With an extensive involvement with East Timor , now Timor Leste , Darwin agronomist and activist Rob Wesley-Smith has provided part of his extensive photograph collection for a proposed film on the impact of global warming on the nation , following the recent drought which received little coverage in Australian media .
Included here are some of his photographs taken in 2000 showing how water running off the mountainous country caused massive mud flows which reached out into the ocean .
The great swirl in the above view of the foreshore and ocean is mud. Muddy water cascades down a ravine below.
Wesley-Smith says "drought conditions " are part people induced . In Timor Leste , he explains, because of its mountainous terrain , rain rushes off via huge wet season rivers into the sea . In l999 he had seen rivers running red, and in 2000 had taken photos of the sea turning red where rivers converged.
Issues and solutions had been offered since 2000, but not followed up very much
Suggested action included :
* Re-establish tree cover: trees and leaves on the ground break the force
of the rain, encourage it to soak in , where it can emerge later as
springs. This would help avoid floods and provide food and building materials.
* Don’t burn the ground cover off. Plant crops into the ground cover.
* On slopes, dig many swales, preferably of short length, with trees
planted on the edge, arranged along the contour. These would hold water allowing
it to soak in; spilled water could be trapped by more rows of swales down the
slope. Crops especially legumes and beans could be planted to use the trapped
water.
Burning off had been reduced, but he did not feel many swales had been dug. Fish farming could be further developed using the spare water.
Secure storage vessels needed to be developed and used to hold food supplies
to be used in times of stress. Same for seed supplies, to be held until the
planting season. In traditional societies before the Indonesian invasion, he
understood seeds held for planting could not be eaten on pain of death.
Even in towns, including in the coffee growing areas, people could and should
grow vegetables and herbs in pots of soil or raised beds if there is no spare land.
Poor rainfall or unexpected rainfall patterns should not be
blamed for everything, after all with global warming severe rain and droughts would become more frequent, he added. Hopefully the government could allocate more than
the small amount in their budget for agriculture and agriculture education.
