My perspective is the century | Charles-Etienne DUPONT | TEDxClermont
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0:15 - 0:18Let me introduce to you the emperor,
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0:27 - 0:3145 meters high
and a circumference of 4 meters. -
0:31 - 0:34Quite impressive, isn't it?
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0:34 - 0:36It is 250 years old.
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0:37 - 0:42This means that this pine tree was born
before the French Revolution. -
0:42 - 0:46It was 35 years old when Beethoven
composed the ''Ode to Joy,'' -
0:46 - 0:50100 years old during
the Universal Exhibition in Paris, -
0:50 - 0:52200 years old
-
0:52 - 0:56when the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights was written. -
0:57 - 1:01It overlooks the 250 acre
of forest that I manage. -
1:01 - 1:04Think for a moment ...
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1:04 - 1:09Since its seed sprouted, it has
experienced one thousand seasons, -
1:09 - 1:12250 times the spring mildness,
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1:12 - 1:15then the heat and the summer drought.
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1:15 - 1:20It has seen its friends, the beech trees,
lose their leaves 250 times, -
1:20 - 1:25as well as the winter's harshness,
the wind, the cold, the snow. -
1:26 - 1:30In fact, in my work as forest manager,
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1:30 - 1:35my relationship with time is a bit
different than the majority of you. -
1:36 - 1:39When I cut a 200-year-old tree
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1:39 - 1:43I imagine the forest aisle,
the clearing that it will create, -
1:43 - 1:48and the seeds that will then sprout,
grow, evolve, and become trees. -
1:49 - 1:51I visualize my action
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1:51 - 1:55at the level of a tree
and the forest area, -
1:55 - 1:59but above all, I am led
to exercise my foresight. -
2:00 - 2:05Once they become trees, what makes
those seeds form the future forest ? -
2:06 - 2:10I anticipate my interventions
in a management plan, -
2:10 - 2:12or a "life plan" if you prefer,
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2:12 - 2:16for one year, five years, thirty years ...
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2:16 - 2:17a hundred years.
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2:18 - 2:21My perspective is the century.
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2:23 - 2:25What does this teach me?
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2:25 - 2:29Well, it is first humility,
intellectual honesty. -
2:30 - 2:32I don't cheat with time.
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2:32 - 2:35I can't pull the tree
to make it grow faster. -
2:36 - 2:38I have to work with an exiting forest
-
2:38 - 2:42that Nature and foresters
have shaped centuries before I came. -
2:43 - 2:47My task is to continue this work
for the centuries to come -
2:48 - 2:51while providing people
with the wood they need. -
2:52 - 2:57And when I make choices, my responsibility
is to respect the history of each forest. -
2:57 - 2:59What will be useful to it?
-
2:59 - 3:02What could galvanize
its collective strength? -
3:02 - 3:06Because a forest is primarily a society.
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3:06 - 3:10It's a tree and another tree
and another tree, -
3:10 - 3:13just like drops of water
add up to make streams, rivers, -
3:13 - 3:15and oceans.
-
3:15 - 3:20Each tree gives what it can
and takes what it needs, -
3:20 - 3:23no more no less.
-
3:24 - 3:27The trees' stillness makes us believe
that they are inactive, -
3:27 - 3:29but they are permanently active.
-
3:29 - 3:32They extend their leaves,
their branches, their crowns -
3:32 - 3:34towards the light at all times.
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3:34 - 3:38They capture the smallest photon,
the smallest drop of water -
3:38 - 3:42in order to develop, to strengthen
their roots and their trunk. -
3:43 - 3:45Each tree is beneficial in its own way.
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3:46 - 3:48One brings shade,
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3:48 - 3:50another a shield from the wind.
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3:50 - 3:54This one gives its leaves
to produce humus. -
3:54 - 3:58That one spreads its roots
to capture water deep below. -
3:58 - 4:00All of them produce oxygen,
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4:01 - 4:03clean up the air,
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4:03 - 4:07purify the water, fix the ground,
regulate the climate, -
4:07 - 4:09produce fruits and wood,
-
4:09 - 4:13and participate in the balance
of the forest and the world. -
4:13 - 4:17Each one gives what it can,
but one tree does not constitute a forest. -
4:18 - 4:20It is part of the stand.
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4:20 - 4:23It brings its will, its vital impulse.
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4:24 - 4:25In my daily work,
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4:25 - 4:30I have noticed that the
forest's strength is in symbiosis, -
4:30 - 4:34an intimate and lasting association
between individual trees, -
4:34 - 4:36a community of interest if you prefer.
-
4:37 - 4:40I could see how trees work in synergy.
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4:40 - 4:43Young beeches grow
under the cover of old pines, -
4:43 - 4:46and young pines grow
under the cover of old beeches. -
4:47 - 4:52However, there are also competitive
relationships and rivalry at an early age -
4:52 - 4:56to find a place as a dominant
or as a dominated in adulthood -
4:56 - 4:57among the stand.
-
4:58 - 5:03Then these relationships slowly become
an interaction and cooperation phenomena. -
5:04 - 5:07At that point, the dominants
protect the dominated, -
5:07 - 5:11and the dominated ensure
the stand's stability against the wind. -
5:11 - 5:15Personaly, I have noticed that the forest
does not build its strength -
5:15 - 5:18on uniformity but on diversity.
-
5:19 - 5:20So based on one-century perspective,
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5:20 - 5:25what am I going to do
to favour this symbiosis? -
5:27 - 5:32Here, I've made a clearing
which light enables seeds to sprout. -
5:33 - 5:35Elsewhere, I've made a clearing
-
5:35 - 5:39that has strengthened the trunk
of the trees against the wind. -
5:39 - 5:44Somewhere else, I selected
some trees to produce timber. -
5:44 - 5:48It may seem surprising,
but when you cut a tree, -
5:48 - 5:51the overall potential
of the forest is increased. -
5:52 - 5:57With each decision, I chose
which tree stays and which one falls. -
5:57 - 6:01This obliges me to step away
before I take them. -
6:02 - 6:05I must constantly sharpen
my sense of observation, -
6:05 - 6:08look at the forest in its entirety,
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6:08 - 6:10and learn its functioning.
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6:12 - 6:14The forest is my school of life.
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6:14 - 6:17It helped me and is still helping me
to better understand the world -
6:17 - 6:19and even myself sometimes.
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6:20 - 6:23Personally, what I see in it
is like various paths of human life. -
6:24 - 6:28Some seeds have grown
far from their parents. -
6:28 - 6:30They are light.
-
6:30 - 6:32Winds and birds have
carried them far away. -
6:32 - 6:36They are frugal, and they are
content with low quality soil -
6:36 - 6:40to grow and create
some shade for their offspring -
6:40 - 6:42and form a new community.
-
6:43 - 6:45Other seeds, much heavier,
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6:45 - 6:49fall at the feet of their parents
and grow in their fold, -
6:49 - 6:52protected but at the same time
under a guardianship -
6:52 - 6:55that obliges them to make their way
between parental branches -
6:55 - 6:57in order to find light.
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6:58 - 7:01When I look at the size of a seed,
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7:01 - 7:05and see that with just
some earth, water and light -
7:05 - 7:07it produces this,
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7:09 - 7:12for me it's magical, It's fascinating!
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7:12 - 7:14We are just like these seeds.
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7:14 - 7:17We have a huge potential in ourselves.
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7:17 - 7:21And they show us that there's little
needed to make great things, -
7:21 - 7:24one goal - capturing the light -
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7:24 - 7:27and the enthusiasm to go further
and higher every day, -
7:27 - 7:29for a thousand seasons.
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7:30 - 7:33So what about me, what is my goal?
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7:33 - 7:35What is my plan for life?
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7:36 - 7:39What will make my deeds
beneficial to others, -
7:40 - 7:43to our future
and to our children's future? -
7:45 - 7:49Before that, life was for me
about finding the right balance -
7:49 - 7:52between enjoyment and work.
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7:52 - 7:55They were two opposite elements.
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7:56 - 7:59Enjoyment means burning
the candle at both ends, having fun ... -
7:59 - 8:01It's the passion for life.
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8:01 - 8:06Work on the other hand is tedious,
laborious and not very exciting. -
8:07 - 8:11The tree showed me a third path: building.
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8:11 - 8:16I can develop my potential
and feel fulfilled -
8:16 - 8:20when I try to accomplish,
even partially, a work bigger than myself -
8:20 - 8:22that I will not see
completed in my lifetime. -
8:23 - 8:27Each day, I know that what I do
brings me excitement -
8:27 - 8:32because it involves something
both natural and immense. -
8:32 - 8:34Look at the trees!
-
8:34 - 8:37Let yourself be carried by their majesty,
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8:37 - 8:39by this feeling of eternity
that they spread, -
8:39 - 8:42this kind of calm and resolute energy.
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8:42 - 8:46Look at their diversity
and their complementarity. -
8:47 - 8:50Now me and you,
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8:50 - 8:52just like the emperor
and his companions, the beeches, -
8:52 - 8:54what are we building?
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8:55 - 8:58What is our goal,
our "plan for life" so to speak? -
8:58 - 9:01Using a century as perspective,
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9:01 - 9:03let's be trees!
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9:03 - 9:06And together, let's be a forest!
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9:07 - 9:08Thank you.
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9:08 - 9:10(Applause)
- Title:
- My perspective is the century | Charles-Etienne DUPONT | TEDxClermont
- Description:
-
Charles-Etienne is forest lover. He is particularly fond of the forests of Auvergne. To him, even the small actions of our daily lives have a meaning for the centuries to come. Managing a forest is to imagine the impact of today's actions in a very long term, a term greater than our individual span of life.
Trained in Aurillac in Auvergne (France), Charles-Etienne is a licenced professional forest manager. He provides valuable advices about long-term management to forest owners, and coordinates the work within each forest under his responsibility such as the cutting and sale of wood, administrative procedures, and reforestation.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- French
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 09:40
Hélène Vernet approved English subtitles for Mon horizon, c'est le siècle | Charles-Etienne DUPONT | TEDxClermont | ||
Hélène Vernet edited English subtitles for Mon horizon, c'est le siècle | Charles-Etienne DUPONT | TEDxClermont | ||
Hélène Vernet edited English subtitles for Mon horizon, c'est le siècle | Charles-Etienne DUPONT | TEDxClermont | ||
Hélène Vernet edited English subtitles for Mon horizon, c'est le siècle | Charles-Etienne DUPONT | TEDxClermont | ||
Hélène Vernet edited English subtitles for Mon horizon, c'est le siècle | Charles-Etienne DUPONT | TEDxClermont | ||
Hélène Vernet edited English subtitles for Mon horizon, c'est le siècle | Charles-Etienne DUPONT | TEDxClermont | ||
Agata Ręczniarek accepted English subtitles for Mon horizon, c'est le siècle | Charles-Etienne DUPONT | TEDxClermont | ||
Agata Ręczniarek edited English subtitles for Mon horizon, c'est le siècle | Charles-Etienne DUPONT | TEDxClermont |