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Jul 28, 2005

"When we heal the earth, we heal ourselves." --David Orr

Working for Water

In 1995, the South African government started a program called Working for Water, in which unemployed people were hired to clear thirsty alien trees from important watersheds around Cape Town. A single eucalyptus consumes up to 100 gallons of water in a day, so removing the trees is like putting water back in the system, allowing rivers that hadn't run in 30, 40 years to run again. The success of the program has spawned similar conservation efforts that not only restore ecosystems, but also provide vocational skills for the unemployed to secure jobs in the private sector.