Hello,
Roberto, thank you so much for introducing me to the Africa and greening the desert groups! I didn't know there were sub groups. Thank you so much... A whole new world opened!
For a bit of background, we just moved to Ethiopia and we are looking at buying a piece of desert to turn it back to what it can be. I am still looking at machinery and things we would need, thus the question about the trees. I feel also that if we can develop a tool that can transplant pioneer species, this could be a fantastic tool for the region... Just by moving trees to create strips on contour could flood proof and seriously limit run off in our region... I'm just dreaming out loud...
I'm speaking with a tree spade company to see if they could develop a tree spade that would be thiner but deeper, potentially 3 meters deep, so that we can get a large part of the tap root.
Coming back down, we are looking at needs and tools and budget. We don't have a piece of land yet. The legal framework here is quite an interesting one...
Miles: Yes, I'm not sure it's a Savannah, maybe it has the potential to be so, but it's mostly sandy soil, if not sand. There are thorny trees across the landscape. I share that fear that if I try moving trees they will die and if they don't die, they'll need to be watered, which is not the objective either, one doesn't want to water pioneer species (at least I don't)...
My issue with the trees is that they are all over the place. Anything on contour will hit trees... Maybe I could decide where I want to do contour stuff, then move trees just accordingly. I hear you on the pasture under the trees. I'm just concerned with practicalities of keyline plowing and seeding if too many trees...
Roberto, pitting sounds like a good idea, local harvesting as opposed to large moving of a lot of trees and soil... To chew on a bit...
You are right that where we live overgrazing is a major issue. This refers me back to the Savanah issue, I don't know what the land would look like with no grazing and thus no run off. As we speak, rain just runs off taking all organic matter to dry river beds that fill for a few hours and the goodness goes who knows where at high speed... I'd like to think a mix of perennial grasses will thrive with the water being able to remain in the landscape and a bit of irrigation and thus create the pre-mentioned savannah.
Roberto, again, you are right, deep rooted nursery is a must. For sure.
Thank you guys so much for your valuable inputs. As we, and if we are able to move forward with this, I would love to share more and pick our collective brain!
Much love,
Benjamin
