Biochar Can Be a Symbol for Resilience
As you may have seen, this year, the International Biochar Initiative turns 20!
An exciting milestone. Twenty years is long enough to see cycles. To witness ideas move from fringe to mainstream conversations (ideally). It’s also long enough to understand that real change rarely happens in straight lines. It happens in wriggly and strange ways, just like in nature’s wild ecosystems.
Biochar, at its core, is about building healthy ecosystems. I’ve been thinking a lot about ecosystems lately. I’m writing this from Minneapolis, where our local community has been navigating a difficult season.
Recent immigration enforcement actions have adopted violent and fear-driven methods, resulting in shaken families, loss of life, and neighborhoods pushing back. It’s heavy. And it has sparked conversations about belonging, equality, and what it means to build healthy community systems that actually embrace diversity and support people — and to me, biochar’s many co-benefits represent this idea both symbolically and literally. Biochar is a carbon removal pathway, yes. It strengthens soil health, improves water retention, supports agricultural productivity, and offers durable climate change mitigation pathways. I’d like to think biochar can be a symbol in how it demonstrates that resilience grows from integration and connection, not exclusion.
The porous structure of biochar provides habitat for a wide array of soil microbes and nutrients, creating the conditions for diversity to thrive. Right within the soil, it demonstrates a wider message that long-term strength comes from supporting many forms of life working together.
As we celebrate 20 years of IBI, I’m also thinking about community and stewardship. We’ve launched our 20th Anniversary webpage to reflect on where the organization has been and where it’s going. Over the coming months, we’ll share interviews, stories, webinars, and conversations that honor the people who have shaped biochar’s evolution.
We’re also excited to announce two biochar trainings this year: a multi-day workshop in South Africa, and a Biochar Academy™ in the Asia Pacific! Education remains central to IBI’s mission, and these trainings are part of ensuring the next decade+ is grounded, credible, and collaborative across the industry.
Anniversaries are celebratory, and also anchoring. A reminder that the work takes time. That ecosystems — whether in soil or in community — require care, diversity, and adaptability when things are uncertain.
Thank you for being part of IBI’s ecosystem with us. We hope to see you in one of our upcoming events and webinars!
Warmly,
Lauren Boritzke
Climate Change Communications Lead