Michael worked with local government, investors and farmers to convert 5 hectares of flat land into two businesses: an indigenous tree nursery and an organic seed farm. Michael and his team of experts designed the project to include large directional swales and a massive pond to harvest and conserve rainfall for irrigation. The organic farm included one acre of land that grew more than 200 different vegetables and legumes, which would provide new organic seed varieties for Chinese farmers, as well as new organic vegetable varieties for Chinese consumers. The indigenous tree nursery introduced a large range of indigenous trees into a region that was dominated by five non-native tree species. Michael and his team worked alongside the Chinese team to prepare the nursery and then taught them how to manage the nursery.