two acre land. They also ate a lot of other trees and plants but they did such a great job that even 9 years afterwards we don't have as much blackberries. We can manage it now. They also helped our backyard become more fertile, all this done by two hungry goats. My grandparents also take care of goats for a few months just to get free natural lawnmowers while the owners get free food for their pets.
We had milk goats they don't great we got milk so made cheese soap different things and always had good milk
@Sayit AsItIs I have no idea how you do, but I would just pepper spray the heck our of the tree barks. Theoretically that would work as goats are mammals, and it might even make it less a bit likely for the trees to get fungal infections as capsaicin is an antifungal.
nice. I hope to have some in the future
It's so heartening to see people caring for the ecology of this beautiful continent. Well done guys!
We just from NE Ohio and we had forest on two sides of our property filled with blackberries and I know how hard they are to manage even though I would try to thin back every year, but leave some for the birds and other animals.They really are invasive! I love how this documentary is showing a wonderful eco friendly solution to manage this problem!
Are you had been tried this method?
Human: So yeah we're basically helping stop forest fires Goat: Omnomnomnom
Haha!!! 😂😂😂😂
Maybe, maybe not. And, forest fires are an integral part of the cycles in woodlands. They are a necessary part of the woodlands.
@@jackvoss175 the goats serve the purpose of the fires by clearing the undergrowth
@@jackvoss175 incorrect. Herbivores are responsible for preventing forest fires. But we hunt them down relentlessly and cause forest fires.
@@yj9032 That theory is supported by Disney, but not by fact.
The love of the man speaking about human relationships with the land and animals makes my heart sing with joy, we are going home to Mother and learning again about how to truly live in harmony. Thank you.
"This forest has grown me up!" BEAUTIFUL! Love you! Greetings from Portugal!
This is one of the most moving documentaries I have seen for a long time. It gives me hope for betterment of our environment, and in such a peaceful happy way. Also, the goats are beautiful too.
Goats are great for clearing out poison ivy...they love to eat it and it has no adverse effects on them.
I've heard that from a few sources but I've never heard how to handle the goats after they get the oil on them. I would bring them in every night to protect them and I think they would spread the oil all over.
I have read that drinking the milk from goats that have been eating poison oak will make you more resistant to poison oak. I haven't heard about poison ivy, maybe the same result. The question is, how do you get the milk out of the goat without contaminating it with the oil?
@@robertschmidt9296 dawn will probably work
Yes, I used them in a horse pasture with loads of poison ivy and they ate all of it. It think it’s like a delicacy to them.
Insane!
It's funny hearing someone "discover" goats. Growing up, we used them in this exact same way, for the same reasons, and got the same results. This was over 40yrs ago, and I'm pretty sure it was an old trick then too.
That's exactly the point... We forget the easier simpler and effect ways of doing things. I bet 99% of the world would think of a cloud Blockchain pods app solution before thinking of goats.
I love the fact that this method takes time, caring and patience. It seem that’s what we need in our world at the moment. It obvious that’s it’s also great fo the soul. Love your work and thank you for your contribution to healing the earth.❤️❤️👍
Billy Bob Thorton completly nails this accent, plus that emotional scene at the end was top notch. His second best performance since Fargo
Sitting here in Melbourne and watching fires ragging through towns and forests threatening lives of people and animals along with amazing wildlife was a huge sorrow and horror. This is a great initiative to use those animals that can minimise risk of fire. I love goats anyway, such a harmless creature.
This is a beautiful example of the symbiotic relationship between animals and nature. Thank you for showing the two working towards a common goal!
Val Kilmer, & Bob Dylan Agree... kzhead.info/sun/nauhZrZrkXNmYJE/bejne.html
a common goat
We all need hope and joy. It's wonderful to see how deeply this project has touched the hearts of the people implementing it, not to mention how great the outcome has been. Fantastic!
I love goat regeneration. I live in the usa and even in my small town, I brought in goats to help with an overgrown lot over run by choking vines. They're so wonderful! I'm so happy more and more people are using goats for environmental regeneration!
I have 5 acres that was over run with blackberries and ended up getting 2 boer goats and 2 corn and they had the place looking like a park in no time.
Send those blackberries this way. Can't get them to grow in the backyard in orlando at all
@@MoyToy84 weeb you know absolutely nothing about this but you don't have to make it public so obviously and pretentiously Just because blackberries are something we eat, it doesn't mean they can't be invasive, hard to harvest, or a huge fire hazard
@@MoyToy84 sometimes its good to keep this to yourself haha...
I have sheep but then I have blackberries but trying to get rid of yuopon on my farm.
@@MoyToy84 damn, bro, no one likes you.
The "like" button just seems so mundane when it comes to showing love for this video. My response is DEEP LOVE. thank you
from me too
I agree so muvh with this I want to be a part of it
Ditto to the Nth degree as well, here from the US. Fantastic video & content and, as usual, very well produced !
They should have the ‘love’ button too.
@@RojaJaneman very helpful video making the world a better place "one goat at a time"
"all my university education and all the business and all the noise of social media..." you spoke from my heart. I stumbled upon this video because I'm currently writing my master's thesis in landscape architecture about developing a framework to return to sustainable forestry in sweden. Although I'm grateful for studying what I study, the way we do things and the pressure we need to cope with is absolutely devastating sometimes, not even talking about the professors, who say things like: your idea is not feasible. I had some luck with finding some passionate people who can probably help me through my thesis but those are not my supervisors. thank you for this beautiful work you're doing
This is interesting. Here in Holland we have goats grazing the dunes. They will eat the grasses which otherwise might choke up the native weeds. Grass grows well in nitrogen rich areas and this seems to help the dunes get balanced again.
I have three goats which have done a great job controlling weeds on our 2.5 acre property. They are better at it than spraying poison which doesn’t really work well. They are also good pack animals that can carry 50-70 pounds each and go almost anywhere. Not to mention they are great friends.
beautifully filmed, I loved how emotional he was at the end. well done people and goats.
Thank you for this video. I lived in Daylesford in 1969, my mum was a high school teacher. We adored living there, everyone was so friendly and kind. Using goats is a brilliant way to control weeds, plus they provide milk, meat and leather. Goats are intelligent, happy animals who enjoy interacting with people. Providing them with plenty of food and space to graze is beneficial for all, especially in such a hilly area. It is lovely to see the bush properly regenerating. Keep it up. 🥰
This film touched my soul. I watched it twice. Just beautiful x
I really loved Patrick's words toward the end of the video about returning to a relationship with the Earth, about having a relationship with it that is not based on domination. That's inspiring.
Maybe for the few that are left! But that won't include you! REALLY open your eyes, please!
@@dough9512 make a salient point instead of confrontation
"This forest has grown me up!" ... what a lovely way to say thank you!
I spent some expensive years learning university agriculture, but finding Permaculture opened my mind and heart as to how it should really be done. If Jesus was a farmer, bet he would approve. 😘
It's a good adventure that you guys have chosen with such vast spaces in available growing forests without disturbing the soil is too important I like such lifestyle
I needed to see this today. The amount of love and devotion on these fine gentlemen is inspiring. Talk about a true win win situation!
In Pittsburgh PA there is a company that uses goats to clear private overgrown properties as well as steep public lands. They are such a simple and effective solution in so many places, and situations where people would find it next to impossible to do the work. Then there’s the milk and meat as added benefit...and the goats get a wonderful life...provided the areas where they are placed are not harmful to the goats🌈😃🤙
That diet might funk up the flavor of the meat and milk
Gads Den lol they do not...
Don’t eat them, please.
@@rakugowaii why not?
Not just meat but organic meat.
When he said that it had given him some hope. I felt my tears and his emotion.😢 Respect for his hard earned contribution towards his "University Education". It made me so happy. Everyone in this comment section respect your ideals sir😊. -with ❤ from India(Assam)
well he seemed unwell, fragile, even off balance. I was worried he was going to cry.
Hi from Denmark 🇩🇰 Great film guys. Going old school seems to always work. The old timers knew what they were doing. Going green without calling it green 💪👍
What an inspirational group of people. I admire that you mention being on First People's lands and living in First People's territories. I hope you all mitigate more forest fires in Australia and that the rest of the world with wildfires can follow your example.
Good onya! So encouraging! We have 20 acres of organic orchard, and 90 acres of feral blackberries that we're trying to manage after the bushfires. We have 30 rangeland goats that we've tamed.
"..and that has given me some hope. And joy." A true shepherd of the Earth.
seemed like he was about to cry so I was unsure if he was feeling ok. I'm not sure why they didn't wait till he was less fragile to tape the monologue.
@@blackbird5634 Being emotional is not equal to unwell. It's okay to cry, we are humans.
@@sebastianbardon391 its one thing to express healthy emotions and another to be on the verge of a breakdown. This guy's got some issues and seems as though he's teetering on a sharp edge. I do hope he can find help.
@@blackbird5634 It seems to me that you are jumping to conclussions. He is talking about a subject which he became passionate about. He is saying that he found hope, how is that not a healthy emotion? When was the last time you cried?
@@sebastianbardon391 I didn't cry watching this video. I did however recognize the signs of someone in crisis.
This is such a positive and beautiful story. Thank you for sharing your love of nature. It's uplifting and encouraging. Thank you so much!
Inspirational. Goats are under used in rehab. They can do what we can’t do and do it easily. A realistic, achievable and ecologically sustainable approach to managing a real land management problem. Considering the secessional progress of forest regeneration is critical in getting the right outcome. Great stuff👍
"The importance of wildness in our domesticated lives". That really struck a chord with me; he put simply into words a complex feeling I've always had but could never really properly condense.
Amazing, it’s exactly what we are doing on our farm in the south of Portugal. So good to see we’re not the only one😃
I love the spirit of trying to find a solution with ones own thinking and hands and efforts. I hope this community can make a difference in their own backyard.💪💪
Absolutely amazing! This is showing over and over that getting back to basics and letting nature do the repairing of the damage.
Goats are absolutely amazing forest managers. Plus they're so cute to watch too.
Sheep are browsers and don't eat everything in sight, so they are used in parks and vineyards for weed control here in southern New Mexico. Ducks are also used in vineyards for pest control.
Ginny hens! They love ticks!
Sheep are grazers, not browsers.
@@dmelson7502 I'm hoping to have guinea fowl on my land to eat the ticks and chiggers. And goats to keep the land from being quite so wild. Once I get my land, that is. 💖
Can sheep eat the weeds with stickers, I heard they can get sick whereas goats can eat just about anything? I Im in s. e. nm.
What a beautiful film,, I'm really touched by this film... Acknowledging the people that are the stars of this story..... Thank you for bringing the forefront, the ancient wisdom of this land. 🐐🐐🐐
This video reached into my very *soul* .. thank you so much for this. This gave me so much hope.
Wonderful documentary "plant biodiversity = animal biodiversity" ... very touching and moving film, nature is truly what keeps us sane, It provides everything... shelter, resources, food, medicine, peace, tranquility, I mean so much... is wonderful how we can all keep learning from it!
OMG ! This method I have wanted for my local council to adopt. I have wrens, parrots, wild ducks , possums bats, lizards etc etc . Im on the edge or town and our estate backs onto farmland, forests in Gippsland. The noxious weeds are tackled once a year with poison ( detrimental to all that come in contact ) Slashing twice a year but all useless as you say the paddock weeds are robust and first to return . Goats could be perfect management even for roadside clearing in shires. Great viewing. Good job.
see where you can buy some fencing and goats. show the local council how effective it.
@@jetah50 i have been arguing for goats for roadside weed control for years. It is always excuses as to why it cant be done.
@@jbas7525 offer to oversee it for 1 year and compare the cost.
@@jetah50 we have - but the profits go to me and the council does not want that. plus some service providers are entrenched due to patronage
@@jbas7525 try to get the community to your side for cheaper and more sustainable methods. you're being pushed back, so you have to get more people to push with you.
You wonderful humans, this gives me hope for our planet xxx
Wow! That last seen was so moving!! I’m so happy people have figured out how to save our forests!! Praise God!!
Well, I loved every second of that and was right there as the emotion broke..."This is our way back to sanity" - amen to that. Great work to all involved in the project and production 👍🏽
''Tears are to the spirit what soap is to the body.'' ~ An Old Talmudic saying. 11:20 ''Every living thing comes from, & returns back to His ever changing dirt. In between those two times; are they not fashioned by His Light, & Living Waters?'' ~Just another one, of the many one's of we... awaiting His return 9621
They're using controlled grazing of cattle in Africa to reverse desertification. This type of work is vital.
Well done fellas. Great to hear that some people know that you don't need a bulldozer, big fire and chemicals to control invasive plants. Keep up the good work and keep teaching "the experts" that they do not know as much as they think they do.
Thanks guys. Youre bringing me back hope in humanity. :)
What a beautiful film. And towards the end, such poignant insights into our relationship with nature. I have shared widely. If only everyone could stop their day for a few minutes and watch this and ponder themselves... Thankyou!
Thanks so much for sharing! It really helps us 🙂
really
Same sort of thinking from here, the Fiji Islands. You really express them nicely. Best wishes for you.
Did you read this or is such facts too disturbing for the romantic approach ? www.arabnews.com/node/1414051
@@OmmerSyssel thanx, it's up to Africa what they do about their population growth. Plenty try to run away to europe but live there will be a struggle too. Africa has plenty resources and can have a great future. The Trouble is: corruption and crime. Besides, unity would be a great advantage.
I love using my goats for this, I rotationally graze my goats through areas like this letting a lot of it recover and feeding them almost all year round. plus just sitting with them watching them work is very calming and goats are surprisingly very affectionate after they've had their stomachs filled
Goats are among the brightest animals we have... The love doing crazy things, like our dogs and cats, just more unpredictable
Good to see you making progress with real solutions!
That summary he gave at the end was powerful! It truly is the way back to healing yourself, through tending to the healing of mother nature.
"This is our way back to sanity" - Amen, hallelujah. Preach it . Thank you!!!
My thoughts, exactly!
@@karensteward1986 During my Covid time I went all around the world discovering the good works done on various neglected or overworked land. The Paani Foundation of India, Gabe Brown at his farm in North Dakota, Happen films and many others. The joy of discovering how much is being done to rework the world in a way that fully realizes the bounty on offer has been a lifesaver for me. All the best to you and yours.
@Mayur Baliga ??
@Mayur Baliga Hallelujah is islamic? Wow...
conq 12 double digit iq... I know, there ARE some, cause it’s just been proven by the Islamic comment 🤣
I cleared my acre in the Blue Mountains with goats followed by pigs. The goats are the top parts and the pigs got the roots. This was in 1967-8. The garden has been good since then!
Did you have any problems with the dwarves there? Any disturbance from their mining activities or do they just keep to themselves?
@@Sionnach1601 Their singing was a bit of a nuisance, but once they had gone, it was all right.
Worked on a farm some years back, owners were dealing with weeds (plot had been derelict by previous owner, 6’+ weeds, real cheap land tho) was able to see before and after of introducing 2 goats. The 2 mowed through the weeds, even after setting crops, owners kept the goats and brought onboard some more. Pay their dues as weed control and in dairy products.
If we protect nature, nature will protect us. Good job guys! Keep up the good work.
I have always used goats on all my farms. Perfect lawnmower....
Definitly the absence of large wild herbivores in today's world, such as the Aurochs in Europe and the Bison in North America, as well as wild goats, sheep and horses, and in Africa Camels, Elephants, Giraffes, Zebras, etc, does terrible things to todays landscapes, and as ecologist Allan Savory has shown actually leads to the continuous enlargement of deserts. I don't know much about Australian megafauna, but I'm sure there should be wild animals over there able to maintain the landscape as well, that have been killed off. Definitly using domesticated animals as a replacement for their wild counterparts is a powerful tool, that might even be the key to saving the Earth.
Try relate to reality instead of romanticising.. The amount of humans living in Europe craving for food and safe living environment makes it impossible for former large wildlife to live freely.. Funny enough its naive citizens in huge cities safe from wolfes demanding how country people should live.. Their ohh so beloved children and cats aren't in risk of being eaten 🙈
U may not know of deer, mufflon, elk, boar and moose. Those are the large and herbivores in eu and us.
@@OmmerSyssel So why do megafauna still live in Europe in the wild, if it is impossible. Europe is huge and some areas are lightly settled. Moos live still in northern Europe, some bison have been rewilded in the 1950s in eastern Europe as well. Deer are in national parks all over the continent. Wild horses do also live in a few areas. Europe is huge and some land is so bad that it is lightly settled or under protection. Usually it is in the north and the east of europe, but even the western part has moutains and bogs that are so bad that megafauna can live in it, without being to nasty to humans. So it is not impossible. Last time I checked animals like deer, bison and moos are herbivorous and do not eat children nor cats. So do all the other animals he mentioned. But I fully agree, that townfolks love to protectet the countryside as the do not have to live in it.
an insight into the effect in Australia of large wild animal herds such as wild or 'feral' goats which exist here in their tens of thousands, can be found here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_species_in_Australia
I'm putting the wikipedia link in here to show the big difference in effect where there are a FEW goats (as shown in positively in the film) - compared to tens of thousands of wild, uncontrolled populations of goats. Sometimes people living elsewhere don't realise what an enormous problem we have with disappearing marsupial species, directly due to the effects of these huge wild herds found far inland in arid lands ( thousands of miles away from where this film was made)
beautiful film, bros, ty and love from scotland x peace x
I used goats for many years to manage a forest system adjacent to my farm. It’s extremely effective. There is a misconception amoung many environmentalists that land left alone is best but in reality land requires care and management.
Healing the land and expressing your humanity - Beautiful ❤
Greetings from Costa Rica. Thank you for your thoughtful words. Getting back to nature is the most enriching way to live our lives and gaining our right to be free. I am about to start a land restoration project and your words are very inspiring.
Such a beautiful film. Thank you guys for all of your hard work. You give me hope🙏💚
Absolutely LOVE your work- blessings to you and your lovely goats!
Wonderful! Indeed this is no story of domination but that of servitude and wisdom.
And a story of co-operation.
Love, love you guys and all that you do. Artist as family- I can't get enough of your inspiring lifestyle vlogs and Happen Films - you guys do an amazing job capturing the amazing work done by these beautiful humans. Thank you
Thank you for your beautiful enthusiasm!
Much thanks from us too!
Such a wonderful and beautiful video. Thank you for the education and for the amazing work you are doing in saving our world.
You made me smile today, i want to be a part of it so bad. This is the best educational video I have seen in a long time. Thank you!
Inspiring. I live in a city and have just built two compost bins from old palates and am in the process of turning my front garden into a vegetable garden. We all need to get back to nature.
I think China needs to hear this.
Get some chickens if you can too, even better than a compost bin for recycling of organic matter & value adding in the process :)
"Just to get back to this. Back to basics." xo Love you Happen Films. Great story telling.
I used to do some park restoration and man is Blackberry invasive! It's honestly insane how it spreads. Such an awesome solution!
Using nature to help nature. WIN-WIN for everyone and everything!
We all come from first people, it's so easy to forget that. I love what these people are doing, it's so simple, so effective it's got to be the way forward. The future of humankind is our returning to the land. I really hope this goes from strength to strength. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. X
A beautiful film about the amazing and touching work these men and their goats are doing
My aunt bought a farm with about 20 acres of overgrown brush and that had completely taken over all the fencing and was hard to remove because it was a mix of a wickedly sharp thorny vine, sticker grasses, and blackberry brambles. She hired a bush hog to come and cut it periodically, but it was expensive and didn’t do much but keep it manageable in the pasture. Then someone suggested goats. She started out with about five which grew to twenty. First thing they cleared was the fence. Just went to town on those thorny plants like they were munching on lettuce. Wild. Now if a vine peeks up, it’s pretty much guaranteed to be gone the next day.
Camels may help too. They are heavier so they could able to grind the soil and tenders well, also they are more able to consume spiny plants.
Amazing solution to a real-life problem. That's what we need TODAY. Find Real Solutions for our Issues/Problems. And more often than not -- Solution is hidden in the Problem. What an amazing perspective my friend --- 'Be a Student of the Living of the World and Be a Participant of the Living of the World'. That is really giving Hope to lot of others. Land was not about Domination but to nurture it and to pay it forward to the coming generations. We are here just to take care of THE LAND, and Greed took over at some point. We need more people to understand this and engagement and education is the way forward. Keep up the good work !!!!
Omg so beautiful and the ending totally crying lol obsessed with regenerative farming
I think there was a lot of frustration hidden in that emotional response, about humanity destroying nature on a massive scale. I think this is his personal battle against that.
Excellent, no chemicals or violent machines just sweet little goats. I am a gardener in England and the fertility of the land amazes me, everything grows like fury, it’s the fundamental wealth of a nation. From early March to October it’s a verdant green carpet.
What a wonderful film. It's touching to see this man express his vulnerability and connection to the earth. It is as spiritual an experience as I can imagine there being. He's correct that it's not about domination, what they're doing simply works far better. Why not have both connection and a successful system? Just beautiful.
Mother Earth has already given us an answer to any problem we might have. Goats are here for exactly this kind of thing. Thank you for being wise enough to know that.😊
Mother nature??? Do you mean god?
@@sm3675 no, I don't
Wouldn’t call goats, god🤷🏻♂️ but you do you👍
@@andrew300169 I didn't call goats God. Read it again.
Special. I have 3 goats working on my blackberries. I learned a couple of things and will look further. Respect.
@Graham, excellent to hear about how well-managed groups of goats can make a positive difference. Sometimes people living outside Australia don't realise what damage is done by WILD unrestrained populations of hundreds of goats doing their thing...over decades. That's why the workers in the video are tentatively overcoming the resistance of locals to goats, per se. Good to see that by example, a good result can happen if goats are managed differently to the way they have been in the past....
Thank you. What a great little film.