wetlands
Wetlands are areas of land where soil is saturated with water at least part of the year during the growing season. Plants in wetlands and cienegas are adapted to living in soil that has water instead of air in its pore spaces.
Wetlands are one of the most important ecosystems in a watershed because they support a large variety of species and are the basis of many food webs. They also filter sediment and pollutants. With shallow water, wet soils and a high level of nutrients, wetlands provide an ideal ecosystem for many creatures, especially if there is a buffer zone of vegetation between wetlands and other activities such as agriculture, urban development or industry. Communities can moderate flooding, reduce water pollution, and restore wildlife habitat by preserving natural wetlands and installing constructed wetlands.
Watersheds & riparian Zones
Riparian zones provide many environmental and recreational benefits to streams, groundwater and downstream land areas. Groundwater is usually found at shallower depths in riparian zones than in the surrounding landscape. Riparian zones are visually defined by a greenbelt with a characteristic suite of plants that are adapted to and depend on the shallow water table.
The extra moisture in riparian zones and associated wetlands, combined with the abundance of vegetation, creates a mat of decomposing material on top of the soil. It is often damp because the water table is at or near the soil surface. This organic-rich layer aids in conserving moisture. The vegetation and sponge like quality of soils in wetlands, floodplains and riparian zones protect surface water in several ways.
world leaders making a difference through permaculture
Mike Pilarski
Andrew Millison
Mike Pilarski
Michael Pilarski – Founder, Global Earth Repair Foundation & Friends of the Trees Society
Global Earth Repair is about building a grass-roots, locally-managed restoration mass movement to regreen our planet and recarbonize our soil.
Allan Savory
Andrew Millison
Mike Pilarski
Allan Savory initially developed Holistic Management to halt the spread of desertification and the human impoverishment that always resulted. Livestock had long been blamed for creating deserts, but Savory realized it was how those livestock were managed that was the problem, and it was the management that had to change.
John D. Liu
Andrew Millison
Andrew Millison
Ecosystem Restoration Camps is a global, grassroots movement of people that is working to create a more abundant earth.
Filmmaker and ecologist John Liu – why landscape restoration matters and why it needs urgent implementation. Healthy landscapes provide us with food, water, clean air, a stable climate, biodiversity, good health, security and happiness.
Andrew Millison
Andrew Millison
Andrew Millison
Andrew Millison - Founder of Permaculture Design International. He has been designing, building and teaching about Permaculture since he took his first course in 1996. He began his Permaculture career in the deserts of Arizona, where he attended Prescott College and the Ecosa Institute for Ecological Design.