Oruseu, in Namibia's Kunene Region, has a hot desert climate. The dry season is long and the rainy season short and intense. Rainfall is dropping and getting harder to predict, and drought and overgrazing have stripped away much of the vegetation.
So when rain does come, most of it runs straight off the land, causing dangerous flash floods instead of soaking in.
For Sadhana Forest, water work is the foundation of bringing land back to life. The aim is to stop rain from running off and washing the soil away, and to keep it on the land so plants can grow and the groundwater can fill up again. In its own words, "slow the flow, let it sink".
On its 18 hectare campus, the team has carried out a lot of this work, digging swales and building a gabion. Swales are trenches dug along the contour of the land. Like the gabion, they are there to slow the water, spread it out and help it sink in.
The team pairs this with planting native trees, such as a local moringa (Moringa ovalifolia) and the baobab. The work is meant to show what land restoration can do in the area.
Sadhana Forest works with Himba families in Kunene. See the project.
Sources: Sadhana Forest, "Sadhana Forest Namibia" (centre page) and "Our Mission".
