“Since I was a kid, I’ve been growing plants. My mum used to say that I could grow a tree out of a chopstick. I grew up in the vineyards, in the south of France in Bordeaux, and at home, I had a little plot where my dad was forbidden to mow. That’s where I grew anything that I could—it was my little garden. Once, in primary school, my teacher gave everyone five beans that we had to grow over the two-week Easter break. So in our garage, I set up a big fish tank that kept the moisture at a certain level and had lights with a timer as well. And the last weekend of the break, I had to go to my grandparents’ which was an hour drive away. So I insisted on taking the fish tank. A few days later, back at school, everyone had a few sprouts but mine was this overgrown, extraordinary thing. I really love that when you work with plants, they’re alive. I like that they evolve over time; they’re not just an object. I eventually had a career in marketing at Disney and Louis Vuitton, but when I moved to Australia, I wanted to do something that resonated more, so I did Environmental Studies. When I graduated in 2007, “climate change” was a dirty word, so I’m glad to see, almost 15 years later, that we’re getting on top of the political agenda and people are talking about it. Today, my startup restores ecosystems and plants trees using drones. We do full ecosystem restoration with the help of science, technology, and Indigenous culture. Most days it feels like I’m on a rollercoaster with no seatbelt on, but that’s been a challenge in a very good way—there’s a lesson every day and it’s exhilarating.”
Lord of the Trees is a global reforestation project that uses precision drone technology to plant seeds and restore ecosystems in degraded land after mining, bushfires and agriculture.