Objective The goal of this project is the achievement of the sustainable use of the natural resources of the coastal hills of the Peruvian and Chilean coastal desert by exploiting the only water resource available: fog water The first step towards this goal will be a field demonstration of the role fog water can play in producing large quantities of water for retention and reintroduction of vegetation on the hills of the coastal desert. The objectives of the demonstration will be to prove: (a) the effectiveness of artificially collected fog water in the restoration of the vegetation; (b) the ability of the plants to sustain themselves by means of the water supply derived from the fog they collect, with no more need for man made collectors; (c) the possibility that the surplus of water obtained by means of artificial collectors can be used for subsistence agriculture and for pasture growth. The verification of the objectives listed above will be based on the results of a pilot experiment carried out over an area of 10 ha., where 200 large fog collectors will be installed, to provide an estimated amount of 50000 liters of water/day. This will be the first attempt in the world to generate water from fog in a coastal desert - one of the driest on earth, with only 5 to 10 mm. of annual precipitation for large scale applications in the managed development of an ecosystem. The water will be used not only for plant cultivation, but for grazing animals and ultimately for domestic use. Fields of science natural sciencesearth and related environmental scienceshydrologynatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystemsagricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturehorticulture Programme(s) FP3-STD 3 - Specific research and technological development programme (EEC) in the field of the life sciences and technologies for developing countries, 1990-1994 Topic(s) Data not available Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator Università degli Studi di Padova Address Via romea 35020 Padova Italy See on map EU contribution € 0,00 Participants (4) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE SAN AGUSTIN DE AREQUIPA Peru EU contribution € 0,00 Address 985,avenida alcides carrion s/n, la pampilla 300 Arequipa See on map Universidad Católica de Chile Chile EU contribution € 0,00 Address 4860,vicuña mackenna Santiago See on map Università degli Studi di Firenze Italy EU contribution € 0,00 Address Via san bonaventura 13 50145 Firenze See on map Université de Toulouse III (Université Paul Sabatier) France EU contribution € 0,00 Address 39 allées jules guesde 31062 Toulouse See on map