{"id":51457,"key":"Reforestation_via_percolation_pits","title":"Reforestation via percolation pits","latest":{"id":1210792,"timestamp":"2025-11-28T12:28:32Z"},"content_model":"wikitext","license":{"url":"https://www.appropedia.org/Appropedia:Copyrights","title":"CC-BY-SA-4.0"},"source":"A percolation pit, in its most low-tech form, is a simple hole dug into the ground. It facilitates [[groundwater recharge]] through infiltration of [[Reducing runoff|surface runoff]] into the soil or rock.\n\nDifferences to [[CCAT trench swales|contour trenches]]:\n\n* Better water storage capability due to greater depth.\n* Better stability due to the circular walls, allows for application on steeper slopes than are recommended for contour trenches.<ref name=\"create_river\">{{cite web|last1=Chicu|first1=Lokgariwar|last2=Bharti|first2=Sacchidanand|title=A village creates magic…and a river!|url=http://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/village-creates-magicand-river|date=April 30, 2013|accessdate=January 20, 2014}}</ref>\n\nFor achieving a significant effect, several pits are placed across an area and are planted with appropriate plant species. Applied on a sufficient scale, this method can trigger reforestation – reviving perennial streams and creating springs along the way. In contrast to conventional reforestation, this does not involve planting a forest tree by tree; it merely helps nature across a threshold it can not (quickly enough) pass on its own.\n\nThe method was developed by Sachidanand Bhart. He adapted the old habit in his native region in the Himalayas of building a chal/khal – a 6-8m wide hole to conserve rain water for use in summers for fodder and animals – to the demands of reforestation around his home village.<ref name=\"amazing\">{{cite web|title=Hills that catch water!|series=Amazing Indians Season II|publisher=The Times of India|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20121102092210/http://www.timesnow.tv:80/Hills-that-catch-water/videoshow/4411999.cms|accessdate=January 22, 2014}}</ref>\n\n== Field of application ==\n\nReforestation with percolation pits lends itself particularly well to steep terrain above human dwellings in a climate with irregular patterns of precipitation, where it increases water retention and reduces [[erosion]]. At the level of the dwellings, the gained groundwater can be utilised by complementing the system with larger [[Retention basin|retention basins]] and [[irrigation]] canals.<ref name=\"profile\">{{cite web|last1=Ashoka|title=Sachidanand Bharati|url=https://www.ashoka.org/fellow/sachidanand-bharati|date=1998|accessdate=January 20, 2014}}</ref>\n\nAlthough the only publicised deployment appears to be in the Himalayas, the method should be adaptable to other areas – provided that the thickness of the soil and sediment layer is sufficient to dig holes.\n\nWorldwide, there really is no shortage of hills and mountains suffering from runoff and erosion. Reestablishing forests as far upstream as possible is a smart thing to do; they will more easily spread downward than vice versa. All ecosystems located downstream will benefit from improved water supply and reduced peak water-levels during floods.\n\n== Implementation ==\n\n=== Dimensions and layout ===\n\nPits are placed on the slopes, not along the drain lines that are moist anyway.<ref name=\"create_river\" />Starting with small 30 cm deep ones dug two meters apart just below the ridge,<ref name=\"profile\" />sizes increase up to about 1.25 m in depth and diameter further downward<ref name=\"create_river\" />– with distances increasing as well.\n\nPictures and videos linked below in the [[#References|References]] and [[#External links|External links]] sections give a good impression of the layout.\n\n=== Plants ===\n\nPlanting grass immediately downhill of the pits secures their edges and prevents soil from being washed away.<ref name=\"create_river\" /> That grass can be harvested as fodder,<ref name=\"own_words\">{{cite web|last1=Chicu|first1=Lokgariwar|last2=Bharti|first2=Sacchidanand|title=Sacchidanand Bharti - in his own words|url=http://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/sacchidanand-bharti-his-own-words|date=July 15, 2013|accessdate=January 20, 2014}}</ref> regularly cutting it will also keep the sod dense and less prone to erosion.\n\n[[:Category:Trees|Trees]] planted around the edges will benefit from water retained by the pit and in turn provide shade, stabilise the soil and increase its capacity to absorb water. Thereby, trees and the pit develop a mutually beneficial relationship.<ref name=\"create_river\" /> Tree species selected should be adapted to the climate, i.e. usually local ones. Broad leaved trees are great for providing shade,<ref name=\"own_words\" />fruit and nut trees can be chosen to grow a [[Food forests|food forest]].\n\nThese at first distinct islands of vegetation will form the initial nuclei, more and more plants will \"crystallize\" around them until they merge and form a continuous ground cover.\n\n=== Community support ===\n\nTo highlight the importance of community support and of keeping external stakeholders out of the game, a few quotes from Sachidanand Bhart:\n\n{{Quote|Implementation isn't that difficult but getting the support of the\nvillagers to sustain this effort, is hard.<ref name=\"create_river\" />}}\n\n{{Quote|The reason it has succeeded is simple. Education. No, not schools and\nrelated education but education of the people. Creating awareness among\nthem and making them understand the benefits.<ref name=\"create_river\" />}}\n\n{{Quote|Also, they knew I had nothing to gain. I was not getting paid for this.\nThis made it easier for them to trust me and to believe that I only had\ntheir interests at heart.<ref name=\"create_river\" />}}\n\n{{Quote|[...] I refused as I thought that if a flood of money comes in, then\nour work will be washed away. The World Bank official sent a reply saying that\nafter meeting you, I realised the India is the land of Gautam Buddha and of\nGandhi.<ref name=\"own_words\" />}}\n\n{{Quote|Our work was based on people's hard work and a responsibility towards their forest. If money comes in, the feeling of responsibility would be lost.<ref name=\"hindu\" />}}\n\nLocal autonomy with regard to land use and water management is crucial. Once these rights are in dispute, people will not engage in such a long-term project.<ref name=\"sisyphus\">{{cite web|last1=Peoples' Science Institute|title=Sisyphean Labours – Domestic Water Supply In The Central-Western Himalayas|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20181221044417/http://www.indiawaterportal.org:80/sites/indiawaterportal.org/files/Sisyphean%20Labours.pdf|date=2003|accessdate=January 21, 2014|pages=31f|edition=draft}}</ref>\n\n== Case study ==\n\nThe method was developed and deployed in the Himalayas in and around the village Ufrenkhal (also Ufrain Khal,<ref name=\"dead_rock\">{{cite web|last1=ashis|title=From dead rock, the trees return: The quiet work of one person, who has pioneered a village movement to restore and revive the forests and water bodies of the Himalayas|url=http://www.indiawaterportal.org/news/dead-rock-trees-return-quiet-work-one-person-who-has-pioneered-village-movement-restore-and|date=February 5, 2010|accessdate=January 20, 2014}}</ref> Ufreikhal,<ref name=\"profile\" /> Uffrain Khal<ref name=\"hindu\">{{cite web|last=Kaur|first=Ravleen|title=A people's forest|url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/article2562120.ece|publisher=The Hindu|date=October 22, 2011|accessdate=January 21, 2014}}</ref> or Ufrainkhal [https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/342111581 OpenStreetMaps]) in the Pauri Garhwal district of the Indian state Uttarakhand.\n\n=== Conditions ===\n\nThe village lies at an altitude of around 1900 m and receives a generous 1300 mm of rain annually,<ref name=\"own_words\" />although not regularly distributed over time.<ref name=\"harvest\">{{cite web|last=Lokgariwar|first=Chicu|title=Breaking a centuries-old curse in Uttarakhand Central-Western Himalayas|url=http://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/rainwater-harvesting-uttarakhand|date=July 9, 2013|accessdate=January 21, 2014}}</ref>\n\nOnce an abundant source of timber, the region's riches were exported on a large scale since the 1960s,<ref name=\"dead_rock\" /> leaving a harsh terrain with scarce natural resources.<ref name=\"celebrating\">{{cite web|last1=Pahari|first1=Ramesh|last2=Bharti|first2=Sacchidanand|last3=Upreti|first3=Prabhat|last4=Bhist,|first4=Puran|last5=Pathak|first5=Shekhar|title=Celebrating Uttarakhand|url=http://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/celebrating-uttarakhand|date=June 17, 2013|accessdate=January 20, 2014}}</ref> If any, government-planted pine forests are prevalent. Their roots, however, do not excel in preventing erosion and the pines easily catch fire.<ref name=\"own_words\" /><ref name=\"hindu\" />\n\n=== Scale and time frame ===\n\nAs of 2013, digging and planting started 35 years ago,<ref name=\"create_river\" /> How many pits were dug is not all too clear, numbers given vary between 5,000<ref name=\"own_words\" />and 20,000.<ref name=\"hindu\" />\n\n=== Results ===\n\nThe villagers have created \"the best and thickest forests in the state\",<ref name=\"dead_rock\" />thereby revived a perennial stream discharging 3 litres per minute near its source, along with countless springs. The water is used for irrigation and for drinking.<ref name=\"create_river\" />\n\nOver 40 villages adopted the method.<ref name=\"create_river\" /> Especially women are benefiting since it is mostly them managing home and fields while men are absent working in the plains.<ref name=\"dead_rock\" /> Thanks to their lush forests, there is no need for them to collect firewood in other villages' forests any more.<ref name=\"hindu\" />\n\n== See also ==\n\n* [[Groundwater recharge]]\n* [[Reducing runoff]]\n* [[Swales]]\n\n== References ==\n\n<references />\n\n== External links ==\n\n* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/indiawaterportal/sets/72157633198803811/ Photos] of the Project in Ufrenkhal.\n* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHwg3Jk3HQU Preview of the TV report] for ''Amazing Indians'' by Times Now.\n* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121102092210/http://www.timesnow.tv:80/Hills-that-catch-water/videoshow/4411999.cms Full TV report] for ''Amazing Indians'' by Times Now.\n* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE98f6brYKM&t=10m28s Video] of a project visit.\n* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkFIPkl-6JM TV report] from 2008 by NDTV India (Hindi).\n\n{{Page data\n| license = CC-BY-SA-3.0\n}}\n\n[[Category:Groundwater recharge]]\n[[Category:Irrigation]]\n[[Category:Forestry]]"}