Striving to high ideals and kind of stardust were always in a mindset of my generation. In search of roots of this fact I have found a sort of the utopian romanticism in the Soviet ideology, when all human resources were focused on unachievable goals. A spark of imagination was fanned by Soviet scientists who dreamed about glittering future and defied nature for that to happen. They built plans to turn back the tides of rivers, create oases in deserts, penetrate the centre of the Earth and explore space.
Times have changed and enormous Soviet projects have gone. Rash actions of people have caused the planet to react, for instance, with climate change. New dreams have emerged recently. Some contemporary daydreamers don't disregard nature, but want to support it.
Alexandr and Ulyana, who live in a tiny village in Belarus, dream about growing a forest. To do this, they have chosen Gingko biloba, a relic tree, which can survive in harsh conditions and resist most pests and diseases. “Even in case of a drought, insect outbreak or a nuclear accident Ginkgos would survive. Then this forest would be a shelter for living beings”, Alexandr believes. For the last six years, he has planting thousands of seedlings that became the foundation for the forest. Plenty of volunteers were involved into his eco-project. “We have started with ginkgo, but then we are going to rent more land and expand the forest planting more species”.
