Toby ParkesFounder

United Kingdom - Roslin, Scotland

The world is facing major environmental problems. Humanity has a massive land-use footprint that has resulted in the biodiversity crisis. In addition, consumerism in combination with population growth has resulted in the climate crisis, further exacerbating the strain on our ecosystems. However, I believe these global challenges offer huge opportunities. We can use nature-based solutions in combination with other clean technologies to solve the climate crisis whilst simultaneously restoring degraded land into a state that can support self-sufficient ecosystems.

In order for nature-based solutions to reach their maximum potential we need to consider all parts of the natural system. It is not enough to just plant trees. Trees capture carbon through photosynthesis but much of this carbon is then reallocated to symbionts in the soil that scavenge for nutrients. Through this process the soil carbon pool builds and without the presence of a healthy soil microbiome the potential of ecosystems to store carbon is limited. Human activity has degraded soil microbiomes to the same extent that we have damaged ecosystems. We need to ensure that healthy soil microbiomes are present across all our ecosystems to maximise the carbon drawdown as well as increasing photosynthetic output and sapling survival rates. In addition, we need to understand the value of our natural systems and find new economic and financial routes to ensure the longevity of our carbon and biodiversity stocks.

I am currently building Rhizocore Technologies to help scale up the production of local symbiotic fungi that support tree growth, tree health and increase woodland carbon sequestration.

If you are interested in learning more about Rhizocore and our work please get in touch!