The Great Green Wall
The Great Green Wall is a large-scale tree planting project, which aims to grow 8,000 km of trees and plants across the width of Africa. The goal is to reverse desertification to fight the effects of climate change, by planting the world’s largest living structure, 3 times the size of the Great Barrier Reef. It will also make a significant contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The initiative was born in 2007, with the wall taking root at the southern edge of the Sahara desert; notably one of the poorest regions on the planet. Since then, approximately 15% of the target has been met but signs of recovery have already been promising. It is believed that this project could provide a compelling solution to many threats faced by the continent of Africa, and the whole world, including climate change, drought, conflict, migration and famine. Life has already started coming back to the land where nature has been re-injected, presenting a number of benefits:
Growth of fertile land and increasing food security.
Improved health and wellbeing of local communities.
Improved water security.
Increased renewable energy potential.
Growth of ‘green’ jobs within the project, providing families across the Sahara with incomes.
Decreasing reasons to migrate away from the continent.
Growing resilience to the impact of climate change in an environment where temperatures are rapidly increasing.
The Great Green Wall is proof that if we work with nature, we can help our environment recover and overcome some of the biggest threats posted to our planet.
Please click the link below to visit our Environmental Calendar. Each month we focus on a new environmental topic and look in to how we can all help to improve the world we live in.
