Restoring the Underwater Forests with Jon Dickson

Before industrial dredging, clear-cutting, and destructive fishing practices, our rivers and oceans were full of wood. Fallen trees, driftwood, and branches created underwater forests where fish and countless other creatures could thrive. That wood provided shelter, food, and the foundation for entire aquatic ecosystems. Today, much of it is gone, and so are the fish.

Marine restoration expert Jon Dickson noticed this loss while working along Europe’s coasts and asked a deceptively simple question: if we remove the wood, do we also remove the fish? His answer is the “tree reef,” an artificial reef made from pear trees and other natural materials that replaces destroyed habitat. It is a low-tech, high-impact idea with the potential to revive aquatic life far beyond local waters, and it is deeply connected to the broader regenerative agriculture movement on land and at sea.

In this episode, we dive into:

• The forgotten role of wood in rivers, estuaries, and oceans and why it matters for fish
• How dredging and “cleaning” waterways destroyed essential aquatic habitats
• Why restoring fish populations is critical for global ecological balance, including land-based food systems
• The limitations of many well-meaning marine restoration efforts and how tree reefs succeed where others fail
• The design, construction, and surprising results of tree reefs
• How low-cost, replicable solutions could transform restoration at scale
• Why thinking like an ecosystem is the key to regeneration everywhere

If you have ever wondered how oceans and rivers fit into the future of regenerative food systems, Jon’s work might change the way you see both land and sea.

More about Jon and Marine Trees:

Jon grew up in British Columbia, Canada, where after university, he worked as a forest fire fighter. In the off season, he worked as a polar guide and boat driver in Antarctica, Greenland, and Northern Canada. These seasonal jobs and education were interspersed by backpacking trips; his favourite countries (so far) are Iceland, Mongolia, Uganda, Slovenia, and with a vote for the home team, Canada. Since moving to the Netherlands to work on a PhD, he noticed a distinct lack of driftwood in Europe and decided to see if fish were missing habitat due to lack of wood - and so invented tree-reefs, an artificial reef made of trees to replace destroyed habitat.

Agrarian Futures is produced by Alexandre Miller, who also wrote our theme song. This episode was edited by Drew O’Doherty.