Rescue Earth System
Volunteer System Support
Volunteerism is key to us achieving our shared ambition of a fairer and more prosperous world with equality of opportunity for all and saving Earth from ecosystem collapse.
Volunteer System Support
It is essential that people volunteering and earning RE credits in Rescue Earth approved projects have a group identity.
Rain Garden LID Systems are often paired with Permascapes, Bioremediation Systems and Public Places.
Why Rain Gardens?
Firstly, Rain Gardens are the most cost-effective way to rehydrate a diverse range of urban landscapes and mitigate flooding at the same time. Secondly, we should aim to have more rehydrated green landscapes in urban areas because they can help to significantly cool the local environment through photosynthesis and transpiration. In other words, urban greenery plays an irreplaceable role in local climate creation; and urban vegetation is a perfect (free) air conditioner that effectively cools and balances temperatures.
Because Rain Gardens are well suited to both private property and communal areas, rapid community-wide adoption of the practice is more likely. The other Water & Weather Initiatives that fit into an urban context include:
- Bioremediation Systems
- Reforestation & Trees
- Infiltration Swale Systems
- Leaky Check Dam Systems
- Ecosystem Restoration
All of the Water & Weather Initiatives listed above can be paired with Rain Garden LID Systems. For example, some Rain Gardens have a large berm and are modified Infiltration Swale Systems while others include Leaky Check Dam Systems that slow water flow and filter out soil and organic matter. Some may be part of a Permascape (Permaculture Landscape) built by Permablitz volunteers.
Rain gardens can also be wild wetlands or peat bogs! We believe that purpose built and regeneratively restored wetlands could be an effective urban flood prevention strategy, and be a valuable wildlife habitat in nature corridors. Both the Ecosystem Restoration and Reforestation & Trees Initiatives can thus be paired with Rain Gardens.
Urban Forests are a dense collection of trees in an urban area often with dense canopy that can rapidly cool the local environment especially if they are growing in a well hydrated landscape. Infiltration Swale Systems can be planted with trees — this is the predominant practice with Permaculture Swales. Another version is Enhanced Tree Pits with below ground ‘french-drain’ styled storage for excess water!
Although not related to Water & Weather Initiatives, Walking & Cycling Paths and Public Places / Commoning Initiatives are well suited to be paired in the design process as they can benefit from the aesthetically pleasing environments created by Water & Weather Initiatives.
Rain gardens absorb rainwater, so they can help:
- add an aesthetic landscape feature with many planting and design possibilities
- recharge groundwater
- protect neighbourhoods from flooding and drainage problems
- keep streams clean by reducing the amount of polluted stormwater that goes into streams from storm drains (see bioremediation)
- provide habitat for bees, birds, butterflies and other wildlife
- reduce the carbon footprint of the region
- cool local environments especially if the infiltrated water is used by trees — and trees clean the air and help make rain!
Sand dams are a low-cost investment infrastructure built in close collaboration with communities. There is no sophisticated technology involved, except for pump installations. The dams can last for more than 100 years without major refurbishment.
Sand dams are implemented across and into seasonal sandy riverbeds in order to capture and store water beneath sand. In addition to this, groundwater recharge occurs upstream of the sand dam. The first requirement for implementing sand dams is the existence of a seasonal river with sufficient and accessible sandy sediment and bedrock in the river-bed.
Sand dams provide a sustainable water source, and conserve ecosystems by raising the water table around them. Natural vegetation and biodiversity dependent on aquatic ecosystems near the sand dams also benefit.
A strong motivation to implement the rapid deployment of Rain Garden LID Systems is to mitigate the disruptions in the local watershed hydrology caused by impervious surfaces and reduced natural vegetation. Rain Garden LID System features are purposely designed using a combination of natural and constructed materials to facilitate bioremediation and other functions provided by natural system. Rain gardens are often planted with native plants so that they provide habitat for birds and insects.
In the context of the RDF Rain Garden LID Systems are an important Small Water Cycle hydration strategy as they ///
Urban stormwater from paved areas such as roads most often contains a variety of toxic contaminants. The removal of these toxic contaminants is ///
Volunteer to Rescue Earth
We must rise and face the environmental challenges of our time by reversing the economic, physical and social decline of places. This can be achieved by the practice of regenerative restoration of degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems and habitats in the environment by active human intervention and action.
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