How digging holes can save our planet

“If we can warm up the earth, we can also cool it down. By greening up!” — How the simple act of digging holes can help regreen our planet and reverse climate change.

JUSTDIGGIT say ‘If we can warm up the earth, we can also cool it down’

It’s getting hotter and dryer all over the world. But if we can warm up the Earth, we can also cool it down. Trees and plants are the air-conditioning of our planet. In Africa, Amsterdam-based non-profit organisation Justdiggit has already transformed thousands of hectares of barren land into green land by digging 100,000 water bunds — traps to stop rainwater from running away.

Simply by digging, rainwater is harvested, seeds can grow and everything becomes green and cool

Many African countries are getting enough rain, but due to the hard-packed top layer of earth, the water can’t seep into the ground, so when it rains, water runs away wasted. This leads to erosion and washing away of the remaining fertile soil and seeds.

Simply by digging, rainwater is harvested, seeds can grow and everything becomes green and cool again. Due to the renewed root system underneath, the soil becomes porous and the water can easily infiltrate. This raises the aquifer and vegetation will spread.

Together with local communities, Justdiggit has dug 100,000 water bunds in Africa so that rainwater can seep into the ground, making dry land lush and green again.

To increase biodiversity and improve livelihoods they are they also bringing back trees on agricultural land, creating more food and income through agroforestry.

The restored vegetation brings more moisture into the air, which helps to create clouds and restores the water cycle, cooling down the Earth by restoring the disturbed climate. 

Huge potential

The Justdiggit movement has the potential to help restore 2,000,000,000 ha of degraded land, almost twice the size of Europe.

Re-greening our planet is one of the best things we can do to fight climate change.

Together we can make the Earth greener and reverse climate change. You can join too. Get involved. Green it up to cool down. 

Check out Justdiggit & GreenUpToCoolDown to find out more information on projects, how to get involved, or to donate.

The solution: Greening up!

‘If we can warm up the earth, we can also cool it down, by Greening Up! It’s that simple!’ The solution to climate change is vegetation. It’s the air conditioning of our planet, and it eats carbon for breakfast.’— say GreenUpToCoolDown. 

Through simple nature-based solutions we can capture a whopping 20 billion tons of CO2 annually. This means that we can reverse climate change within 30 years. Let’s green up to cool down! 

• Increase tree cover — With more tree cover on degraded farmlands and rangelands we can triple the rate of carbon accumulation (2,5 billions tons of CO2/Year)
• Increase soil carbon sequestration — By protecting the soil from erosion, enhancing soil fertility and improving soil moisture farmers can grow the size and reliability of crops and store huge amounts of carbon at the same time (0,4 billions tons of CO2/Year)
• Scale up shrubs — By planting leguminous shrubs in food crops we can increase carbon sequestration and access to energy without having to reduce agricultural land. Millions of farmers in Africa have already adopted this. (2.5 billion tons of CO2/Year)
• Increase biomass energy production — By 2050, the carbon stored from nature-based solutions can be used in power plants and bring energy to hundreds of millions of people. (2.5 billion tons of CO2/Year)
• Restore degraded forestlands — Over 1.7 billion hectares of forestland is degraded and treeless. Through empowering local communities, we can turn 575 million hectares into healthy forests again. (8.5 billion tons of CO2/Year)
• Suppress fires — By regenerating pastures, we can bring back a healthy grass-tree balance, enhance food production for livestock, and improve animal welfare. (3.6 billion tons of CO2/Year)

Source: GreenUpToCoolDown.org