The constant advance of desertification in Africa has raised environmental and social alarms over the past decades. In response to this scenario, eleven countries on the continent decided to promote one of the most ambitious ecological initiatives on the planet: the Great Green Wall.
The project proposes to create a massive 8,000-kilometer vegetation corridor that crosses the continent from Djibouti to Senegal, with the aim of stopping the expansion of the Sahara Desert to the south.
The initiative officially began in 2007 and brings together efforts from African governments, international organizations, and financial entities seeking to restore degraded ecosystems and protect millions of people affected by the loss of fertile lands.
In addition to containing the advance of arid zones, the program aims to strengthen food security, generate rural employment, and improve climate resilience in one of the most vulnerable regions in the world.
Environmental restoration to recover lands and communities
The Sahel strip, located between the Sahara and the African savannas, is undergoing a rapid process of environmental degradation driven by indiscriminate logging, climate change, and intensive land use.
According to international organizations, temperatures in this region have increased faster than the global average, while desertification advances between 45 and 60 centimeters per year. In response to this situation, the Great Green Wall aims to restore 100 million hectares of degraded land and capture up to 250 million tons of carbon by 2030.
The project also intends to generate 10 million green jobs, especially for young people who depend on agricultural and livestock activities affected by droughts and loss of productivity.
In countries like Senegal, more than 12 million trees have already been planted, while Nigeria has managed to recover nearly five million hectares in areas close to its northern border.
How the Great Green Wall emerged and its environmental objective
The idea of building a natural barrier emerged as a response to the growing ecological deterioration of the Sahel and the risk of massive population displacements due to the loss of natural resources.
With the support of the African Union, various countries began coordinating forest restoration policies and soil recovery to prevent the Sahara from continuing to expand over inhabited and productive areas.
In 2021, during a summit held in Paris, the European Union, the World Bank, and the African Union announced new investments to accelerate plantations and strengthen environmental recovery strategies. Beyond planting trees, the project also promotes natural regeneration techniques, protection of native species, and conservation of water resources.
Ethiopia, for example, has managed to restore nearly 15 million hectares by protecting existing native vegetation, avoiding deforestation, and strengthening the resilience of ecosystems against droughts.
Between advances and difficulties in a race against climate change
Despite the magnitude of the initiative, the results are still far from the initially planned goals. Recent reports indicate that only about 18% of the total project has been completed.
Various sectors attribute the delays to funding problems, corruption, political conflicts, and lack of infrastructure to support irrigation systems and maintenance of plantations.
In many rural communities, water scarcity and machinery deterioration have caused the loss of thousands of planted trees during the program’s early years. However, experts argue that the Great Green Wall remains a key tool to tackle climate change in Africa, protect biodiversity, and prevent future humanitarian crises.
The restoration of a single hectare can capture large amounts of carbon dioxide and provide food resources for several families, a crucial advantage in territories where more than 135 million people depend on degraded lands to survive.
