A structured programme for dryland restoration, sand stabilisation, and oasis-belt regeneration in arid environments across MENA and Central Asia.
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Desert2Green is GASBE’s structured programme for dryland restoration, sand
stabilisation, and the conversion of degraded arid land into ecologically
and agriculturally functional terrain. The programme operates at the
intersection of soil physics, material science, and field-based vegetation
engineering — three disciplines that must work in concert for restoration
at scale to be technically credible and practically achievable.
Desert2Green is driven by three partners with complementary and mutually
reinforcing roles: SR Begrünungstechnik GmbH (SRBT) contributes field
methodology, application systems, and vegetation engineering expertise
developed across decades of demanding project environments. Sela Agrico
(Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) provides regional knowledge, operational presence,
and direct field experience in the Arabian Peninsula and wider MENA region.
Biopolymer Solutions GmbH (BPS) functions as the programme’s material
science partner — developing and supplying the biopolymer-based substrate
systems and binder formulations that underpin the technical approach at
soil level. Together, these three partners form the research and operational
core of the programme.
Over two billion people live in dryland regions. Desertification, soil
degradation, and the progressive loss of productive land are accelerating
under the combined pressure of climate change, land use intensification,
and groundwater depletion. The consequences — food insecurity, economic
collapse of rural communities, and large-scale human displacement — are
measurable and growing.
Conventional responses have a poor track record. Tree planting campaigns
without soil preparation fail when seedlings encounter raw, biologically
inactive desert substrate. Irrigation-dependent schemes create temporary
results that collapse when water availability changes. Short-cycle NGO
projects achieve visible outcomes within project timelines but rarely
build the soil function required for self-sustaining vegetation. The
common failure is the same: attempting to establish vegetation before
the physical and chemical conditions in the soil are capable of supporting it.
Desert2Green takes the opposite approach. Soil development precedes
vegetation establishment. Surface stabilisation creates the physical
conditions for biological activity. Biopolymer-based substrate systems
initiate the process of organic matter accumulation, moisture retention,
and aggregate formation that must occur before plants can establish and
persist without continuous external input. Only when this foundation
exists does vegetation establishment become a viable and durable intervention.
Focused on restoring productive capacity to degraded agricultural land
in arid and semi-arid zones. The goal is not to replicate intensive
agriculture in an environment that cannot support it, but to rebuild
the soil function — water infiltration, organic matter content, biological
activity, and structural stability — that makes viable low-input food
and fodder production possible without permanent irrigation dependency.
Soil amendment protocols, water harvesting geometry, and adapted
crop and fodder species are combined into site-specific restoration
sequences calibrated to local climate, substrate, and land use context.
Target zones: MENA, Sahel, Central Asia
Focused on ecological restoration — rebuilding native vegetation
communities on degraded dryland terrain, stabilising mobile sand
systems, and progressively developing functional ecosystems that
support biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and landscape stability.
The approach is sequential: surface fixation first, pioneer species
establishment second, succession management third. Each phase must
create the conditions that make the next phase viable. Species
selection draws on native dryland flora adapted to the specific
climatic and edaphic conditions of each site, with particular
attention to the role of early-successional species in initiating
soil development processes.
Target zones: Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, Central Asian steppes
Desert2Green operates an internal research group focused on the material
science and soil physics dimensions of dryland restoration — the aspects
that determine whether field interventions succeed or fail at the substrate
level. BPS leads the development and evaluation of biopolymer-based
systems for soil consolidation, moisture retention, and the initiation
of biological activity in inert desert substrates. This work is conducted
in direct connection with field trials coordinated through Sela Agrico
in the Arabian Peninsula, providing the feedback loop between laboratory
development and field performance that applied research in this area
requires. GASBE actively seeks collaboration with universities and
research institutions working on arid zone soil science, desertification
reversal, and biopolymer applications to accelerate the translation
of findings into field-deployable systems.
Partners: SRBT, Sela Agrico, Biopolymer Solutions GmbH
Desert2Green is open to practitioners with dryland field experience,
researchers working on arid zone soil science or restoration ecology,
environmental organisations and development agencies seeking technically
credible implementation partners for landscape-scale programmes, and
companies developing or evaluating materials for dryland stabilisation
and restoration applications.
The programme is not a funding vehicle or a certification scheme.
It is a working collaboration between partners who are prepared to
contribute field data, material knowledge, or operational capability
to a shared technical programme — and who understand that credible
results in this field require sustained commitment, rigorous documentation,
and the willingness to report what does not work alongside what does.