Humanity is confronted with an *enormous* complex of interrelated problems and dangers:
> increased CO2-levels
> global heating
> climate change and climate system instability
> deforestation and desertification
> rising sea-levels
> compulsory migration (for subsistence and economic reasons), etc.
This *enormous* complex of problems needs to be addressed by an *enormous* solution: greening of deserts and of desertified and arid areas through water harvesting and a substantial production of potable and irrigation water, which will result in binding excess CO2, in cooling large areas of the planet, in stabilizing the climate and in generating an avalanche of farming, forestry and other small and medium business opportunities.
The urgency and complexity of the problems have again become clear and were underlined at the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, December 2015.
However, although alarming reports have regularly been published (especially since the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992) and good intentions by governments have regularly been formulated and agreed upon (as in the 2015 Paris Agreement: see text), no existing world wide organisation has so far started or tried to address the problem complex in its entirety. Nor has any world wide organisation started to work constructively on integrating already available technical possibilities for the global aim of desert greening and climate stabilization.
This *enormous* solution therefore needs to be subdivided into both manageable and commercially viable steps. If desertification is the most visible side of the problem which itself leads to further problems, greening of deserts and desertified areas will be the most tangible and visible side and first step of the solution.
The aims of DesertGreenForum are accordingly:
– to create a forum on scientific, technological, organizational and commercial research and journalism focused on the positive aim of desert greening and climate stabilization: the rehabilitation of desertified lands and the increase of green land in order to create a stabilizing influence on the climate;
– to host virtual projects which contribute to the greening of deserts and desertified areas, and which encourage exchange between specialists, technicians, and enterprises, with a focus on putting the projects into reality in the near future, taking into account, where possible, traditional knowledge systems;
– to plan and set up a research center that calculates and tests steps in the virtual projects and that reviews and makes available information on
–– technological and commercial possibilities for greening deserts and desertified areas;
–– traditional technologies for the production, harvesting and preservation of water (anthropological, textual research);
–– modern technologies for the production, harvesting and preservation of water;
–– forestation of deserts and desertified areas;
–– the creation of an avalanche of significant business opportunities in farming, forestry and other small and medium business areas.
Three initial projects have been presented through the DesertGreenForum website since its start in 2015:
+ a virtual project for water production and, in the course of time, to set up Ice-Water Production Units in arid areas with easy access to the Arctic or Anarctic Ocean, to begin with (on account of political stability) for instance in coastal towns in South or South Western Australia (harbours for iceberg docking and quarrying);
+ a virtual project for forestation which is to plan and facilitate the cooperation of enterprises and organizations for establishing Fullarbor Desert Greening Corridors traversing the deserts of Nullarbor Plain and of South and Western Australia; forestation happens already an a small scale but is not yet planned on a sufficiently large scale to contribute significantly to climate stabilization;
+ establishment of a center for research and information on technologies for the positive aims of water production in arid areas and desert greening and their possible impact on the stabilization of the earth’s climate system.
After an initial starting up period of 5 to 10 years the configuration of iceberg water production and the forested corridors and new agricultural villages should largely be financially self-sufficient. Potential funders of the initial 5-10 years of the project include: longterm green investors and countries and companies sincerely trying to meet their CO2 target but nevertheless still surpassing it…
An additional project page has been added to the Forum website regarding problems of water shortages in northwest Europe, which became unexpectedly urgent in the summer of 2018 and which now too still need to be addressed adequately.