Water Is Life. But by ignoring the need to let rainfall refresh the soil and build up the water table, we are creating disasters all over the world through droughts and floods.

The remedy is surprisingly simple: trees and vegetation. When the soil is hotter than the rain, because there is no vegetation, the rain carries the soil away. The soil collects at the bottom of valleys, or at the bottom of lakes and waterways. The result is desert; dead land. When the soil is cooler (because of vegetation), the rain soaks into the ground, benefiting life and creating springs.

For more information see the film Water Is Life, or read Desert or Paradise.  Sepp Holzer writes:-

“The restoration of a landscape essentially means the return of natural moisture to the ground.  The creation of water retention spaces is the best way to achieve this.  It can be done in any region or climate zone.  Flora and fauna can develop abundantly then.  Ideally natural lakes, ponds and trenches combined, will form a whole water landscape.”

As well as Sepp Holzer’s work, you can also look at John Liu’s videos.  In Hope in a Changing Climate he sees what has been done in the Loess Plateau in China, and areas in Ethiopia and Rwanda.