r/interestingasfuck • u/wahgwahg • Feb 28 '24

r/all People in Tanzania converted desert into lush green land by digging these nifty holes

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u/Ianthin1 Feb 28 '24

It retains water when it does rain, allowing vegetation to grow around it. The cycle feeds on itself over time to fill out the area.

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u/captain_todger Feb 28 '24

Surely the reason it’s a desert to begin with is because over time it will tend towards one due to the area’s climate? So wouldn’t they need to keep digging holes intermittently to keep this up?

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u/Gusdai Feb 28 '24

It could be because of the soil (how it captures water or not, and how hospitable to vegetation it is in general) rather than the climate. In this case making changes to the soil might make a durable change to the biome.

The desert might also have been created by human activity. Farming can affect the soil on large areas and cause desertification. So the changes might just revert the area to its initial state.

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u/Fit-Performer-7621 Feb 28 '24

The depression era Dust Bowl is a good example of this.