In a world where climate change is advancing inexorably, an innovative system of collecting water from fog is transforming the fight against desertification and forest recovery. In the Canary Islands, Barcelona and Chile, the technology of fog catcherinspired by pine needles, is revolutionizing the way we approach reforestation without the use of energy, infrastructure or emissions.
How it works
The concept is based on an ancient technique, now renamed “cloud milking” by the European ecological project LIFE Nieblasactive in the Canary Islands (the term “nieblas” means “fog” in Spanish). The structure, made up of rows of artificial needles, manages to capture moisture particles from the air and transform them into water without the need for electricity, machinery or changes to local ecosystems, such as digging wells or building irrigation canals.
This solution completely carbon-free it was designed to withstand strong winds, a problem that made traditional fog-collecting nets, typical of regions such as the Atacama Desert in Chile or the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, unusable.
The artificial needles, arranged like a music box, allow air to flow unobstructed, while collecting water highly efficiently. These structures can be erected directly on site, without the need to build roads or electrical connections.
The surprising results of the LIFE Nieblas project
The project has already produced extraordinary results. On the slopes of Gran Canaria, in the town of Andén, a plantation of 35.8 hectares of laurel trees showed a survival of86%a rate double that obtained with traditional reforestation methods.
Second Vicenç Carabassathe scientific manager of the project and researcher at the Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications of the University of Barcelona, the Canary Islands represent a perfect natural laboratory for these innovative techniques. However, areas with similar conditions and a tradition of fog harvesting, such as Chile and Morocco, could benefit just as much.
For example, in the province of Coquimbo in Chile, the town of Chungungo manages to harvest 250 gallons of water per day combining local fog catchers and the new designs of LIFE Nieblas
