The Weather Makers by Blazon Publishing and Media Ltd

Weather Makers are doing is looking at a region as a whole and how its component parts can be connected together to become sustainable, to change the dynamics of its natural processes, to an extent that changes will influence new local weather patterns. It’s a very holistic approach, developing land along with ecosystems and climate. As they say: ‘A healthy climate is all about balanced ecosystems.’ Van der Hoeven, one of the founders of The Weather Makers, is moving forward with a project to regreen the Sinai peninsula, a triangle of land which connects Egypt to Asia, and the Egyptian government is onside. Working for a company called Deme, he was contacted in 2016 by the Egyptian representative from the company, who in turn had been approached by the Egyptian Government to see if it was possible to restore Lake Bardawil. A year later, Van der Hoeven and his colleagues created The Weather Makers, as the catalyst in the form of a company, to make it happen. Van der Hoeven’s ardent belief in the project was matched by his enthusiasm. He told a group of influential people in the Egyptian government, military and academia: “If anybody doubts that the Sinai can be regreened, then you have to understand that landing on the moon was once thought unrealistic. They didn’t lay out a full, detailed

Engineering land, weather and a greener future A group of eco engineers are set on plans to regreen the Sinai and with that, to proactively influence the weather, in an effort to counter climate desolation and create new landscapes, ecosystems and industries along the way. The implications, if successful, are far reaching. By Richard Forsyth

e have come to expect a rhythmic cycle of well used prophecies of doom and gloom from climate scientists. It is refreshing therefore, to hear a signal of hope from an ambitious Dutch company of eco-engineers called The Weather Makers, who are gaining attention for their pioneering work in countering desertification and degraded areas of nature, with the promise of rebalancing ecosystems and further to this, restoring industries and prosperity in the regions that have been impacted. Indeed, there is a link between environment and prosperity, security and peace, this is not just an exercise in climate change but also an exercise in creating sustainable economic revival. The Weather Makers comprises a group of international engineers and scientists. They are working with data from physics, social economics, geology, microbiology, botany, morphology, hydrology, meteorology and human history and they are open to experts who wish to join their ranks. Their goal, put simply, is to regenerate and restore watersheds. Could they be key to putting the brakes on runaway climate change? And not through industry-centric ideas like switching energy sources and changing and reducing industrial processes, but from kickstarting nature back into a balanced cycle, restarting it where it has been dying and heating up the planet as a result.

roadmap when they started, but they had the vision. And step by step they made it happen.” However, today The Weather Makers are indeed laying out defined steps in a plan to make their vision happen. In around twenty years, Van der Hoeven believes, with the work set out by The Weather Makers, they could transform the Sinai desert into a green landscape with rivers, fertile land for farming, and wilderness, which in turn would bring about new weather patterns, including increased precipitation. If the group can regenerate life in the arid wastelands of the Sinai, they can arguably create a template to transform and regreen similar challenged environments. Van der Hoeven, like his colleagues, has sound credentials, he is a morphological engineer and has worked on some large projects like the artificial islands of Dubai. He developed relatively eco-friendly and cost-effective methods of dredging, using sensors to model maritime conditions in real time. He is reimagining how dredging, often perceived as a brutal industry for nature, could become used for opening up clogged arteries and basins in water systems, to stimulate life. The team of thinkers have now set out a clear five step roadmap to regenerate nature in the Sinai.

“If anybody doubts that the Sinai can be regreened, then you have to understand that landing on the moon was once thought unrealistic. They didn’t lay out a full, detailed roadmap when they started, but they had the vision. And step by step they made it happen.”

Regreening the Sinai Regreening is widely seen as an attractive strategy for combating climate change. In areas where desertification is spreading, where high temperatures and lack of rain are making infertile land expand in already desolate regions, innovative and radical thinking looks to transform drylands back into lush and green nature reserves. Regreening is being championed in a number of largescale initiatives around the world. For example, Regreening Africa looks to restore eight countries across Saharan Africa to reverse land degradation across one million hectares. China is regreening on a massive scale, accounting for 25% of the global net increase in leaf area, replanting forests and croplands. India is set to restore 25 million hectares of degraded land by 2030. Regenerating nature and relying on restoration and conservation, for using land to increase carbon storage, is arguably the best and most attractive of solutions to our current climate crisis. Governments recognise more and more that land assumed dead, can be revived, and beyond the implications for saving our environment, opportunities for economies to benefit and flourish can be an attractive consequence. On a surface level it sounds easy but there is more to regreening than planting trees. For nature to grow you need to make the land fertile again and kickstarting that fertility is the battle. What The

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5 steps to transformation

The Sinai project comprises of restoring interconnected areas. The specified steps to accomplish this include:

Restoring the watershed There is a proposed focus on the water cycle of the northern watershed between Lake Bardawil and Gebel Katharina. Water harvesting and growing vegetation will lower temperatures and improve the local climate. There will be regreening in strategically selected locations. The regreening will owe a lot to enhancing evaporation, which although sounds like losing water, it is expected to lead to more water availability, lower temperatures, increased condensation, and improved moisture transport. There is some evidence that thousands of years ago the Sinai was a green environment – ancient cave paintings depict trees and plants for example, which fuels the ambition that the landscape can, with the right science, once again sustain greenery. The end game on a local level is to increase food, fresh water, jobs, peace and sustainability for the local population but the implications for all of us, are that such large-scale 4 greening projects hold the power to become the solution to the biggest challenge Mankind has Regreening the desert Step faced to date, regaining stability of our climate. Access to water is key for regreening. Fog nets will be used at high elevation to harvest fresh water from the air. Hills to the south of Bardawil Lake are 700 metres above sea level and suited for the fog nets. Storing water will mean the construction of dykes and dams with use of the clay-like material from the lake. This will help mitigate flash floods which impact the city of El Arish. Growing vegetation will stimulate industry, help alleviate poverty and increase much needed resources for the local population. A solar driven, natural technology that can be implemented is something called eco machines. An eco machine, in essence, is water flowing from one barrel to another where each barrel has its own ecosystem of algae, plants fungi, worms, insects, fish etc. As the water flows through each of these ponds it becomes cleaner and cleaner. They can clean waste or grow food, depending on the design. For the Sinai project, eco machines would be used to grow plants and produce fresh water. Developed in what amounts to a greenhouse, salt water would feed the machine and fresh water would condense within, that can irrigate plants. Eventually the plants and soil in the greenhouse mature and become self-sustaining. The green house can then be taken away. The premise would be nurturing hundreds of these miniature ecologies. Sediment from Lake Bardawil can be pumped 50km inland and used to feed the network of eco machines. The salt in the sediment initially preserves the nutrients, which is a bonus.

1 Dredging the lake inlets The lagoon, Lake Bardawil on the northern coast of the Sinai, connects to the Mediterranean Sea by two inlets that have a minimal amount of seawater exchange due to sedimentation. It is only 1.5 metres deep (it was once between 20-40 metres deep). Salt levels are extremely high as there is little freshwater and there is high evaporation associated with its shallowness. The fish population has been severely impacted, as has the fishing industry for the region. Restoration of a marine ecosystem and fish population is planned by deepening the inlets and increasing the water exchange with the sea. The dredging could help restore the lake to its former glory, with more tidal activity. In combination with sustainable fishing practices the lake could, over time not only rebuild the marine habitat for many species but also the fishing industry in the area.

3 Recycling sediment from dredging 2 Developing the wetlands With improvements in the lake and the marine ecosystem, the next step is restoring the surrounding wetlands, making it a more attractive stopover for migrating birds. The increased capacity of the lake will have a knock-on effect of rehydrating the lowlands, and make planting of salt-tolerant vegetation possible.

Dredging the inlets as described in the initial step, will mean marine sediments will be available in quantities including sand, silts, clay, peat and sabkhas which can be put to good use. They can be used for fertile soils when regreening, and for structural components such as dams and terraces and coastal reinforcement. One area of research is looking into the growth potential of Lake Bardawil sediments and the potential to desalinate the soils.

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“In around twenty years, Van der Hoeven believes, with the work set out by The Weather Makers, they could transform the Sinai desert into a green landscape with rivers, fertile land for farming, and wilderness, which in turn would bring about new weather patterns, including increased precipitation.”