Reversing the Cycle of Desertification

After waiting for three years for rain, Al Baydha Project finally got a second test of its water system, and the results were fantastic. As we increase the tree cover, we will decrease evaporation, increase wind break, shade cover, soil biota, and the soil's capacity to absorb water. Thus we can reverse the cycle of desertification and replace it with a cycle of regeneration, until the land can support fruit trees, grazing animals, honeybees, and other desert produce. February 1, 2014. Music by the Trio Joubran.

[@GauravKumar-mm1of]

God bless you. You are making the earth green. Green earth supports animals and humanity. It also keeps the land moist.

[@cuongtruong6043]

I would be interested to see how the area looks now, several years later

[@IngriddenDigre]

If you haven't checked the channel yet, do! They just releaset what I'm guessing is the last video

[@navigation4653]

It’s bad unfortunately, I think he just doesn’t know what he is doing 😅

[@Akei51]

Navi Gation it’s not bad and many wild bees and and animals have returned to the area and grasses started growing again.

[@cuongtruong6043]

He is dependent on the weather to make his schemes works. And his latest update suggests it is doing well. There will always be issues and hiccups during the project. But it is great to see desert areas being reclaimed. There is so much derelict land that can be saved with planning, time and energy put into it. As well as money

[@kicknadeadcat]

Check out allan savory to see what can be done in a 2 year time span.

[@yuzzo92]

You should be proud of this.

[@squirtbug88]

I'm not trying to belittle what your doing with my comment. I know that your doing great work. But your basically a desert beaver. I think its great!

[@albaydha702]

Hello everybody, this is just a quick update. We are working on some videos, but are currently uploading many photos on our instagram page: instagram.com/al_baydha We hope to get another video up soon but we are tremendously busy getting ready to plant another 4000 trees as well as building our Headquarters, including a student center, office building, aquaponics facility, and tree nursery.

[@Gustav4]

You should look at restoreing the land so it can hold water instead, listen to what this guy is talking about: www.ted.com/talks/allan_savory_how_to_green_the_world_s_deserts_and_reverse_climate_change

[@TheBowersj]

Are you still out there working on this, or has the project stopped?

[@releventhurt]

@@TheBowersj they need his input for The Line City Neom project

[@Chris.Davies]

Al Baydha project location: 21°03'05.44" N 39°54'10.87" E - it is extremely hard to find without these exact coordinates. You can follow the site's progress using Google Earth, and witness the transformation of what was a wasteland.

[@rodrigosouto9502]

Up!

[@rodrigosouto9502]

This comment should be pinned!

[@rodrigosouto9502]

Someone pinned the place in Google maps: Al Baydha Permaculture Project maps.app.goo.gl/mDa3PVrzVY5QK4Us9

[@MrsAustraliana]

oh wow! all that wonderful rain getting caught and saved ... I know how fun it is to catch my own water in a few tiny water tanks I have around my house so this must have felt AMAZING to be part of!!! Well done!!

[@MichaelPiraino]

Please make more videos! This is awesome!

[@bruceangel8685]

Natural, brilliant and simple!

[@Argrouk]

It's always amazed me that drought or desert hit countries have been happy for their much needed rain water to be carried off to the sea, often taking the best topsoil with it. It doesn't take high technology, power, computers... a few men with some sticks and stones can start to improve things. Of course if you have access to technology, you can do so much more with it.. Of course it would help if people stopped telling lies about over-grazing, and taught that goats, cattle and sheep are actually pretty perfect at pooping out fresh top soil once you have learned how to stop it running away.

[@miracleshappen4483]

I feel so proud of you! What a fantastic job, you restore my faith in humanity! 👏😉👍

[@rcwarship]

Very very awesome Neal. Congratulations to you & the local team for all of the hard work that youse guys have put in on this. It must be very gratifying to see the progress that is being made. Thanks for posting these updates, they are very inspiring!

[@gayalux1688]

Natural forests are also essentials for the thriving of other species, fundamental for a healthy environment. "Productive land" sounds, once more, like exploitation of Mother Earth. There are so many micro organisms, fungi, roots in a forest soil, it's no wonder in reforested areas the water came back. As long as we keep thinking about humans only we can only expand desertification, the moment we understand the fragile interconnections of all lifeforms then we have a chance to survive. 💖🌞🤗😊✌️

[@svbonello]

Great reporting mate. I can only imagine your excitement as the rain was coming down.

[@WizzleThump]

I look forward to all your videos. This is something people dream of doing. I am very jealous!

[@casabonita2700]

Proud of your job, this is the kind of news I would love to. Hear

[@09conrado]

Neal, I miss your blog updates. You mentioned building last time, and hoped your brother could write something. I hope you can relieve the suspense some time in the future! This work of yours is so awesome, it deserves a lot of attention.

[@crpth1]

This is a fantastic project. Next step convince the government to allocate 1% if the budget of any arms deal package. To finance the remaining... Somehow I have the impression that¨s more challenging than "make rain" in the desert. LOL :-) Cheers and good luck.

[@techhunt4922]

You guys are doing great by Planting trees. In Pakistan, KPK province the Govt has Planted One Billion Trees to recover forests

[@johnpeters2650]

Tech Hunt one billion ? Yeah, nice lie man

[@hunterhq295]

These give me hope

[@AussiePharmer]

Hoping to see an update of this site soon! Especially in light of all the updates from the Greening the Desert project in Jordan.

[@Grow_with_Michael]

Amazing work my friend!

[@WonderMagician]

Magnificent project.

[@tjchaka5343]

The water percolating through the berm makes me think of natural springs on the sides of hills and mountains. I bet over time, this project will return springs to the area. I sure hope the project will continue and will continue to give updates.

[@b_uppy]

That needs to be deeper, less exposed to the sun.

[@IngriddenDigre]

Hi, This is such an interesting project to follow, and you're doing an amazing job all of you! I had a question about your calculations of how much water you've harvested. Considering the heat and how open the area is, is evaporation included in the calculations? I would guess that a lot of water evaporates, but hopefully more sinks into the aquifers. Keep up the excellent work and I'm looking forward to new updates! (Loved seeing all the changes with the newest video)

[@lovetoplayharp]

Very cool. Great work. Thanks for the video. Best wishes!

[@somap8380]

Wonderful 👏🏼👏🏾👍

[@maryb7277]

Amazing!

[@alisina1472]

Would love to see the effect of that after a couple of years. I bet it will be a very different scenery.

[@scottcook1586]

It would be nice to see this same area after a rain to see how much leaves now or is kept in the system.

[@nephihenry9237]

Beautiful. I'm amazed.

[@m.j.debruin3041]

You need to do the hillside also to keep even more rain water for longer .

[@emkoravo]

Awesome project

[@mellamoesroy]

Brilliant work! How does it look now?

[@jakovkavinsky4076]

Yaaaa!!!!! Water! Water! Water! Praise to Life!

[@rethinkscience8454]

Good stuff

[@Sennmut]

Fabulous! Keep it up.

[@pinkelephants1421]

Awesome! I've often wondered what it would take to reclaim the Empty Quarter. With sufficient time & vegetation, especially trees, if evapotranspiration processes would help to provide a general drop in temperature for the region as a whole. Given the size of the area I would hazard a guess that at least 20 years would be needed to do it if it was even possible.

[@attermire2109]

you need to plant deep rooting grass banks on each side of the check dams, and on each side of the narrow flows you need tree canopy, and brush shrubs also bury dead wood logs into the soil among the trees and grasses that you plant, these will hold onto the water for much much longer and let it go slowly

[@tjchaka5343]

It is really hard to bury dead wood when there aren’t trees in the area. Early photos of the area shows just a few tiny trees scattered over the whole project area. I wonder if they can get organic waste from the nearest city to build soil. Even bio waste (septic from humans) would speed the soil buildup. We have lots of trees in my area so we use wood chips from waste trees to build soil, control soil moisture and temperature and to feed microorganisms. They work great for us.

[@subramaniana7761]

In india, tamilnadu, people once used to paste with mud or alluvial soil in the base ground of small lake, and the water retained for more days.

[@aron8949]

wow I love this, how did you end up out here showing these people how to take care of their land?

[@kevinhayes6933]

You should use the water box and yes that is the correct spelling it helps the trees host with water in it till the roots go down and thus protect the tree while its young

[@harriskhan7671]

still, your doing a great job

[@ciceroaraujo5183]

You are planet guardian

[@ShiroKage009]

This is amazing. What you're doing here is a perfect example of ecological farming, a concept that isn't well-explored in most places and could possibly allow for the harvesting of the most productive, native systems in any region while managing them while allowing them to host wildlife. I have a question though. The trees you're planting, are they a single species, AKA, is it a monoculture? If so, do you think that diversifying the planted forests with more species of native trees would help stabilize the system, from an ecological standpoint, and help make it less resource-intensive? If not, do you use a specific mix with any specific proportions?

[@albaydha702]

Hi ShiroiKage--you can see the polycultural guild I am using at my website--twovisionspermaculture.com

[@mattpowers8930]

AMAZING!! GO NEAL!!!

[@1MonthNoRegrets]

that's incredible

[@desertpermaculture-thar1726]

Water is gold in desert, catchment area is good with low percolation rate but you should make a reservoir where u can store this water, preferable underground. We have such reservoirs with small catchment area in thar desert..This water u stored will either percolate away from the root zone or evaporate ..Just a suggestion

[@TryMyTigerStyle]

Hi Neal. What is the size of the area of catchment? I'm trying to get an idea of what kind of area caught this amount of water. Thanks

[@nateb4543]

Add some of those reservoir balls to prevent evaporation

[@benjaminselle2756]

Hey Neal!I love your project man!Why not pump that water back up to a higher dam? And keep cycling the water in your watershed?

[@niloy512]

you should use 100% shade net on top to stop from evaporation! Also can use poly liner on ground!

[@user-dp7qg3wc3b]

interesting how does this land look like now

[@sar808]

Deeper caption is better like a big pond which can stock water and sip to the land

[@ferhansyed1851]

Does a video exist that could show us where Al Baydha stands in 2023?

[@danielchadwick8513]

Sell a safe percentage of desert sand and minerals to other Countries to mix with their soil . Buy a safe percentage of other Countries soil to help growth in desert areas . An equal and even balance of growing materials like sand and soil will surely help to balance the Earths Eco System. Helping each other is the only way to improve how we all live together . Have a beautiful day everybody . 🌹🌟❤️✨🙏✨❤️🌟🌹

[@joaovox]

Given the size of the earth berm, 8,500 000 litres is not much/ 8500 mts3. Could you raise the level sill spillway level to harvest more water? What is the length of the levelsill spillway of the earth berm? How many centimetres has the maximum spill flow reached at the spillway?

[@phillywister9957]

MORE VIDEOS PLEASE

[@tkdawes147]

Any new videos yet

[@rcwarship]

Hiya Neal, I noted that in earlier videos, you stated that the well water used for irrigation is brackish. With increased water catchment, will the brackish water go fresh? Thanks & Best Regards, Jon

[@albaydha702]

Hi Jon, That is one of the long term questions of the project. In theory that should be the result, but i would expect that process to take at least a decade. As soil biota increases, the humic acid in the soil allegedly makes the salts go inert, but i'm unaware of any conclusive evidence of that process.

[@kyratawney7591]

Are there any newer updates? I looked at it on Google Maps and it looks just as dead as anything else. There are a few trees but nothing else really.

[@gissie391]

Can they grow fly catching plants.do they grow grapes using drip irrigation.

[@fernbutler8630]

Hello, I'm a college sophomore in Michigan, USA. Do you plan on holding internships at any point in the near future?

[@adammac4381]

Can you put a pump in there, and pump it back up one of your swales to get a second bite of the cherry? I ask because In the pan shot I see the swales above there have already absorbed everything and are empty

[@NewMusicNetworks]

Very cool. Isn't there some substance that you're supposed to put at the bottom of the berm/lake/dam to hold the water longer or do you just pack down the dirt really well with the bulldozers? Either way, great video and progress.

[@albaydha702]

We are currently planting the berm--trees and foliage are what will stabilise it in the long term.

[@NewMusicNetworks]

Al Baydha No I mean in the middle at the bottom of that mini-lake. Aren't you supposed to pack the dirt down really well or even concrete it???

[@albaydha702]

No--we want the water in the middle to be absorbed by the soil as quickly as possible.

[@NewMusicNetworks]

Al Baydha So you want it to soak into the ground and let it leak thru that way, instead of using it like a dam?

[@albaydha702]

Harvesting Water DVD - The Swale Plume

[@jadhavjadhav4480]

Why don't you plant trees on bunds?

[@yLeprechaun]

What's the story/purpose of the razor wire?

[@IngriddenDigre]

Keeping goats out of the site. Goats eat everything and until the trees and bushes are more establised, they want to keep the goats out. I'm not involved with the project, I've just followed it the last 6 years. It's the only reason I started with Instagram... :-D

[@gggreggg]

please contact "Groasis". they might be of great help to supplement what you are doing.

[@brianevolved2849]

Just watch Jeff Lawton...He is one of the great men alive

[@Alexander-rq9he]

I want to come work with you!

[@kiwioleskool9438]

Update please

[@jacobari6371]

What about using earth bag cisterns to capture water as also? Low cost and long term availability of water. A communist could easily capture 100 thousand gallons with 6. Also horizontal boring at a check in the mountains would allow for more water to get into the soil. I love what your doing!!!! Water is life/God.

[@gggreggg]

please put a sock on the mic to stop the noise of the wind is eliminated.

[@Gustav4]

Are there no interest from the middle east of Allan Savory's work in south Africa?

[@dennyli9339]

Building a savanna....

[@petrogcracker6718]

I think you need more than just catch water and plan treets...

[@brianevolved2849]

Watch Jeff Lawton

[@IngriddenDigre]

Geoff Lawton is one of the founders of the site. He and Neal made the plans together, but Neal has lived and followed up on the site the last 7 years. Here, unlike the project in "Greening the desert" which takes place in a village outside the living quarters of the locals, and giving them a side income, the goal is to re-establish the environment, so that the beduin can again feed their goats and thus produce products (meat, milk, wool etc) to sell.

[@fjb4932]

With ADD, the 1st thing i saw was an old tire and a plastic bottle. All i could think of from then on ...

[@jeffkingofearth]

Saving this born land of Isis ? Omg

[@Meekseek]

Weather control and terraforming, it's not re Greening it's terraforming playing Nature

[@WadcaWymiaru]

Without "everlasting help" that is simply awfull waste of the time...i am talking about biochar. It will hold water for long time, longer than surface of that "pond" ...

[@carnivalwrestler]

The purpose of that "pond" is not to hold water indefinitely, it's to cause it to replenish the shallow aquifers. The desired process to accomplish this is a controlled seepage into the ground (as opposed to it becoming runoff), which it's doing very well.

[@lol-cu3lh]

Meglio commento scritto

[@dannyhansen6294]

You should pick up the garbage

[@MUBARIZALIYIV]

/D DƏMİR👗GN1.

[@EternallyGod]

Instead of exploiting the land for thousands of years, the muslims finally got smart.....only took a few thousand years.

[@JeremiahJJay]

Amazing!