Tree planting in the driest place on Earth

The southern coast of Peru is one of the driest places on Earth. Why would anyone choose this parched location to re-plant a forest?

The strip of desert between the Andean mountains and the Pacific Ocean has an annual average rainfall as low as 1.5mm.

By way of comparison, London enjoys around 650mm a year.

It's not an obvious place to choose if you're looking for somewhere to plant trees, but for restoration ecologist Oliver Whaley the harsh environment of the northern fringes of the Atacama desert is part of the point.

By helping to restore the shrinking native forests, the aim is to benefit local people and wildlife, prevent soil erosion, and help alleviate climate change.

"If we can get trees established here, and learn how to do it with as little water as possible, then it is a model for the rest of the world," he says.

While the plight of the world's rainforests are well known, the same cannot be said of tropical dry forests. These less biodiverse, but equally remarkable forests, face threats every bit as severe as their better known cousins.

The Atacama dry forest "is really an ecosystem on its last legs," says Mr Whaley, of London's Kew Gardens - an internationally renowned botanical research institution.

The tree under threat is the huarango, Prosopis limensis, found only in the Ica region of Peru.

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The Painting is by George Caleb Bingham

Nigeria: Ali Tackles Desertification

How to sto[ desert from spreading? Plant Trees. See this news from Nigeria

In its effort to improve the living conditions of its people, Yobe State government recently prepared a new "policy plan" on halting the rapid spread and devastating effects of desertification and its encroachment on arable land and oasis that are being buried by sand dunes.

The policy plan tagged: "Taming the Desert with Gum Arabic, Neem Seedlings" was a holistic and continuous aforestation project that would prevent the advancement of desertification in the state.

Speaking to newsmen in his office in Damaturu, the state capital, the Commissioner for Environment, Alhaji Musa Dumburi, said that the new policy on fighting desertification and its effects on the people living in 10 council areas was first, to create an enabling environment for the establishment of five nurseries at Damaturu, Potiskum, Bayamari and Nguru, 250 kilometres north-west of the state capital.

According to him, each nursery was to raise not less than 100,000 tree seedlings of gum arabic, neem, pawpaw, procephis, mahogany, citrus, mango and cashew.

He explained that, out of the 500,000 seedlings, 60 per cent or 300,000 seedlings were of gum arabic and neem seedlings while the remaining ones were of other economic trees that could withstand the harsh desert weather conditions.

He said that since the desert encroachment in the state was at 0.6 kilometres per annum, each of the 17 local government areas would be allocated with 1,000 seedlings of gum arabic for the establishment of plantations.

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Battling Desertification in Katsina, Other States

News from Nigeria

Experts have warned that if not given serious attention, desertification which is currently ravaging Katsina and other northern states will affect agricultural projects and consequently exacerbate food crises would its attendant hunger and malnutrition. However, Katsina State has already put certain schemes in place to fight back the desert encroachment.

An environment-threatening phenomenon that, if left unchecked could lead to decline in agricultural production, exacerbates hunger and malnutrition, as well as increase level of existing poverty, is the menace of desertification and desert encroachment, especially in the northern parts of the country.
Recent study shows that desertification has encroached on a 1,650 square kilometers of land mass in the 19 northern states. At speed of 0.6 kilometers per year, fears are being expressed that, if drastic measures are not applied, the desert will in a matter of years spread to other parts of the country.
According to experts, the entire northern region, covering about 38 per cent of the country’s landmass, is at the risk of becoming inhabitable in the near future unless urgent steps are taken to stem the trend. There is also evidence to show that the effect of desertification is already taking its toll on plants, animals and humans.
Worst hit by the twin problem are states bordering Niger Republic, including Katsina, Kebbi and Sokoto States. Other states affected are Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano and Zamfara, which are buffeted by combined forces of north-eastern trade wind from the Sahara Desert and those originating from the local environment. The result is that heavy soil particles, which are swept away with no resistance due to lack of wind-breakers, are later deposited to form desert 'mountains' globally known as sand dunes.

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Maigatari LG to spend N2m on tree planting

Maigatari LG to spend N2m on tree planting
By HAMISU ABACHA ZAKIRAI
MAIGATARI local government area in Jigawa state is to spend N2 million on the purchase and planting of tree as part of its effort to prevent desert encroachment in the area.
This was disclosed by the council chairman, Alhaji Isa Zakari Bosuwa in his office, saying a 19- kilometre planting area will be constructed from Gumel to Niger Republic border.
Alhaji Bosuwa said already, the agricultural department of the council had finished arrangement for the purchase and planting of the trees.
He said adhoc staff will be employed to look and take proper care of the planted trees at all times.
Alhaji Bosuwa called on all households to ensure that they plant a tree in or outside their houses and their farms, as their contribution to prevent desert encroachment in the state.
Alhaji Bosuwa also said very soon, his council will liaise with primary and secondary schools on the need to plant a tree each by every students and to ensure they take proper care of them.

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Egypt Turns Desert Into Farmland

Abu Minqar in Egypt is one of the extreme examples of the country's plan to ''green'' its deserts and transform the barren areas that consume most of the landscape into productive farms and fields.

Though the policy has been going for decades, it is now achieving large-scale success.

Close to the Libyan border, Abu Minqar is far more remote than majority of desert farmland in Egypt. Its existence is proof that Egypt can set up farms anywhere.

"There is no desert left at all," said Mohsen Nawara, manager of South Tahrir Station, a research farm founded by the Desert Development Center (DDC) of the American University in Cairo. "It's all green now."

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