This clip features the testimony by farmer Antonios Tirpintiris, an olive grower in Lesvos, Greece. It brings the spotlight on green manuring and mulching, two of the agro-ecological practices promoted by Mara-Mediterra.

Antonios Tirpintiris wanted to give something back to the island of Lesvos where he grew up. He set about transforming an area designated as a desert area to a green area, restoring its biodiversity and revitalizing the local community.

What the farmer’s testimony on how, with the help of Nature, he succeeded in this ambition. By retaining the soil moisture through green manuring and mulching he was able to significantly reduce on the irrigation frequency, and hence on the use of water.

His testimony comes with subtitles in either English, French, Arabic, Greek or Turkish, which are the working languages in Mara-Mediterra’s hotspots of land and water degradation.

The testimonial forms part of an initial set of real-life stories of working with Nature-based Solutions by farmers in Italy, Greece and Malta.