New planting techniques for tree cultivation in desertified environments (LIFE The Green Deserts)

One of the consequences of climate change is desertification of areas that have previously provided important functions in terms of carbon sequestration, food production and landscape conservation. Tree planting can help overcome these problems and innovative planting techniques are required to properly regenerate some degraded areas. The project’s main objective is to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of new tree planting techniques in desertified, poor and/or rocky areas. Innovative ‘waterbox’ technology will be applied to restore the sponge function of degraded soils and reinforce soils’ existing capacities for supporting plant life. The project intends to demonstrate the waterbox technology’s capacity to: improve soils by stimulating the natural capacities of plants; increase success rates of planting in eroded and desert areas to above 95%; reconstruct forests; absorb large amounts of CO2 emissions; restore eco-systems facilitating the planting of indigenous and endangered species in desertified or otherwise damaged territories; reduce water and energy use, as the technology does not require any type of irrigation; restore desertified agricultural land to economic profitability, thus increasing economic opportunities in rural areas and combating their abandonment; and possibly facilitate all-year planting, offering long-term employment and larger time spans for cultivation and reforestation. Results are expected to include: (i) 90 % success rate of the species planted in April surviving and growing well after 3-4 years; (ii) confirmation of the financial feasibility of Twinboxx technology compared with commercial alternatives; (iii) 80 % survival rate of species planted in July using the Twinboxx technology; (iv) confirmation that the new technology does not have a negative impact on existing water resources.