Uplifting News

11463 readers

102 users here now

Welcome to /c/UpliftingNews, a dedicated space where optimism and positivity converge to bring you the most heartening and inspiring stories from around the world. We strive to curate and share content that lights up your day, invigorates your spirit, and inspires you to spread positivity in your own way. This is a sanctuary for those seeking a break from the incessant negativity often found in today's news cycle. From acts of everyday kindness to large-scale philanthropic efforts, from individual achievements to community triumphs, we bring you news that gives hope, fosters empathy, and strengthens the belief in humanity's capacity for good.

Here in /c/UpliftingNews, we uphold the values of respect, empathy, and inclusivity, fostering a supportive and vibrant community. We encourage you to share your positive news, comment, engage in uplifting conversations, and find solace in the goodness that exists around us. We are more than a news-sharing platform; we are a community built on the power of positivity and the collective desire for a more hopeful world. Remember, your small acts of kindness can be someone else's big ray of hope. Be part of the positivity revolution; share, uplift, inspire!

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

WandererLagomorph770

wolfeh

394

How the Great Green Wall Is Holding Back the Sahara Desert (kottke.org)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/upliftingnews

12 comments fedilink hide all child comments

THe Great Green Wall being built in Africa to halt the southern progress of the Sahara Desert is a favorite public works project of mine — it’s massive, ambitious, long-term, important, and if it works, the effect will repay the cost many times over. This video takes a quick look at some of the work being done on the wall in Senegal.

top 12 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] shalafi 97 points 8 months ago (3 children)

That was the most brilliant and hopeful thing I've seen in ages. Real Fremen shit. Blue-eyes of the Ibad, Dr. Liet-Kynes kinda shit.

This sort of landscaping builds on itself. More biomass makes more biomass. More biomass means more water, and then more biomass. More biomass, more ecological diversity. It's exponential.

I'm working on this on my own patch of NW Florida swamp. Just changing up a few hundred square feet of land makes an impact. Grind a few hundred sq./ft.? Makes a hot zone, light for growing. Leave it alone? Cool trails, but little diversity.

Tear up some plants along the trail? Erosion. Plant on those same cleared trails? Food and medicinal plants, stops the erosion.

But I must be cautious! 20' can make the difference in rich, black soil and 1.5" of meager topsoil. Even in my backyard, when I wonder into the very back where it's 60' of wild, the temp drops 5°. All too easy to fuck up.

This whole project makes my heart sing. The Great Green Wall is not merely a temporary fix, it's a solid fix than can last. Terraforming at its finest.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 8 months ago

I think what's really great about it is that it is not just a fix for the environment but a fix for social cohesion, for migration of youth from towns to cities and abroad.

If you have areas that aren't bereft of hope and a future then the young people don't leave and end up being part of the migration to cities that can't sustain large populations without food importation.

You don't have towns dying when only the old and infirm are left behind, families grow, food and jobs are local, and most importantly, people care about the land that sustains them.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago

Studying desertification is what led Frank Herbert to write Dune, so definitely spot on.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

Bravo, well said.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 8 months ago

This is legitimate forms ot terraforming

[–] [email protected] 21 points 8 months ago

The original plan of just planting trees did not work out as far as I know. But they seemingly switched to using the methods developed by Tony Rinaudo on how to utilize what is left on the land to restore it. There is a wounderful film about him and his work Der Waldmacher . I had the chance to watch one of the early cinema screenings of the documentary with the director Volker Schlöndorff being there to answer some questions. It was really cool.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I have watched some videos on it, very cool. That said, I pretty sure those photos in the comparison are taken at different times of year?

[–] [email protected] 18 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It is explicilty mentioned at the beginning of the video, that the country is as green as it gets, since it is the end of the rainy season.

All the area that is filled with the half moon structures would be barren during rainy season too, as you can see with the soil around the half moons. It will look less impressive at the driest time of the year, but the positive effects of retaining biomass and water will remain present.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago

I was talking about the comparison image that appears in the post (pulled from the article)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Awesome!!

[–] Gekoloniseerd 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

The only thing I can’t stand is the voice in the video. Nonetheless very informative. I really hope they can hold the desert back.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

At about 3:40 the introducer steps aside and it gets far more practical, too!