Author Archives: David Bainbridge

About David Bainbridge

David A. Bainbridge is an esteemed ecologist, author, teacher, and historian. His areas of expertise are desert restoration, sustainable agriculture, ecological economics, and more. With over 50 years of experience and a prolific output of over 300 articles, many books and book chapters, David Bainbridge continues to pioneer in the field of sustainability.

The Promise of Olla Irrigation

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Efficient traditional methods of irrigation that could be of great use on small and medium sized farms and gardens were not well studied or publicized until recently. The olla (buried clay pot or pitcher) method of irrigation is one of the most efficient systems known and is ideal for gardeners and small farmers and can be used in a patio container.[1] I first learned about it in a Chinese agricultural text from 2000 years ago. Olla irrigation uses a buried, unglazed clay pot filled with water to provide controlled irrigation to plants as the water seeps out through the clay … Continue reading →

أنظمة ري عالية الكفاءة للحدائق المنزلية والشجيرات والأشجار

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إن العديد من الأسر والمجتمعات وحتى البلدان معرضة للخطر بسبب التغير المناخي الذي يتسبب في حدوث موجات من الجفاف والفيضانات الحادة والشديدة، حيث أن إمدادات المياه محدودة في الكثير من المناطق وتكاليفها أيضاُ آخذة بالارتفاع. لذا فإنه بإمكان أنظمة الري تحقيق أكبر استفادة من إمدادات المياه المحدودة. على مدى ما يقارب الاربعون عاماً قمت بتجارب وتعديل استراتيجيات لإنشاء مصانع في صحارى سونوران وموجافي شمال أمريكا، حيث يصل معدل هطول الامطار الى 7.5 سم في العام الجيد، حيث تكون هذه الانظمة مفيدة للحدائق المنزلية وزراعة الشجيرات والأشجار في الأراضي القاحلة. بدأت السعي بهذا الموضوع في الثمانينات، عنجما بدأت البحث حول العالم … Continue reading →

النطاق الواسع للتحدي في إعادة تأهيل البادية

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البادية هي عبارة عن منطقة صحراوية تغطي ما مساحته 500000 كيلومتر مربع أي ما يقارب (200000 ميل مربع) من أراضي الشرق الاوسط، بما فيها سوريا والاردن والسعودية والعراق. تمثل 85% من مساحة الاردن و55% من مساحة سوريا. وجنوباً فانها تندمج مع أراضي الصحراء العربية. للأسف فإن أجزاءً كبيرة من هذه البادية تدهورت بشكل كبير وشديد بسبب سوء الاستخدام البشري والتاريخي على مدى العصور، حيث تم قطع الاشجار واستخدامها بالبناء وتصنيع الحطب وصنع الفحم والى ما ذلك. هذا الاستخدام بالإضافة للرعي الجائر من الابل والماعز والاغنام على مدى القرون جعل الارض قاحلة في الكثير من المناطق وأدى ذلك الى تسريع وتيرة … Continue reading →

Ratam as Food and Fuel: An Overview

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If you set out to design a shrub for the desert you wouldn’t be amiss in choosing ratam as a model. The desert environment has selected for plant characteristics that are ideally suited to meet the challenge of the driest lands. Water To make the most of rare rain events ratam can grow quickly when water is available. Shrubs can reach 3 meters in height and 6 m in spread. Roots can grow to considerable depth to reach soil moisture or groundwater. Roots have to grow fast to keep up with the drying front as the soil dries down after … Continue reading →

High Efficiency Irrigation Systems for Home Gardens, Shrubs and Trees

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Climate change is bringing longer and more severe droughts and floods. Water supplies are limited in many areas and water costs are rising. Many families, communities and even countries are at risk. More efficient irrigation systems can make the most of limited water supplies. Over the last 40 years I have been testing and refining strategies for plant establishment in the Sonoran and Mojave deserts of North America with rainfall as low as 7.5 cm in a good year. Many of these systems can prove useful for home gardens, and growing shrubs and trees in arid lands. My quest began … Continue reading →

Go Big! The Challenge of Large Scale Restoration of the Badiya

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The badiya[i] is a region of desert, semi-desert and steppe covering 500,000 square kilometers (200,000 square miles) of the Middle East, including parts of Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq.[ii] It accounts for 85% of the land area of Jordan[iii] and 55% of Syria.[iv] To the south it borders and merges into the Arabian Desert.[v] Much of the Badiya has become severely degraded by historic misuse over hundreds of years.[vi] Trees were cut and used for buildings, but more intensively for firewood and making charcoal. This pressure and centuries of overgrazing by herds of thousands of camels, goats, and sheep … Continue reading →