Economics at the Movies: Up in Smoke

Here is a new powerful, thought-provoking documentary on attempts to reverse the catastrophic effects of rain-forest destruction through burning. Up in Smoke follows the work of one British scientist, who over 25 years has been perfecting an alternative to slash and burn farming in the world’s equatorial rainforests Mike Hands has developed a way of keeping nutrients in the soil, which meant that farmers no longer have to burn hectares of forest to get a good crop and move on when the soil is depleted - requiring yet more forest burning.

There will be filmings of this documentary in the UK in the autumn of 2011 and TV coverage too. A DVD is planned for release later on in the year and looks to be ideal for teachers wanting fresh material on aspects of environmental sustainability, the tragedy of the commons and many development issues.

For more information go to the Up in Smoke website

Up in Smoke feature doc - 4’30” trailer from Adam Wakeling on Vimeo.