Our approach
Regreening dry lands with ancient techniques, modern technology and a strong communication approach.
Step 1 Landscape restoration
Degraded land is restorable
Justdiggit jumpstarts large scale landscape restoration projects by retaining rainwater for vegetation and preventing erosion, flooding and land degradation. This creates local benefits for communities and the environment.
Step 2 Dig and open up the soil
Prevent soil erosion
In dry areas where the soil is degraded, rainwater can no longer infiltrate into the ground. When it rains, water washes away unused. This causes erosion and washing away of the remaining fertile soil and seeds. This causes further land degradation and loss of vegetation cover. This negative vicious circle needs to be broken to restore and re-green the land by interventions.
Step 3 Harvesting the rains
Make best use of the water
Almost everywhere on our planet it rains, even in dry areas. By using ancient water harvesting techniques combined with recent innovations, we enable rainwater to infiltrate the ground again. This makes it available for vegetation and seeds in the soil. It also stops further erosion and loss of fertile soil.
Step 4 Returning the natural vegetation
More vegetation means more rains
By allowing rainwater to infiltrate into the soil, seeds will sprout and vegetation returns. To increase biodiversity and improve the livelihood of communities we complement this with planting trees, improved agriculture and agroforestry.
Step 5 Restoring the water cycle
An upward spiral
The restored vegetation brings more moisture into the air, which helps to create clouds and restores the water cycle.
Step 6 Creating more green with a little green
Green areas growing towards each other
Due to the renewed root system underneath, the soil becomes poreus and the water can easier infiltrate. This rises the aquafer and the vegetation will spread.
Step 7 Greener land makes a cooler planet
Start digging!
Trees and plants are the air-conditioning of our planet, that’s why it’s important to restore degraded lands. It has been calculated by the UN that 2 billion hectares of degraded land is restorable. This is almost twice the size of Europe!
Our ultimate goal is to restore these areas, but we can’t do this alone. Let us all pick up the shovel and re-green the land to cool down the planet!
Cooling effect of vegetation
The impact on the micro-climate can already be seen in our projects in Kenya. This is a semi-circular bund from the Justdiggit project in Kuku, Kenya. Move the slider to show the temperature difference between the vegetation inside the bunds and the surrounding bare soil.
Where do we work?
Many regions of the world have suitable conditions for a Hydrologic Corridor. In first instance we focus on Africa, where the problems are severe and growing and where we found great restoration opportunities. Together with our partners we have developed a potential map to locate the areas for our regreening projects. The greener the area, the bigger the potential to successfully regreen. More information on data and methods behind this map can be found in this memo.
Re-greening always has positive effects on climate. Even small scale efforts will moderate heat extremes and increase thermal comfort for people and cattle alike.