Greening The Desert Project

Greening The Desert Project

The Middle East Arid Climate Permaculture Demonstration Site

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Permaculture for Pastoralists in the Jordan Valley – Part II

November 5, 2014 By Alex McCausland 28 Comments

Note: If you haven't already, you can read Part I here. A Dead Sea Valley family home with their typical front ‘lawn’. Photo © Craig Mackintosh The title may lead you to think we are talking about people who manage pasture or have access to wide areas of rangeland. In fact, we are talking about people whose parents and grandparents were nomadic pastoralists that ranged flocks of animals across vast areas of land with the changing of the seasons. Rangelands in the Middle East were traditionally … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Project Update Tagged With: Aid Projects, Biological Cleaning, Building, Community Projects, Compost, Land, Plant Systems, Soil Rehabilitation, Urban Projects, Waste Systems & Recycling, Waste Water, Water Conservation

Rough, Ready, But Very Real – a November 2013 Update on the Jordan Valley Permaculture Project (aka ‘Greening the Desert – the Sequel’ Site)

November 19, 2013 By Geoff Lawton 29 Comments

Project from above, featuring a garbage-accumulating fence edge Well, you would be hard pressed to find a tougher block of land -- a 400m below sea level, West facing slope, in an extremely hot, arid climate, with extremely poor, shallow highly alkaline top 'soil', covered in rocks, with a limited water supply and in a mostly Palestinian refugee-populated village. When we first started working on the site local farmers thought it was just ridiculous to even try to produce any kind of result on … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Project Update Tagged With: Aid Projects, Animal Housing, Biological Cleaning, Building, Community Projects, Compost, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Energy Systems, Fencing, Food Forests, Land, Plant Systems, Soil Conservation, Soil Rehabilitation, Trees, Urban Projects, Village Development, Waste Systems & Recycling, Water Conservation, Water Harvesting

Jordan Valley Permaculture Project Update: Post IPC Happenings

November 11, 2011 By Dan Lewin 3 Comments

An aerial view of the site Although the landscape here could be seen as a model for scarcity, what there is an abundance of is rocks. The baked dusty earth barely passes for soil and during the summer there isn’t rain here for over six months. With valuable agricultural resources seemingly at a minimum, rocks can be incredibly valuable in the design of a sustainable human settlement. In the case of the Permaculture Research Institute of Jordan’s site (PRIJ), rocks have formed the main building … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Project Update Tagged With: Aid Projects, Building, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Irrigation, Land, Plant Systems, Regional Water Cycle, Soil Rehabilitation, Soil Salination, Storm Water, Swales, Terraces, Waste Systems & Recycling, Waste Water, Water Conservation, Water Harvesting

Update on the Jordan Valley Permaculture Project (aka ‘Greening the Desert, the Sequel’): “Leave All Expectations Behind”

February 19, 2011 By Christian Douglas 18 Comments

I felt fully prepared leaving for Jordan three weeks ago. Equipped with a 55ltr backpack laden with books, a compost thermometer, a dumpy level as hand luggage and a few well chosen words of advice from former patrons of the land: "Leave all expectations behind". In fact, as i remember correctly, it was to "flush them down the toilet". Within hours of my arrival it became rapidly apparent that would become the most useful thing I was to bring with me, or rather didn't bring, as the case may be. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Project Update Tagged With: Aid Projects, Building, Community Projects, Compost, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Land, Plant Systems, Soil Conservation, Soil Rehabilitation, Swales, Terraces, Urban Projects, Water Conservation, Water Harvesting

Jordan Valley Permaculture Project – November 2010 Update

November 17, 2010 By Geoff Lawton 8 Comments

The Jordan Valley Permaculture Project (aka 'Greening the Desert - the Sequel') in Al Jawaseri in the Dead Sea Valley (lowest place on earth), continues to develop as we gradually fund the project into action with our own permaculture education programs, volunteers and funding from Muslim Aid Australia and Kids are Sweet of Wisconsin, USA. The male and female shower and compost toilet block is now reaching completion using a basic faralone design system (PDF, with others composting toilet … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Project Update Tagged With: Aid Projects, Biological Cleaning, Building, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Irrigation, Urban Projects, Waste Systems & Recycling, Water Conservation

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