Solar power is the cleanest and easiest access source of energy available to the tribesmen in the Judean Desert today. With no electrical infrastructure and the price of bottled gas already prohibitively high for many families (and rising) people resort to burning animal dung and searching for very scarce fuelwood to cook and boil drinking water. Simple portable cardboard solar cookers are a popular alternative for cooking on the move.
Landscape restoration with native tree species addresses the root causes of poverty in marginalised communities. The diverse flora provide much needed resources such as food, shade, fuel and fodder as well as protecting and improving the soils, softening the harsh climate and providing habitat for the desert wildlife. The desert is today almost completely devoid of trees and and many species are on the brink of local extinction.
Rainwater harvesting is essential for life in the desert. Scarce winter rainfall is stored in the soil and in rock cut cisterns, many of which were built in Byzantine and even Roman times and survive in constant use until today. The cisterns supply the families and their animals with water during the long hot summer months and without which they can not abide on their land.
Soil stabilisation and fertility building is fundamental to protecting natural resources as the soil mediates the amount of water available in the landscape and is the basis of the desert ecosystems from which the Bedouin derive their living. Soil erosion is a major factor in environmental degradation and ensuing poverty. Simple and cheap earth works can check soil erosion and enhance fertility yielding a priceless contribution to the future wealth of the landbase.