Life-saving grass
July 12, 2016
Project goal: Prevention of landslides after earthquakes through the planting of broom grass
Implementation: Construction of drainage channels; plantations of pilot broom grass in areas at high risk of landslides in the Nepali districts of Tilahar, Bhatkhola and Sarangkot
Project volume: From 2012 to 2017, the project for pilot plantations will receive 30,000 euros from the International Climate Initiative within the framework of the EPIC-Program (Ecosystems Protecting Infrastructure and Communities)
During the monsoon of July 2015, more than 30 people were buried by landslides in the Nepali region of Kaski. As climate change leads to increasingly powerful rainfall, local people are trying to protect themselves by building walls and drainage channels.
Yet their greatest hope could be a plant known as broom grass. Its roots keep the soil from eroding, helping to store water and prevent landslides. For those living in the ragged Himalayan landscape, this might just be the solution they need.
A film by Wolf Gebhardt