The team proposed solutions to grow forests in arid lands by making the soil arable. They would conduct an experiment with 7 plots testing different soil treatments (cellulose paste, LNC technology) and monitoring systems (GIS, remote sensing, smart irrigation). The main solutions were: 1) using cellulose paste to increase soil quality; 2) applying LNC technology to enrich soil nutrients; 3) planting bamboo which grows well in varied climates and stores carbon; 4) implementing smart irrigation, GIS and remote sensing to monitor forests remotely and control watering.

1. Team Green
Cover
Team Lead: Mehak Batra
Members: AudreyT, Jatin S, Felix Z
Mentor: Ms. Aditi Dubey

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Problem:
The problem we tried to solve was monitoring
and conservation of rainforest. Forest
degradation, deforestation, climate change and
shortage of arable lands are major threat in
conserving rainforest. We holistically looked
these issues and produced the following
problems that we want to tackle:
1. Low quality soil
2. Barren land
3. Deforestation
4. Carbon footprints
5. Ineffectiveness in monitoring rainforest
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The Middle East
Background
» In the middle east, less than 5% of the land is arable in 2/3rd of the countries.
» Most Middle Eastern and North African countries are arid and contain or are surrounded by, large desert regions.
» >80% of the region is desert (receives <25 cm of rainfall a year)
» Arabian Desert → extension of the Sahara Desert over the Arabian peninsula
mainly dry, areas get approximately 100 mm of rain in a year
» Climate:
→ temperatures in the summer reaching as high as 55 C in places
→ minimum temperature recorded at -12C in the winter
» Mechanical weathering physically breaks down coarse particles into finer grains (most significant process in the
formation of desert surface)
 quartz sand abounds (covering more than a third of the desert surface)
 granular debris from the Precambrian crystalline basement forms pebbly fans about the bases of hills
 silt flats:
- soil has proven to be fertile → irrigated silt flats are farmed
-derived from crystalline rocks of high mineral content
 salt flats → too salty for crops
- can be cultivated if irrigated & drained correctly
 desert dune sands : usually dry, can hold rainfall to depths of 3ft (1m) → nourishes xerophytes (arid plants)

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Bamboo forest
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Background(continued…)
» Bamboo has extensive root systems that bind soil and prevent water runoff
» More countries are planting bamboo on dry and degraded soil
» Over a period, bamboo plants and harvested products can store or avoid 1.7 times more carbon than certain types of trees
» Can be harvested more frequently and made into a wide range of durable goods
» Grows in tropical and subtropical forests
» Integral to the conservation of important ecosystems
» Provides sustainable supplies of biomass for energy production without compromising food security or unduly affecting the
wider landscape
» Two types of bamboo → defined by the growth habits of their rhizomes
clumping bamboo: well mannered. Its rhizomes grow in an enlarging circle but stay close to the parent plant, so
the spread is steady but slow
running bamboo: habit of quickly spreading its woody rhizomes out and away from the parent plant, sending its
shoots up through lawns and garden beds. Running rhizomes spread indefinitely : only stopped by heavy physical
barrier or some ravenous pandas can slow their growth
» Clonal plant: often able to recover more rapidly than trees
» Withstand dry seasons better than trees

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Hypothesis
We hypothesized that we can effectively grow and maintain
sustainable forests in the following way: using CMC, LNC to
make the land arable, then growing forests including bamboo
forests on the land, and monitoring them with GIS and
remote sensing system, and smart irrigation system to help
reduce the amount of deserted land. The afforestation will
act as a carbon sink.
These solutions will allow us to grow forests in arid or more
barren conditions and allow us to monitor and
maintain them so that the forests act as carbon sinks in the
long run. We are looking at the problem holistically. We will
look at the monitoring and regrowing part together. The
cellulose paste will convert sand to soil which all allow us to
use a larger proportion of land which will help vegetation
and . Bamboo is one of the best carbon sinks so bamboo will
be one of the few plants grown which will help to reduce the
carbon footprint. To ensure the new and the existing forest
are grown in a proper way without any threats like insects and
fire etc, Remote sensing and GIS and smart irrigation system
will be used.
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Methodfordatacollectionand
feedback
For data: our research involved highly technical and chemical solutions
including those involving nanotechnology and remote sensing. Therefore, all the
collected data was secondary. We referred to research papers and online articles
to get data on already conducted trials or the predicted working of a solution.
Our expert: Mr. Bhaskar Sinha is an Associate Professor and Chairperson,
Centre for Climate Change Studies at IIFM, Bhopal
What he shared: He said that our solutions were good, but as an Indian
scientist, it was tougher to predict the efficacy on middle eastern land.
However, he recommended an experimental design involving 4 plots in different
conditions to grow bamboo as elaborated in the coming slides.
He also suggested that for GIS (geographic information system), Remote
sensing, irrigation: the key challenge is the variety in climatic conditions for
different arid lands. So, the solution will work on monitoring the systems
themselves. It will involve deep learning by gathering feedback and data so that
the systems can be altered for the different lands
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Results
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» We decided to design an experiment based on the data we had collected
and the feedback that our expert gave us.
» There are 7 plots in different conditions to grow bamboo trees (since they
are our primary focus).
The first plot is the arid land soil from desert sand without any changes.
The second plot has the arid soil treated with cellulose paste
The third plot has arid soil treated with LNC technology.
The first 3 plots use regular irrigation systems
The fourth plot has GIS, Remote sensing, smart irrigation system and desert
sand.
The fifth plot has GIS, Remote sensing, smart irrigation system and cellulose
paste treated sand
The sixth plot has GIS, Remote sensing, smart irrigation system and LNC
technology treated soil
The last (7th ) plot has GIS, Remote sensing, smart irrigation system and
cellulose paste and LNC.
The experiment can take place over a range of 1-2 years to see the results over different seasons and to check the effectiveness
of the GIS, remote sensing technologies.As a continuation, sand from different regions can be tried as well.

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Solutions
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» Cellulose paste (carboxymethyl cellulose) is an anionic polymer compound prepared by the reaction of natural
cellulose with caustic soda and monochloroacetic acid, with molecular weight ranging from tens of millions to
millions. Moreover, CMC is a water-soluble polymer with a high viscosity that can improve and sustain soil
structure while also increasing cohesion between soil particles.
» The use of CMC increased the cohesion of aeolian sandy soil and improved the shear strength of soil, resulting in
higher water retention and sand fixation, which aided in the ecological restoration of desert areas.
» CMC treatment maintained a high concentration of ammonium nitrogen in the 15 cm surface layer, which
improved soil erosion resistance and promoted crop growth in a study done in Xinjiang, China.
» The results showed that the final cumulative infiltration of CMC-treated soil increased by 8.63–20.72%, and the
infiltration time to reach the preset wetting front depth increased by 1.02–3.96 times. The average soil water
content, desalination rate, and leaching efficiency were increased by 5.18–15.54%, 21.17–57.15%, and 11.61–
30.18%, respectively.
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Solution1:CellulosePaste

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» In just 40 days, a once barren plot of sand in UAE had become littered with ripe, sweet watermelons swelling
under the Arabian sun as per BBC. The nano clay technology reduces water consumption and makes the sand
fertile.
» It envelopes each sand grain perfectly and spreads the clay perfectly in the sand - in one go. Thus, when LNC is
applied the sand turns into a sponge-like fabric that retains moisture/water and thereby holds the nutrients in the
soil much better. Consequently, you need less water for irrigation, and the crop gets more nutrients and grows
better yield. The Mycorrhizal Fungi - vital for any plant - thrives and grows in LNC treated sand.
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Solution2:LiquidNanoClayTechnology

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» It releases 35% more oxygen than an average tree. It also
absorbs up to 5 times more carbon dioxide than other trees.
Bamboo roots help control erosion as it makes a water barrier;
developed countries use bamboo as a defensive component
for their crops and villages
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Solution3:GrowingBamboo
*Our Irrigation and GIS, Remote sensing system might have to be supported with
some temperature control technology as well depending on the experiment’s results
because bamboo typically grows in temperatures ranging from 20 to 25°C

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» System uses soil and weather monitoring, IoT and smart
systems to control irrigation via the internet.
» This smart irrigation system keeps the trees alive and
healthy, and it reduces water intake by 30-50%. The rest
of this water can be used to replenish or maintain other
forests.
» They monitor weather and soil conditions; evaporation
and plant use as well. This system will tailor watering
schedules and run times automatically to meet specific
landscape needs. They can alter the watering run times or
schedules based on the temperatures etc.
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Solution4:SmartIrrigationsystem

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The forest management inventory generalizes complex forest resource attributes into
mapping units useful for forest management.
» Stand species composition
» Density
» Height
» Age
» New attributes such as leaf area index.
Other remote sensing sources such as airborne and satellite digital imagery have been
valuable in updating forest attributes such as disturbance, habitat, and biodiversity.
It provides more frequent information updates.
Remotely sensed data can improve the quality of forest inventory databases, thereby
improving the resource management activities they support.
Brazil satellite monitoring reduced Amazon deforestation by 60,000 sq. km. Hence, we
plan to use this as a tool to monitor rainforest from all sorts of threats.
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Solution5:GeographicalInformationSystem&RemoteSensing

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» https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/agr_outlook-2018-5-
en.pdf?expires=1668872552&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=A596146C790B87BEB22E54329DD92D93
» https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Soil-grain-types-in-the-Middle-East-Note-that-the-majority-of-Iraq-is-comprised-of-silt_fig4_304013363
»
https://www.techsciresearch.com/blog/why-the-future-of-agriculture-lies-in-desert-in-middle-east-region/296.html
» https://ruralsolutionsportal.org/en/-/39585602-18#:~:text=Liquid%20Nano%20Clay%20(LNC)%20as,more%20nutrients%20and%20yields%20improve.
» https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/14/14/2884/htm
» https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-56475-8_8
» https://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/follow-the-food/the-spray-that-turns-deserts-into-farmland.html
» https://cbmjournal.biomedcen
» tral.com/articles/10.1186/s13021-017-0078-9
» https://cbmjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13021-017-0078-9
» https://www.britannica.com/place/Arabian-Desert/Climate
» https://www.hydropoint.com/what-is-smart-irrigation/
» https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/14/14/2884/htm
» https://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/pubwarehouse/pdfs/25816.pdf
» https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214509515300048#:~:text=Bamboo%20development%20reduces%20pollution%3B%20its,and%20vil
lages%20from%20washing%20ceaselessly.
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Sources