Turning dry land into a green oasis

planetwild (69)in WORLD OF XPILAR • last month

Hello my dear Steemians,

This is the new account “Planetwild” by @stef1 and @myskye. This account is about collecting Steem for the PlanetWild project. That's why I'm going to post once a day. Everything we get together here (Steem, SBD, SP) goes to the project. Then let's see what we can do here...

Mission 20

Kenya’s soil faces huge problems as global temperatures rise. With longer droughts and unpredictable rains, large areas of the land have become so dry and damaged that they can hardly support any life. Plants and grasses are disappearing, putting both communities and wildlife at risk. Luckily, there is a way to restore the degraded soil — and it’s surprisingly simple.

The Mission

Increasing droughts have left Kenya’s soil dry and damaged. The Maasai community, who depend on healthy land, know they need to adapt. The key: To restore their land and its biodiversity, they need to increase the soil’s ability to absorb and retain water. And that’s exactly what our partner Justdiggit has been working on for the past 15 years. Using a simple but effective method, they’re working with local communities to revive degraded land and bring life back to the soil and, by extension, the entire ecosystem.

It all starts with digging half-moon-shaped pits in the ground. These structures then capture rainwater and slow it down enough to be soaked up by the earth again. This boosts microbial life, followed by all kinds of small organisms, plants and eventually even larger fauna. While the process itself is simple, what’s needed to restore entire landscapes is scale. And that means funding. Thanks to the incredible support of the Planet Wild community, we’re funding the creation of a massive 8,000 “earth smiles”, covering a 100-hectare area. This mission will retain 2 billion liters of water in the area over 20 years, kickstarting a beautiful chain reaction that will turn these vital landscapes green again.

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