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What is Biochar? by Debbie Cook

Learn all about biochar – what makes it such a miraculous substance that it is getting world-wide attention as a solution to creating healthy soils and fighting climate change. Take a side trip to the Amazon where biochar was first invented, and learn how a Smith College professor is working with the indigenous communities to use biochar to restore the damage caused by slash-and- burn agriculture.

Cook discovered biochar while working at the NSRWA as communications director. Since then she has been on a journey to learn everything she can about this amazing substance, including a 6-week trip to the Amazon where she lived with the Kechwa people who may have invented it 6000 years ago. Her journey has taken her to COP 22 in Morocco and to Washington D.C. where she made a presentation to Sen. Markey’s office.

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