Creating water retention ditches

Last week was International Forest Day, and alsoInternational Water Day. Here in Andalusia both are becoming increasingly scarce, and they are interdependent.

In the picture you can see a technique we tried for example in the Banana Mountain project in Tíjola (Alpujarra of Granada) during the month of November with the European volunteers of the ESC European Solidarity Corps. This same technique was also used in the area of the Miners’ Road Camino de los mineros. And now with the rains that spring is bringing, we hope to see some results.

It involves creating water retention ditches where acorns are planted, to slow down run-off on land where erosion is a problem, and at the same time prolong the humidity around the trees.