Three members of a Cape Verdean association travel to the Canary Islands on Saturday to perfect the technique of “hunting” fog to capture water, a way of trying to counteract the arid climate of the archipelago.
“The members of the Biflores association and the communities of Brava Island already dream of capturing water from the fog. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention,” the association’s director, Dheeraj Jayant, told Lusa.
On an island where rain is very scarce, each drop is precious and there is a tradition of spreading plastic on the slopes, for example, on foggy days, so that the largest drops form larger ones when they come into contact with the droplets suspended in the air. which are then drained into buckets or other deposits.
If conditions are ideal, it is possible to capture up to 400 liters of the atmosphere in a day, Jayant explained.
The trip to the Canary Islands, within the framework of the Iberian Life Nieblas project (which also covers Portugal), will help fog hunters improve their methods and learn about new techniques, such as condensation nets mounted on vertical structures.
The exchange is supported by the French non-governmental organization (NGO) Smilo, dedicated to projects on small islands.
The rugged terrain favors the formation of fog on Isla Brava.
The water harvesting project that will be implemented on the island is due “to the severe drought suffered by” Cape Verdeans and which has mainly affected farmers and the conservation of the island’s endemic species.
This year is an exception, since the rainy season (between July and October) brings precipitation, but the arid climate is an ever-present characteristic of the archipelago, highlighted Dheeraj Jayant.
“The scarcity of water has led many farmers and ranchers to abandon their activities. However, the high areas of Brava meet the two necessary conditions to capture water from the fog: the clouds and the wind,” he said.
The Biflores association aims to “pay tribute to the innovations” of the local population, evolving existing practices.
“Our goal is to use this water for drip irrigation, with the aim of restoring ecosystems and guaranteeing the nutritional security of our island, through agroecology,” highlighted the director.
Jayant is optimistic: he hopes to exceed 400 liters of water on foggy days and store it in tanks, some of which were built by the delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment of Cape Verde.
Although confident in the implementation of the project, the director of Biflores said that the lack of historical data “is a challenge”: there is a lack of long-term “reliable information” to know the climatic conditions of Brava Island.
Additionally, there is uncertainty “about the impacts of climate change on the conditions necessary for capturing fog water.”
“There are also logistical challenges, including the availability of materials and equipment in the Cape Verdean market, transportation from the capital [Praia, ilha de Santiago] to Isla Brava and the difficulty of access to the areas where the structures will be installed,” he stated.
Despite this, the association and the island’s communities are determined to train their fog hunters and overcome obstacles, respecting the ecosystems.
The project can help “in the conservation of the endemic flora of Brava Island”, another of the works of the association, which manages a sustainable grazing project.
The program of activities in the Canary Islands, until November 10, also includes reforestation practices with endemic species, agroecological practices and plant production.
Source: TSF
