Africa Builds the Great Green Wall to Fight Climate Change

The African Union launched the Great Green Wall project in 2007. Leaders want to restore 100 million hectares of severely degraded land.

This massive initiative stretches 8,000 kilometers straight across the continent. The project specifically targets the extremely dry Sahel region.

Climate change and severe droughts strip this land of essential vegetation.

An Integrated Ecosystem Approach

Planners originally wanted to plant a literal wall of green trees. Now, they use a smarter integrated ecosystem management approach.

Communities combine local tree planting with highly sustainable dryland farming. The initiative aims to create 10 million new green jobs quickly.

These green jobs include roles in tree nurseries and land restoration.

Facing Major Project Obstacles

However, physical progress remains very slow due to severe funding issues. Regional armed conflicts also destroy many newly restored green landscapes.

Desertification fuels the exact same conflicts that undermine these restoration efforts. Local community-driven approaches show much better results than large-scale planting campaigns.

Find fascinating articles about our global environment and climate action at Oman Day.