#andrew millison

Inside the UN’s Massive Lake Project in Africa

Permaculture instructor Andrew Millison journeys to Tucson, Arizona to film the epic work of rainwater harvesting pioneer, Brad Lancaster. We tour the neighborhood of Dunbar Springs, where Brad has been transforming the hot asphalt streets into a native food oasis over the last 30 years.

DONATE TO THIS PROJECT:

https://maearth.com/pl...

BRAD'S WEBSITE (WITH HIS BOOKS):

https://www.harvesting...

TUCSON STORM TO SHADE:

https://climateaction....

ANDREW MILLISON'S LINKS:

https://www.andrewmill...

https://permaculturede...

  / andrewmillison

Solutions:

The Great Green Wall in the Sahel area of Africa is leading to some great ends.

With the Sahara Desert growing South of its normal regions, a UN/World Food Program started planting trees & half moon garden ponds to restore a better ecosystem.

But, the early part of this project led to some problems due to a desperate grab at the remaining resources - as herder animals overgrazed on newly growing crops.

Luckily, the UN personnel came up with a solution: an agreement to create good will & cooperation - thru shared benefits.

Special ditches were dug to serve as a border between herders & farmers.

Both sides honored the new border, allowing the farmers' sprouts to grow to their full potential.

Corridors were made, leading to large pastoral ponds that only the herders could use.

And controlled grazing helped fertilize the farm soils.

Using land reclamation techniques, in two years more resources were created & the abundant animal fodder was sold to the herders.

But, the benefits didn't stop there.

The improved landscape cleared the sand from the air, built seed banks for new plantings, replenished the local water tables & the mature sites began to support fish ponds - leading to more protein being available...

Best of all, it inspired new confidence & cooperation - even stabilizing the local society & culture.

Both groups now coexist & rely on each other - trading seed & grain for milk & meat.

So how was all this accomplished?

The Great Green Wall project creates half-moon pools, planting acacias (a fast growing thorny shrub & tree) known as 'pioneer' plants.

As grass grows, insects & birds start coming back, performing their natural roles.

The water percolates down into the shallow water table, moving down- stream to moisten more land.

It creates wetlands & stores up enough of itself to survive the long dry season.

This causes it to spread further along the region, watering underground seeds that sprout new greenery.

In time, the abundance of water allows for more mature food production - in large fish ponds which self fertilize new water plants & a more diversified food system.

Protein which benefits the locality well.

But, the full 'conclusion' of the Great Green Wall still lies in the future - if it can truly stop the Sahara's continued growth...

How to turn your Neighborhood into a Village

Permaculture instructor Andrew Millison journeys to Portland, Oregon to talk with architect Mark Lakeman, founder of Communitecture Architecture and the City Repair Project. Mark initiated a movement in Portland to transform the homogenous neighborhoods of the city into places that have many of the qualities and characteristics that are found in some of the most treasured villages on Earth. Mark reveals the things you need to know to transform your own neighborhood into a village.

Permaculture instructor Andrew Millison journeys to Singapore where he explores the movement to turn that city into an edible garden paradise.

OSU's ONLINE PERMACULTURE COURSE:

https://workspace.oreg...

Singapore Edible Garden City:

In Episode 2 of the series, Permaculture instructor Andrew Millison journeys with the UN World Food Programme to the border between the African countries of Chad and Sudan, where over 1 million refugees have fled into Chad from the Sudan civil war. He visits a project where refugees and Chadians are working together for water harvesting, food production, and massive land restoration. Could this be a new model for how refugees can be integrated into nations while healing degraded landscapes?

EPISODE 1: Inside Africa's Food Forest Mega Project

   • Inside Africa's Food F...  

WFP Resilience Building:

https://www.wfp.org/re...

Thanks to Evelyn Fey of the WFP media team for camera and drone videography