Eco-Miracle: Converting Desert Land into Lush Gardens
An ecological impossibility has finally become possible: the conversion of desert territory into a fertile garden area.
Geoff Lawton, a researcher of the Permaculture Research institute, would be the miracle-worker this time. The given area of land was approximately 2 miles from the Dead Sea. Temperatures here would swell over 122 F (50 C) and farming conditions involved plastic strips along with massive amounts of fertilizer and synthetic chemicals.
Image source: Crux - Wikimedia Commons
Lawton and his team had 10 acres of this salty, flat soil to run amok with. To start, they created a system that collected rainwater into water-harvesting ditches, or swales. These swales were bordered with mulch and nitrogen-fixing trees on the uphill side, which shaded the water and prevented evaporation. Beneath the mulch they built small irrigation systems and on the downhill side they planted both regular trees and fruit trees, including: figs, guava, pomegranate and date palms.
The miracle comes several months later, when the fig trees started to grow actual figs. This is after local agricultural “experts” told them that figs could not grow there. The experts were invited to test the soil and what they found is the salt levels were dropping, though they did not know why. An even more amazing feat is that mushrooms (which have never been in the area before) also began to grow beneath the mulch; which means the salty sand was turned into extremely deep, fertile soil.
Lawton believes that they will now be capable of re-greening the entire Middle East or any other desert in the world. This is extremely good fortune for deserts or ecosystems that have been destroyed by deforestation, grazing and other activities. Areas that have been completely wiped out of all sustainable life could be brought back, thanks to this awesome process.
By Heidi Marshall
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Tags: converting desert into gardens, desert, ecosystems, environment, garden
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