Greening of Desert Project for the Arabian Peninsula - Inside the Largest Environmental Project in History with Michal Kravcik, Chairman of People and

The Arabian Peninsula: Strategically placed at the crossroads of three continents, this is the land that that is figuratively both an island and a bridge. As governments in the region are looking at the population projections and the limited available agricultural land – only about 20 percent of the Middle East is arable – they teamed up with international experts to introduce new strains and new crops to meet new demands in the spirit of "new economy"

Did you know that the AlRub AlKhali or Empty Quarter, the great desert of the Arabian Peninsula, is the world largest sand desert? There is more sand in the Empty Quarter, both in surface areas and volume, than any other place on Earth. Although the Sahara is world best known desert, it is actually only 10 percent sand, with the remainder made up of rock, scrub and mountainous terrain.

Here sand temperatures can reach 80 C. A massive, trackless expanse of shifting sand dunes, covering an area of more than 250.000 square miles, or 650.000 square kilometers, and extends to 1.200 by 500 kilometers. As one of the driest places on earth, most of it consists of massive rolling sand dunes, but to the west there is gravel plains that rise towards the mountains of the Yemen. The sandy and stormy eastern part is the richest in petroleum and minerals. The Empy quarter is bordering on Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Republic of Yemen, Sultanate of Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.

The origin of the term "Empty Quarter" is almost as mysterious as the place itself. " The name is a direct translation from the Arabic Rub al-Khali, but where that expression comes from is not clear. Some say from a book by the Arab seafarer Ibn Majid. Others say that the name came from early European explorers who probed the area over many centuries, or because its lands cover a quarter of the Arabian Peninsula.

This vast sea of sand, covering more than 650.000 square kilometers is bigger than France, Belgium and Holland combined and aside from the polar ice caps, one of the most forbidding environments on the planet.

Empty Quarter is also the site of the largest environmental project in history.

The pre – project visions includes

Vegetation growth on the vast desert expanses of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, shall be encouraged by providing water acquired by atmospheric water harvesting

New and relatively cheap technology of sea water desalination based on solar energy utilization;

New technology of urban waste water reclamation. Soil fertility improvements will be achieved by supporting the natural processes of vegetation development, especially by the natural sequence of universal landscape components using a wide diversity of plants and animals.

Climate moderation and improved water circulation is foreseen as well due to evaporative cooling.

Programs will take into account the social, financial and biological ramifications of technologies, changes and suggested practices.

Introductory phase of the project shall involve preparation and implementation of measures aimed at small water cycle renewal, increase of vegetation cover and cooling of selected pilot regions and watersheds of Saudi Arabia. During consolidation phase renewal and saturation of small water cycle shall be promoted in all significant regions and watersheds of Saudi Arabia.

Project Core Team includes worldwide acknowledged experts who are pioneers of the new view of dynamism in comprehensive system studies such as soil – nutrients – water – vegetation – energy – climate. Each of the individual team members provides a unique and mutually complementary expertise and technology. The approach of each of the partners is based on mimicking and recovering the functioning natural processes and systems as well as holistic and sustainable management. The combination of wisdom and experience these team members shall bring together synergistically represents a completely new quality in revitalization of deserts.

Says Mr. Michal Kravcik, Chairman of Slovak NGO People and Water: "Humanity, through deforestation, agriculture and urbanization accelerates the runoff of rainwater and drains the land. "Hot plates" humans create breakdowns in the stable water cycle, rise in climatic extremes, more frequent flooding, longer droughts, extreme heats, forest fires, drop in groundwater reserves, decrease in soil fertility and biodiversity. However, the impact can go in both directions.

The part of climatic change, which is the result of human draining of a land, can be stopped and renewal of a healthy water cycle achieved by comprehensive program of rainwater harvesting, conservation, infiltration and evaporation, interview.

Q: The Green Desert Project is thought to be the largest environmental project in history. Would you like to introduce it?
Michal Kravcik: There is evidence that the Arabian Peninsula - once upon the time - used to be a green place, abundant water springs, flowing rivers, regular rains and an ecosystems full of life. The question - why it has become an inhospitable desert is justified. We also possess knowledge how small water cycles break down and how decreased rainfall trends look in the long run, or how increasingly sporadic and irregular is the occurrence of rains.

It is fair to question whether or not the process of degradation of water cycle on the world`s continents has the character of natural changes or it is consequence of human actions. The knowledge of time and spatial changes in the distribution of rainfalls and changes in the hydrologic regime in the river basins in Central Europe, for example, reveal that this change is caused by man. And it is due to the degenerative process that water decreases into small water cycles.

It is also logical to assume that there must be an opposite process, i.e. the revitalizing process or the increase of water in small water cycles in arid regions of the world. Based on this knowledge, we propose to carry out changes in the structures of the landscapes in waterless regions throughout the world that could - in the long run - increase the balance of sweet or drinking water in small water cycles. As result, this could restore the landscape all the way down to the level of original water cycles. And even lands - now dried and yellow - may change and become green and fertile abundant with streams water and life.

However, this effort is not yet known to our present civilization and is considered - utopian. Therefore, I think, it is absolutely a must that this gigantic ecological project in the history of mankind should be carried out without any strings attached - if our civilization wishes to avoid its collapse. It calls for a radical change and re-thinking which is a far more complicated process than the building of the Tower of Babylon, for example.

Q: The pre-vision project foresees vegetation growth on the vast desert expanse of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Why the greening of the desert is of importance and why the location is the Arabian Peninsula – the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?
Michal Kravcik: We require knowledge how to revitalize devastated landscapes and therefore my team thinks that the Arabian Peninsula is the best place where this can be realized. This place offers ideal conditions for proof, i.e. that within 40 years rains would return and become regular occurrence and that the Peninsula would become green again and its springs, brooks and rivers would carry abundant water throughout the year.

In addition to our vision, there is also prophesy in the Holy Quran, laid down by Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), which says "when the whole world would be wincing with pains in convulsions, Arabia would green". Should we have the chance to show that it works, the world would recognize that the idea to employ natural resources in order to restore continuity, as realistic, feasible and "works" at some place in the world. From this point there are no limitations as to the sites, even the most barren places can be considered.

But inspired by the message of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), we plan to do it in the Arabian peninsula.

Q: Would you like to share how the project idea came about?
Michal Kravcik: In 2007, the book "New Water Paradigm" was published and this book was also read by Arabs living in Slovakia. They contacted us, and we formed a team of experts from the world over, who share the same views as far as climate revitalization by water is concerned, and they in turn joined the project.

The project we begun to design is so huge that it requires an equal amount of enormous patience, nobility of mind as well as determination "to do good" for the greater good. At the moment, we agreed with our partners to suspend the work. The main reason is, that this project should not be viewed by few persons only. It should be viewed as an collective effort by the people who are also policy makes. Because the project is built on clean and healthy water; and such project should be "materialized" only in environment for which the same is true.

Q: How do you plan to go about?
Michal Kravcik: My wife commented the other day that when a man is ahead of time, he or she should wait quietly in the corner and wait for others to arrive to the same level of knowledge. For this very reason, I was misunderstood for the past 15 years or so – and away from the main stream science during which I detailed the whole concept of climate revitalization which in turn lead to the book "New Water Paradigm".

As far as the project is concerned, at present, we focus on spreading the idea and vision. But let me tell you that it is not all that easy, because we ended up right in the middle of the "main stream. We want to draw people’s attention to an solution which - in reality could put an end to the problems of hunger, poverty, diseases and stop the climate changes all over the world.

Currently, the whole project idea is in the phase of an "idea" awaiting to be materialized.

Q: Would you like to explain the approach and technologies?
Michal Kravcik: The techniques and technologies currently used for protection, employment and acquiring of water resources are based on the principles of extraction as raw material. However, the metaphysics considers water as renewable resource. It also says that man should not interfere in natural water cycle.

Let me put it bluntly, our contemporary civilization does not understand the relationships and integrity of water well.

The relationship between water that we have literally under our feet and what which falls from the sky in form of the rain - is not well understood. Water falling from the sky as rain is dependent on water which evaporates from the surface of earth. All of us on this Planet Earth have not understood this phenomenon well. All we do, is to get rid of rainwater.

This results in less water returning to the "sky" from evaporation. If we continue doing this - for much longer, for example 100 years, we shall literally empty the small water cycles on the continents and as results, the rainfall will stop.

The solution is at hand, namely, keep your rainwater on land in your country!

Q: Which technologies are of importance and are of interest?
Michal Kravcik: All the technologies that can keep every single drop of rainwater on land are of importance and interest. In addition, we will have to develop mechanisms that can create conditions for massive collection of rainwater.

Q: What are the response – let say from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and with whom are you cooperating there?
Michal Kravcik: So far the project idea has not yet reached the decision – makers.

Q: Would you like to introduce your team, sponsors…?
Michal Kravcik: Our team includes experts from the USA, Germany, England, Australia, the Czech Republic and naturally from Slovakia. We are selecting also commercial partner, potential investors and sponsors. In addition, we have worked out several economic models for the accomplishment of the project.

Q: Who can participate and or join?
Michal Kravcik: Some from my team are still working on this. We did not meet any suitable commercial partners – as yet. At the moment, we are searching for investors who would be patient, humble, and fully aware of the importance, size and need for urgent help for the Planet Earth and would have a sense of nobility to invest in such undertaking.