Greening the Desert II: Greening the Middle East from Craig Mackintosh on Vimeo.

“This example has to be set so that the world can have a positive future. Unless this soil management is fully demonstrated, extended and enhanced, then we don’t have any future. The world is just going to turn to dust.” — Geoff Lawton

This half hour video documents the ongoing work of Permaculture gurus, Geoff and Nadia Lawton, in the Dead Sea Valley, and is an update to the famous ‘Greening the Desert‘ clip.

You’ll get to see and learn about the original Greening the Desert site and see some of the spin-off effects of its influence throughout Jordan, and you’ll also be introduced to a new educational demonstration site that was started last year.

This is the video that first got me interested in the potential of advanced Permaculture, and I doubt that I am alone in that respect! It shows a technique of combining guilded planting and intelligent water harvesting to essentially reverse desertification, making such lands productive for growing food. The experiment was done in Jordan, just off the dead sea, and is pretty remarkable. As I understand, it is still there, and still producing without much additional human interaction.

Highly recommended viewing for everyone.