Ancient wisdom to face challenging times - article by El Habib Ben Amara

Covering

1. The Chronicles of the Last Oasis: A Tale of Wisdom and Redemption

2. Ksour: More Than Just Ruins

3. Ancient Water Harvesting Techniques

4. Wastewater Purification

5. The Metamorphosis : Toward a Sustainability Strategy

6. The New Water Paradigm and Floods.

7. The Dream of Greening My Desert Region

Watch videos in french and english on WATERCONSERVATION Algeria by Benamara youtube channel here

1. The Chronicles of the Last Oasis: A Tale of Wisdom and Redemption

“Outside the city, there is nothing but a desert of sand and rocky terrain, enclosed behind a mountain that stretches from one horizon to the other, like an infinite rampart. Within the inhospitable desert, life has a taste of miracle.”

Between the rocks and sands of the desert, where water is scarce, the fortified villages, called “ksar,” were more than just villages. They embodied the integration of habitat into its environment, fortresses of resilience, guardians of ancient wisdom.

These ksour, surrounded by oases, created a unique agroforestry, where abundance was passed down through generations, drawing from cultural values and teachings of the elders.

Growing up in one of these ksour in the southern Maghreb countries, I witnessed the cruel degradation of these palm groves. The oasis, once a symbol of agroforestry, now faces disappearance and deterioration, used as a dumping ground for wastewater from modern urban areas, testifying to the rapid and deliberate destruction, in just a few decades, of a heritage built over several centuries of hard work.

In the 1980s, my childhood memories recall lush groves brimming with a variety of fruits.

“I remember thinking it was odd that this lush green forest should be bursting from the desert,” said Geoff Lawton when he saw one of these food forests in the desert for the first time in 1975.

Today, this landscape is marked by desolation, urbanization, and poor socio-economic management, turning once-accessible fruits into luxury items, while staple vegetables are grappling with shortages.

Traditional knowledge held by local and indigenous communities about managing forests and trees is disappearing globally due to various pressures. Policies promoting development often ignore traditional forest management practices that historically provided food security for these communities.

The degradation of land, caused by deforestation, overgrazing, or urban development, alters precipitation patterns, impacting the availability of groundwater during the dry season and intensifying floods during the rainy season.

However, amid this loss, a glimmer of hope emerges. Flashes of ancient wisdom guide towards reintegrating oasis agricultural techniques. Palm groves, treasures of a forgotten heritage, hold abandoned agricultural knowledge, much like the ruins of ksour settlements.

An action strategy offers hope for the regeneration of palm groves, where communities can create abundance, generate jobs, and combat drought by purifying wastewater and harvesting rainwater. To raise awareness among Muslim communities in Africa about regenerative agriculture and water conservation, a faith-based approach, using the language of the Quran, is proposed. Quranic teachings emphasize the value of water, the sanctity of the land, and the importance of palm groves, and trees.

To reverse environmental decline, it is crucial to challenge prevailing fatalism and seek motivating solutions, including those found in sacred texts, rather than accepting the status quo.

The regeneration of palm groves can become an achievable goal with the commitment of farmers, authorities, and organizations, ensuring food security and self-sufficiency while preserving these historical treasures.

READ the rest of this article originally published on Lowimpact.org here

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