Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Gaining ground
Tree of life
Virtual water
Save our soil
Mali’s music stars
Contents
TUNZA Editorial 3
the UNEP Magazine for Youth is available at
www.ourplanet.com Save our soil 4
United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) Gaining ground 6
PO Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel (254 20) 7621 234
Fax (254 20) 7623 927
Year of change 8
Telex 22068 UNEP KE
E-mail uneppub@unep.org Desert joy 9
www.unep.org
ISSN 1727-8902 Desert diversity 9
Director of Publication Eric Falt TUNZA answers your questions 10
Coordinator Wondwosen Asnake
Editor Geoffrey Lean
Guest Editors Karen Eng and Erin Senff Argan – tree of life 11
Nairobi Coordinator Naomi Poulton
Circulation Manager Manyahleshal Kebede Running dry 12
Youth Contributors Alaa Tariq Ahmed, Bahrain;
Sylvain Chevalier, France; Lau Tsun Ming, Hong Kong Virtual water – a reality 13
(China); Maurice Odera, Kenya; Eoin O'Riordan,
Ireland; Elizabeth Tubbs, United Kingdom Pick up your pencil! 14
Other Contributors David Flower, Sasa Music;
Isabelle Brugnon and Georgette Gobina, UNESCO; Out of the ashes 14
Joyce Hannah, UNCCD; Rosey Simonds and David
Woollcombe, Peace Child International; Andrew Water for thirsty lands 16
Spalton, Diwan of the Royal Court of Oman
Design Edward Cooper, Ecuador The art of survival 18
Web Editor Graham Barden
Production Banson Music from empty spaces 18
Head, UNEP’s Children and Youth/Sport and
Environment Unit Theodore Oben
Droughts in the driest places 20
Printed in the United Kingdom
has one of the world’s worst land degradation problems, and the
prairies of North America – which export food to over 100 countries
– are also at risk. In all, some 110 countries, most of the nations on
Earth, are affected by desertification to some degree.
4 TUNZA Vol 4 No 1
WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY • 5 JUNE 2006
DESERTS AND DESERTIFICATION
C. Uthaipanumas/UNEP/Topham
land of the trees whose roots hold the soil together and which
channel rainwater down to the soil, again exposing it to erosion.
And poor irrigation can cause soil to waterlog and grow too salty
to use.
Dani-Jeske/Still Pictures
Carole Hodgson
help farmers to retain moisture in degraded lands. Contour saline water, as the method prevents salt from touching the
bunding – embankments built into the earth along the leaves of plants. The technique is used in the United States,
contours of a slope – holds onto rainwater in Niger. In Burkino Mexico and Australia, and is being encouraged in Egypt,
Faso, the embankments – known as diguettes – are reinforced Eritrea, Jordan and elsewhere.
Mark Edwards/Still Pictures
Dan Porges/Still Pictures
with lines of stones. And in the Philippines and Thailand, In Pakistan, farmers are adapting to saline land by growing
farmers strengthen bunds by planting them with deep-rooted salt-resistant plants such as pistachio trees and barley.
vetiver grass. Researchers in the region are also investigating salt-resistant
Rangeland can be set aside to let it recover. Shepherds in plants which can bind the soil and provide cattle forage, and
Morocco, for example, were encouraged to form cooperatives are also a source of cooking oil.
and then compensated for allowing parcels of land to Israel is taking a high-tech approach, developing geneti-
recuperate. The vegetation recovered very quickly, and is now cally modified melons, grapes and tomatoes that tolerate
grazed in controlled rotation. saline conditions.
planting more than 3.5 million hectares of forest in a 4,500- among crops and herds – can have many benefits. Trees
kilometre network of belts stretching from Beijing to Inner drop nitrogen-rich leaves and so boost soil fertility, prevent
Mongolia. The project is now in its fifth year but is expected erosion and provide shade, fuelwood, fruit, fodder and
to take decades to complete. timber.
It can be done
T
he best example of the devastating effects of desert-
ification is also the greatest lesson in how it can be
defeated. For decades, farmers in the Great Plains of
the United States ploughed up native grasses to plant
wheat. In the 1930s, a prolonged drought killed the crops
and exposed the topsoil. Windstorms swept it away in
massive dust clouds, destroying 40.5 million hectares of
land across five states, displacing millions of farmers and
plunging the country deeper into economic depression.
When Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated as
President in 1933, he established the Soil Erosion Service
to help rebuild agriculture and to prevent the disaster
recurring. It taught farmers techniques still in use today,
such as terracing, contour ploughing, strip cropping,
leaving crop residue on land to increase nutrients, and
planting trees surrounded by shrubs to create windbreaks. Alex S. MacLean/Still Pictures
5. How many plants species are 6. How long has the Atacama 7. How much of the Earth’s land area 8. Can it snow in a
estimated to grow in the Sahara? desert in Chile gone without rain? is covered by deserts and drylands? desert?
a. 80 a. 10 months a. 5 per cent a. yes
b. 450 b. 14 years b. 13 per cent b. no
c. 750 c. 40 years c. 20 per cent
d. 1,200 d. 90 years d. 40 per cent
Deserts & Drylands 7
Year of change
2006 is a
special year for des-
erts and their peoples.
At UNEP’s suggestion, the
United Nations agreed to make it
the International Year of Deserts and
Desertification (IYDD).
m
/To pha
EP/Topha m
U
UNEP
le s/
UN
w
nta
Ju
Ju
R.
D.
8 TUNZA Vol 4 No 1
Desert joy
Alaa Tariq Ahmed, Tunza Youth Advisor for West Asia, is working with the
Bahrain Women Society to reconnect young people with their desert heritage
and promote the value of desert life.
or thousands of years the people of the Kingdom of their desert, working hard to create
F Bahrain – a tiny island nation in the Persian Gulf – awareness of desertification and to
were very attached to the desert, a big part of their promote the value of desert life.
cultural identity. But rapid economic and industrial growth, We aim to make learning
and the accompanying changes in lifestyle, have undermined about environmental issues easy
this: Bahrainis now only occasionally venture into the desert for and fun and – with our umbrella
recreation, like camping and hunting. non-governmental organization,
Yet desertification – caused by the harsh climate the Environment Citizenship
and overuse of the land – is the most chal- Programme – came up with the project
lenging environmental issue facing the ‘Creativity in Environmental Culture’. Our
Kingdom. It degrades Bahrain’s mascot is a spiny-tailed lizard, known
limited arable land, dries up fresh- locally as dabb, which is closely
water sources, and brings drought linked to Bahraini culture but is
and dust storms. now threatened by hunting and
Wildlife is already limited habitat destruction. We named
by the arid climate, and is made our lizard Wanees, meaning
even more vulnerable by deserti- ‘joyfulness’ in Arabic.
fication and human abuse. In The Wanees team already has
response, the Government has set up two projects on the go: a children’s
protected areas – gazelle and hares are storytelling series, and a website
Hei
not yet extinct, lizards and jerboas (desert nz S
tucke s t uc ke (www.wanees.info) with educational mate-
/ww w.bikefriday.com/bf/he inz
rats) are common, and the mongoose, probably rial and links to activities. And this is just
imported from India, lives in irrigated areas. Birds are sparse the beginning. BWS has high hopes that the programme
except in spring and autumn, when many migrant species rest will improve peoples’ awareness of the environment, keep the
here when travelling to and from temperate areas. focus on cultural identity when implementing environmental
Sadly, most Bahrainis do not appreciate the country’s natural activities, create a sense of affinity with the desert’s creatures,
beauty, let alone take responsibility for it. The Bahrain Women and encourage appropriate investment in environmental
Society (BWS), to which I belong, is trying to influence tourism, among other goals. With luck – and Wanees’ help – we
environmental attitudes and reconnect people emotionally to will succeed!
Desert diversity
Stone plants Sandgrouse Dune beetle
Rosemary Calvert/Still Pictures
Fred Bruemmer/Still Pictures
Martin Harvey/Still Pictures
By evening it looks like a pebble on the This ground-feeding bird from Africa, Asia Though this dune beetle of the Namib
ground. But by day, that pebble – actually and parts of Europe flies long distances at desert lives underground most of the time, it
comprising pairs of fleshy leaves – blooms dawn and dusk to drink at watering holes. climbs to the crest of its dune on foggy
with a daisy-like flower. Stone plants, The male’s belly feathers can hold up to 20 mornings and lets condensation collect on
succulents found in the South African and millilitres of water, which he carries over its body. It then stands head down, allowing
Namibian deserts, are specially adapted distances of more than 40 kilometres to his the water to trickle towards its head and into
to conserve water, including the ability to thirsty offspring, allowing the sandgrouse to its mouth.
recycle their own moisture and nutrients. nest far from water.
Deserts & Drylands 9
TUNZA answers your questions
Q
J.L. Perret/UNEP/Topham
A The Sahara is 2.5 million years old, and people have lived on its
edge for more than 100,000 years. During the last ice age it was
a much wetter place, but by 2500 BC it was as dry as it is today.
A Various techniques for stabilizing the sands have proved
effective. They include:
Erecting sand fences in the path of the prevailing wind. This halts
the movement of sand, and produces an artificial dune to protect the
area from further movement.
A Most people do not choose where they live, and most of the
world’s poor have few, or no, options to improve their daily lives.
Those living in drylands – 90 per cent of them in developing countries
sand – a process often called the ‘mulch’ technique – can stop it
moving.
Planting trees can stabilize the land. But there is some concern that
– lag far behind the rest of the world in well-being and development. their demand for water could have a detrimental effect.
But there is much to be learned from how they are coping with, and in
some cases improving, their difficult environments.
about it?
A The IYDD will help to raise awareness of deserts and
of the problems of desertification. It will highlight both
Do you have any QUESTIONS on environmental issues that you would like the experts at UNEP to answer?
Please send them to uneppub@unep.org, and we will try to answer them in future issues. A
10 TUNZA Vol 4 No 1
Argan – tree of life
has also traditionally been used as a treat-
T
hey call it the giver of life in
southwestern Morocco, the only ment for skin diseases. Long used locally
place where it grows. Little known for dipping bread and as a salad dressing, it
elsewhere – even in the rest of the North is now becoming a fashionable food in
African country – the argan tree survives Europe and North America. The cosmetics
heat, drought and poor soils to fight industry is also becoming increasingly
desertification and provide valuable interested in it.
products and employment for the local Goats sometimes help to harvest the
Berber people. seeds. Kept out of the forests until the fruit
The only tree of its kind anywhere in the is ripe, they brave the thorns and climb the
world, the argan grows in forests between trees, eating the fruits’ unpalatable flesh.
the coastal towns of Agadir and Essaouira. The discarded nuts are then cracked by
Gnarled and thorny, it sends its roots deep hand between two stones – a laborious
into the ground in search of water, binding process – to get out the oil.
the soil and preventing erosion. The nutshells are burned as a fuel. And
Its green fruits – which look like the argan’s wood – known as ‘Moroccan
oversized round olives – smell sweet but ironwood’ – is prized, and used in inlaid
taste horrible. But they contain a real boxes. Nothing is wasted.
treasure, an extremely hard nut with small Women’s cooperatives have begun
oil-rich seeds. harvesting the oil for export, providing
The oil is very nutritious, and – even much-needed jobs. But the life-giving tree
more important – rich in essential fatty is under threat. In less than a century, more
acids and antioxidants. It is believed to than a third of the forest has been
lower cholesterol levels, stimulate circu- destroyed for farming, pastureland or
lation and boost the immune system – and making charcoal.
places on Earth – but be sure to wear sunglasses and sunscreen and bring plenty of water!
Number of people in unstressed conditions (per 50 km2) Number of people in stressed conditions (per 50 km2)
> 100,000 10,000 –100,000 0 –10,000 0 –10,000 10,000 –100,000 > 100,000
Little or no population Source: Water Systems Analysis Group, University of New Hampshire.
Datasets available for download at wwdrii.sr.unh.edu/; UN/WWAP 2006, UN World Water Development Report 2
Net exporters (billion cubic metres per year) Net importers (billion cubic metres per year)
110 0 0 150
Source: Chapagain and Hoekstra, 2004 Water Footprints of Nations; UN/WWAP 2006, UN World Water Development Report 2
I
have spent $500 million to combat it, in
has been caught up in a severe a country where 60 per cent of the now Adviser for Conser-
drought, the worst in its history. And population still lives below the poverty vation of the Environment,
I can’t help wondering whether it’s due line. The World Food Programme needs Diwan of the Royal Court of
to climate change. Is global warming another $250 million to ensure that no Oman – oversaw this extra-
finally beginning to take its toll? more Kenyans die of hunger, but so far ordinary operation.
Increasingly irregular weather patterns it only has $25 million. Kenya has also
are combining with rapid deforestation received $5 million from corporations
– for products ranging from charcoal to
the pencil on your desk – to bring about
desertification.
and other well-wishers. Perhaps we
could invest some of this in infra-
structure to minimize the effects of
D istinctive white antelopes
with long straight horns, oryx
once freely roamed the Arabian
Droughts are a natural phenomenon future droughts. Peninsula: 2,000 years ago,
in Eastern Africa, particularly the Horn Though this is a time of great Aristotle mentioned them in his
of Africa, but their frequency and challenge, I believe that every problem History of Animals, though he
effects are on the rise. In the 1983-1984 has a solution. If we work together, I am
thought they had just one horn,
season, drought affected 200,000 sure we can come up with even more
people. Now, in the 2005-2006 season, answers. As young people with the like unicorns. But by the early
it has affected 3.5 million so far. The future in our hands, we must be 1970s, the Arabian oryx (Oryx
next one is expected in 2009 – only determined not to be part of the leucoryx) had been hunted to
three years away. Given Kenya’s current problem, but part of the solution. extinction in the wild. Bedouins
population growth, the increased fre- traditionally hunted them for their
quency means the number of those meat, hides and horns. But the
affected will rise significantly. If drastic
measures are not taken, the number of
Every drop counts! arrival after World War II of trophy
• Harvest rainwater in a bowl and use it. hunters, with automatic weapons
victims may double.
and motorized vehicles, sealed their fate.
But there are things we could do • Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth or
to focus on the careful management of Yet today, says Andrew Spalton, their
washing up.
available resources. Rainwater harvest- story is ‘a model of what can be done
• Wash vegetables and fruit in a basin, then to conserve wildlife when a concerted
ing during the wet season would mean
use the water for plants.
water could be stored instead of going multinational effort is made’.
to waste, helping agriculture – on which • Fix leaky taps – inside and out. It began in the early 1960s when Fauna
Kenya’s economy depends – to be less and Flora International (FFI), recognizing the
• Use the minimal amount of water in the bath
rain dependent and more irrigation animal’s plight, launched Operation Oryx.
– or have a shower.
dependent, giving us a measure of It took some from the wild in Yemen and
control over vital food production. • Install a drip irrigation system in the garden.
from collections elsewhere in the region to
During dry periods, hosepipe bans
• Start a compost heap and use it to help protect them in a zoo in Phoenix, Arizona.
could prevent the misuse of water. And
retain soil moisture. There they were bred, ready to be
tree-planting campaigns could help
reverse desertification. • Choose native plants that require less water reintroduced into the wild when the time
The current drought is costly: we and provide a habitat for wildlife. was right.
14 TUNZA Vol 4 No 1
OUT OF THE ASHES
In 1979, H.M. Sultan Qaboos bin Said were more than 400 oryx in the wild, and all cool, humid air drawn in over the desert
of Oman established the Arabian Oryx but about 20 had been born in the desert. from the Arabian Sea: vegetation drips with
Project, arranging for a small group of the The oryx, says Spalton, is extremely well condensation, providing moisture for ani-
captive-bred oryx to be brought to the adapted to the harsh life of the desert, mals and plants alike.
Jidda’, a flat limestone plateau in Oman’s where summer temperatures can reach In the late 1990s, a new spate of
central desert where their last wild relative nearly 50ºC, where there is no surface poaching drastically reduced the herd,
had been killed. water, and where rainfall is minimal and threatening to wipe it out again, as oryx
The animals initially lived in a small sporadic. ‘Its short, brilliantly white fur were caught alive and sold to private
reflects sunlight to pre- collectors abroad. The Project responded
vent absorbing heat, but by removing 39 of the remaining wild oryx
stands up in the winter to enclosures, and strengthened anti-
to reveal heat-absorbing poaching operations and legislation.
black skin,’ he says. Despite this setback, Spalton and his
‘And its large, splayed colleagues in Oman remain positive. ‘We
hooves allow it to dig have now experienced poaching that is
depressions in the sand common to many similar projects around
in which it lies, trans- the world and we hope to come through
ferring excess body with many lessons learnt,’ he says. ‘The
heat to the ground herd is now more than 100 strong in the
and minimizing expo- enclosure, and we are reintroducing young
sure to drying winds.’ Its bulls to the wild to join an estimated
hooves are also des- surviving population of 120. And we plan to
igned for migrating dis- release some more females once all signs
tances of up to about of poaching have disappeared.’
400 kilometres across While the population is recovering in
sandy terrain, as the Oman, two herds have been released into
animals follow the veg- the wild in Saudi Arabia, one in the Uruq
etation that quickly Bani Ma’arid protected area, the other into a
Kerstin Howard springs up after rain. fenced zone within the Mahazat as-Sayd
enclosure to acclimatize to their new Most remarkably, says Spalton, the oryx reserve. The Omani sanctuary, meanwhile,
environment, but the first group was doesn’t need to drink to survive – fortunate, continues to carry out its mission, and is
released in 1982, and thrived. In 1994 since it has been seven years since it last putting increasing emphasis on benefiting
the Government of Oman established the rained in the Jidda’. The plants it eats the local community by encouraging eco-
Arabian Oryx Sanctuary – about 25,000 contain most of the moisture it needs. But, tourists to come to learn about what
square kilometers of the Jidda’ – which was like the 250 species of plants that thrive in Spalton calls ‘this remarkable animal, and
promptly declared a UNESCO World Natural the sanctuary, the oryx also relies on fog. On the fragile but fascinatingly rich ecosystem
Heritage site, the region’s first. By 1996 there about 54 days a year the fog forms from that supports it’.
Kerstin Howard
15
There is no life without water. Yet people have De
lhi
made their homes in arid lands since ancient
w
Ne
times, long before modern technology found
nt,
nme
ways of delivering water quickly and easily.
and E nviro
Ironically these modern methods often help cause tains down a gently
cience
desertification. Overpumping water from wells depletes sloping tunnel, often
or S
aquifers, taking the water from them faster than rain – and many kilometres long;
ref
frequent vertical shafts
t
time – can replenish it. Tapping prehistoric water from
en
C
fossil aquifers – such as the massive Nubian Sandstone allow ventilation and
Aquifer System in Libya – is unsustainable because their maintenance.
waters, trapped underground for thousands of years, are
not replaced. As the water fails, vegetation dies, and The method spread east along
the Silk Road to China and west
l Pictures
precious topsoil erodes away.
to Spain – probably thanks to the
r/Stil
Similarly, overirrigating land causes salinization. Moors – and onwards to Mexico,
ake
As the water evaporates it causes a dangerous Peru and northern Chile. It’s a durable
ch
Ei
buildup of salts, making the soil infertile. technology: a 2,700-year-old system still
.
X
and temperatures rise to over 35ºC. The centrepiece of each farmer’s mandala
(mini-plantation) is a water basin which irrigates nine beds arranged in concentric
circles around it. The inner three circles provide the family with fruit and
vegetables, five further beds supply produce for the market, and the outer
environmental buffer zone, which includes a cacti fence, forms a natural barrier
against animals. Trees and palms provide both fruit and shade for the beds, while
the basin is also used to raise fish and waterfowl.
16 TUNZA Vol 4 No 1
Water for thirsty lands
A kul tank, India.
w
Ne ,
ent
nce and E nviron m
ictures
Scie
for
ti ll P
tre
son
en
ti/S
od g
o
il M
H
G
ole
ar
In the Spiti village of Poh, farmers are now also material for collecting the moisture, with the help of the
experimenting by filling a shaded reservoir with snow at World Bank.
the beginning of December. As spring arrives, the snow
thaws at the ideal rate for irrigation. On a smaller scale, Until 1987, the remote fishing village of Chungungo, in
people in the Takhar province of Afghanistan get drinking Chile, relied on trucked-in water. Then polypropylene nets
water by collecting snow in pit reservoirs insulated with were hung up to condense water as fog blows through
a layer of earth. Bamboo pipes channel out the water as them: the droplets run down into gutters and reservoirs,
the snow melts. to be piped into homes. This has provided not just an
independent and reliable drinking water source, but
Regions with neither rain nor snow have long harvested irrigation for crops. Its success has prompted similar
fog and dew. People in South America’s Atacama desert schemes in Peru, Namibia and South Africa.
use piles of stones arranged to minimize evaporation. In
parts of the Middle East, low walls built around vines New technologies inspired by old ones can both solve
ensure that the condensation falls right onto the plants. immediate water crises and take the pressure off
And Bedouins put out rugs and cloths to catch moisture overstressed water sources. Importantly, they are sustainable
from morning fog. – because they simply do not permit the use of more water
than can be naturally replenished. So hope for the future
Water from dew is used to grow melons in China’s arid may lie in the past.
Gansu province, where the cultivated area is covered by
large pieces of gravel which capture condensation, deliver
it to the soil and keep moisture from evaporating. And A cross-section of a qanat
Professor Girija Sharan, a researcher designing
inspection shafts water for
greenhouses for the water-deprived village of cultivation and
Kothara, in Kutch, recently discovered that community use
morning dew provided up to 9 litres a water-bearing
water channel
geological layer
day from a 124-square-metre roof:
he is now researching the best bedrock
D Arctic – have mastered the art of surviving in extreme conditions. And they
have done so by living in harmony with their environment.
Often derided as ‘primitive’ by ‘modern’ affluent people, desert cultures actually have
much to teach the modern world. And, as the stresses on the planet get ever more
severe, their lessons will become ever more urgent and important.
The Bedouin of the Middle East and Northern Africa, for example, migrate from
oasis to oasis to pasture their livestock, allowing each grazed area to recover, and
using their acute understanding of weather patterns to go where new rain has fallen.
Their animals provide food, clothing and even shelter: water-resistant tents
are woven from goats’ hair. Their traditional clothes – usually a long white tunic,
sleeveless cloak and head cloth – both protect their skin from the sun and prevent
dehydration from evaporating sweat.
Aborigines in the dry heart of Australia, similarly, have to be expert in their harsh
environment to survive. They know the roots and trees that yield water, how to
harvest dew, and even get refreshment from water-holding frogs. In the same way,
they can hunt by following the faintest tracks, imitating animal movements and
camouflaging themselves. The Bushmen of the Kalahari desert – who mainly eat
fruits, nuts and roots – also get water from tree trunks and wring it from plants.
On the other side of the world, the Hopi people of the southwestern United
States live in durable and cool specially constructed houses made from stone and
sun-dried mud bricks.
But desert peoples are increasingly threatened, as ‘civilization’ encroaches on
their lands and modern development and lifestyles overtake traditional cultures. We
could be losing their priceless lessons before we can learn them.
us ‘Kel Tinariwen’ – the desert boys. But Ibrahim – does play the shepherd’s flute, Tamashek. But if they enjoy our melodies,
yes, we need to have plenty of experience of which has a lovely sound, like the desert rhythms and sounds, that’s a good start! We
the desert in order to create our music. We wind. And on the new album we have also hope our audiences learn something
like travelling, but the desert is our home experimented a bit with using the tra- about the desert and our culture, and see
and always will be. ditional lute, which we call teherdent. that we’re people just like everybody else,
Maybe in the future we will go back to our trying to do the best we can in difficult
Q What would you say is the essence of the roots more and start using other traditional circumstances.
desert? instruments like the imzad or the tindé
drum. Those instruments are the basis of all Q As people of the Sahara, you have a
A For us the desert is about our family, our our music, and we haven’t forgotten them. unique perspective on its rich and
friends, our people, our customs and our vulnerable ecosystem. What do you think is
way of life. But it’s also about freedom. Q You have always used music to transmit the most important thing for young people
There’s so much space, so much sky. No messages as well as inspire and entertain. to know about the desert environment?
one bothers you. You can drive where you What aspect of your music do you think
want, and just sit under the sky drinking tea, people connect with the most? A When people talk about ‘ecosystem’ it
playing music, cooking food. It’s a calm often seems like something exotic, apart
existence, and we can’t do without it. A Yes, it’s true that we have used music to from them, something they can do without.
transmit messages. But our songs have In the desert, the nomad understands that his
Q Tell us a bit about some of the traditional always been about our own experiences and environment is his life. There’s no separating
instruments you use. those of people we know. In that sense, the two. We were all born nomads, and even
they’re all personal. It’s just that at times, if we now live in houses and towns, we still
A We don’t really play traditional we were living through very hard situations respect the desert, because we know that it
instruments. The point about Tinariwen is influenced by – and influencing – politics. makes us who we are, and in the end, it is
that we made the leap from traditional to We were singing about our destiny, and what we will return to. It’s also very
modern instruments. The guitar has always about the lessons we had to learn in order to important for youth to appreciate that all the
been our main instrument, and in the desert, face up to the reality of what was going on things modern life offers, like electricity,
there are plenty of people who just call our around us. When we tour internationally, cars, CD players and the Internet, are very
music ‘guitar’. Sometimes one of us – people don’t understand our language, fragile. Who knows how long they will last?
Music... f ro m e m p t y s p a c e s
Deserts & Drylands 19
Droughts
in the
driest places
The links between
global warming
and desertification
are not obvious and
work both ways
uman civilization may owe much to the interplay between
The link works the other way too. Desertification can help
change the climate – though, again, this is a complicated
process and far from the main cause. As grass and trees
disappear the soil dries out and this may increase air
temperatures. And the loss of vegetation removes one of the
main buffers against climate change since, as plants grow, they
remove carbon dioxide – the main cause of global warming –
from the air. But burning coal, gas and oil – and cutting down and
burning rainforests – are much bigger causes of the rising levels
of the gas in the atmosphere.
K. Lane/UNEP/Topham
T. Dressler/UNEP/Topham
frica’s Kalahari desert – already much larger than California As they get stronger they will start picking up sand and blowing
Scientists say that climate change will stir up the desert’s giant Professor David Thomas – who has been studying the desert for
dune fields, and send them marching over much of South Africa, 20 years – says that the effects will be ‘drastic’. He adds: ‘These
Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zimbabwe and Zambia. landscapes are potentially very dynamic and they can kick in with
a form of activity that is rather hostile to farming. The Kalahari is
Around 10,000 to 20,000 years ago the dunes – made of sand a large area supporting a reasonably big rural population that
created by the crumbling of soft rock in the area – stopped lives by farming. It is these people who are vulnerable to their
roaming around Southern Africa and settled down. They environment becoming a rather more hostile, active, dune land-
stabilized, and plant life grew on them, anchoring them in one scape than it is today.’
place. But this, it seems, is about to change. Researchers at
Oxford University in the United Kingdom have found that as wind He urges local governments and aid donors not to make things
speeds in the area accelerate, the sands will start moving again. worse. But present policies and projects are enormously boosting
At present the winds are relatively light, but climate change is the number of cattle in the area, threatening to turn already arid
expected to increase them. land into yet more desert.
Desert diversity
Gila woodpecker Wild Bactrian camel Triops
John Cancalosi/Still Pictures
Tim B. Graham/USGS
This native of the Sonoran desert in the At over 2 metres tall, the wild Bactrian camel Magically appearing in post-rainfall pud-
southwestern United States chisels a nest of northwest China and Mongolia can drink dles, these tiny crustaceans live in the
into the cool, moist saguaro – a distinctive, up to 135 litres of water daily, allowing it deserts of nearly every continent on Earth.
slow-growing, tree-size cactus – to protect to walk up to 160 kilometres without a drink Their lifespan typically lasts 20 to 40 days,
its young. The woodpeckers only use these as it migrates among feeding areas. Though during which they hatch, feed, and lay eggs
nests for a year, but the abandoned holes the Bactrian camel has been domesticated that stay dehydrated in suspended ani-
provide useful habitats for creatures such as for millennia, its wild cousin is critically mation – for years, if necessary – until the
lizards, insects and other birds. endangered, and fewer than 1,000 survive. next rain starts the process all over again.
Deserts & Drylands 21
Middle East
Deep in the desert of Jordan, the lost city of Petra
has been carved into the living rock. Homes,
banqueting halls and great temples were
chiselled by hand into sandstone cliffs by the
Nabataeans, one of the most civilized peoples
Asia
For most of the year the Rann of Kutch in India
is a searingly hot, inhospitable lowland desert.
But for four months this part of the Thar desert
– spanning over 20,000 square kilometres of the
Arabian Sea coast along the Indo-Pakistan
Klein/Still Pictures
22 TUNZA Vol 4 No 1
Antarctica
There could hardly be a less promising place to
find life: for 25 million years Lake Vostok has
been buried under 4 kilometres of ice at the
coldest recorded spot in the white desert of
7 regions
South America
Where the world’s driest desert meets its longest
mountain range lies one of the most extraor-
dinary places on Earth. The Valle de la Luna,
squeezed between the Atacama desert and
Dibartolo/UNEP/Topham
7 deserts
chlorate, borate and clay – into strange shapes,
including gnarled and twisted sculptures, small
sharply crested hills and massive dunes.