Faith Matters - Repaying the Desert - An Unusual Environmental Project

This unusual project is the brainchild of Agnes von Helmolt. She has led some 60 tours into the Sahara, introducing women and men to the desert experience. However, she’s been troubled by the paradox that in offering people this unique spiritual experience she’s also been inducing them to damage the environment. Flying to Morocco from Germany and driving through the desert in a jeep produces considerable greenhouse gas emissions. The palm grove is von Helmolt’s way of compensating the desert. The enthusiastic response of her desert companions has taken her by surprise. Brahim, a Moroccan Berber who has assisted her on the tours over a number of years, provided 10 hectares of desert property, on which they are planting date palms that will absorb CO2, produce oxygen, and create a micro-climate conducive to growing other fruit and vegetables. So far she has raised enough funds to buy 300 palms, a well, and a water-pump. But Von Helmolt and her German collaborators don’t just want to secure the financing; they’re also contributing some of the physical work. Von Helmolt knows that vague philanthropism is not enough. She has developed a plan-of-action in cooperation with aid workers and agricultural experts. The inclusion of an agricultural biologist on the team gives their work a solid foundation. Their intention is to labor alongside the Berbers, although sharing the life of this desert people is certainly a challenge for today's Europeans. In this report we accompany one of the caravans into the Sahara. The first week is spent in a spiritual encounter with the desert. Then the wanderers exchange their camels for picks and shovels to prepare the ground for planting date palms. As they work, they tell us about their motives, but also about their wider concerns for our planet.