348
water harvesting represents a potential water source for communities with low
annual rainfall but frequent fog events. Studies and large-scale applications indicate
that the technology is viable and feasible. An interesting case of application for such
technology is the fog harvesting project in an agricultural community of the
Coquimbo region, in Chile, one of the most affected by desertification. That project
give evidence to the value of fog harvesting projects as a community fortification
instrument: fog water is a valuable contribution to drylands and to boost small rural
realities. The agricultural community of Peña Blanca presents a high degraded soil,
due to the extensive cultivation of wheat and the scarcity of rainfall, with prolonged
droughts as a result of climate change. Because of these critical conditions the
majority of the population have emigrated to the nearby center of Ovalle: nowadays
the Comuneros (inhabitants of the agricultural community) that continue to live in
the community are 70.
The Atrapaniebla Comuneros project is a fog harvesting project at community
scale located in the Cerro Grande Ecological Reserve, 100 hectares in the middle of
the desertic coastal zone of Coquimbo region. Thanks to the use of fog collectors
(atrapanieblas), installed in the Cerro Grande reserve in 2006 by the Chilean foundation Un Alto en el Desierto, it was possible to develop a vegetation recovery
process in the area and stimulate the relaunch of Peña Blanca community life. The
success of a fog harvesting project depends on the active and long-term presence of
a local organization and on the participation and training of the community. The
local population of Peña Blanca recognized the “Camanchaca” (local word for fog)
as a beneficial contribution to the coastal arid ecosystem, and a continuous collaboration between the community and the foundation has been in place since 2005.
The intervention of the foundation in origin was aimed at curbing this migration
phenomenon and move towards a local development working with the community
to develop adaptive strategies. To date, the project has three main objectives: regenerate the native vegetation of Cerro Grande to stop the advance of the desert; support the community agricultural/pastoral activities and be a water supply resource
for the population in periods of extreme drought; promote the creation of local trade
through the direct and indirect use of the project. It is worth mentioning the willingness of the foundation Un Alto en el Desierto to transform Cerro Grande into an
open-air classroom on tackling desertification: turning the reserve into a green education site.
Desertification has environmental (climate change, soil degradation), social (need
to sustain human populations in fragile territories), and economic (lack of resources
to adopt environmentally friendly technologies) roots; so that desertification is both
a cause and a consequence of poverty. Fog harvesting, as a source of water in arid
areas, is clearly not a solution to the global problem of desertification, but can trigger
positive mechanisms of local development and community resilience.
Furthermore, fog resource is complementary to rain: precipitation events occur
mainly during the winter months, giving even more value to this unconventional
resource. The water collected by the project (about 600,000 liters per year) serves to
reforest the ecological reserve where the fog catchers are located, is a sustaining
source for the inhabitants of the agricultural community during extreme droughts,
M. Zortea and S. Lucatello
water harvesting represents a potential water source for communities with low
annual rainfall but frequent fog events. Studies and large-scale applications indicate
that the technology is viable and feasible. An interesting case of application for such
technology is the fog harvesting project in an agricultural community of the
Coquimbo region, in Chile, one of the most affected by desertification. That project
give evidence to the value of fog harvesting projects as a community fortification
instrument: fog water is a valuable contribution to drylands and to boost small rural
realities. The agricultural community of Peña Blanca presents a high degraded soil,
due to the extensive cultivation of wheat and the scarcity of rainfall, with prolonged
droughts as a result of climate change. Because of these critical conditions the
majority of the population have emigrated to the nearby center of Ovalle: nowadays
the Comuneros (inhabitants of the agricultural community) that continue to live in
the community are 70.
The Atrapaniebla Comuneros project is a fog harvesting project at community
scale located in the Cerro Grande Ecological Reserve, 100 hectares in the middle of
the desertic coastal zone of Coquimbo region. Thanks to the use of fog collectors
(atrapanieblas), installed in the Cerro Grande reserve in 2006 by the Chilean foundation Un Alto en el Desierto, it was possible to develop a vegetation recovery
process in the area and stimulate the relaunch of Peña Blanca community life. The
success of a fog harvesting project depends on the active and long-term presence of
a local organization and on the participation and training of the community. The
local population of Peña Blanca recognized the “Camanchaca” (local word for fog)
as a beneficial contribution to the coastal arid ecosystem, and a continuous collaboration between the community and the foundation has been in place since 2005.
The intervention of the foundation in origin was aimed at curbing this migration
phenomenon and move towards a local development working with the community
to develop adaptive strategies. To date, the project has three main objectives: regenerate the native vegetation of Cerro Grande to stop the advance of the desert; support the community agricultural/pastoral activities and be a water supply resource
for the population in periods of extreme drought; promote the creation of local trade
through the direct and indirect use of the project. It is worth mentioning the willingness of the foundation Un Alto en el Desierto to transform Cerro Grande into an
open-air classroom on tackling desertification: turning the reserve into a green education site.
Desertification has environmental (climate change, soil degradation), social (need
to sustain human populations in fragile territories), and economic (lack of resources
to adopt environmentally friendly technologies) roots; so that desertification is both
a cause and a consequence of poverty. Fog harvesting, as a source of water in arid
areas, is clearly not a solution to the global problem of desertification, but can trigger
positive mechanisms of local development and community resilience.
Furthermore, fog resource is complementary to rain: precipitation events occur
mainly during the winter months, giving even more value to this unconventional
resource. The water collected by the project (about 600,000 liters per year) serves to
reforest the ecological reserve where the fog catchers are located, is a sustaining
source for the inhabitants of the agricultural community during extreme droughts,
M. Zortea and S. Lucatello