The Great Green Wall, also called the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel (in French: Grande Muraille Verte pour le Sahara et le Sahel; in Arabic: السور الأخضر العظيم), is a project started by the African Union in 2007. Its first goal was to stop desertification in the Sahel region and slow the spread of the Sahara Desert. This was done by planting a line of trees stretching across the Sahel from Djibouti City, Djibouti, to Dakar, Senegal. At first, the plan was to create a wall 15 kilometers (9 miles) wide and 7,775 kilometers (4,831 miles) long. Over time, the project grew to include countries in northern and western Africa. The idea changed to focus on collecting rainwater, protecting plants, and improving traditional farming methods. These efforts aimed to create a mix of green and productive land across North Africa. Later, the project recognized that desert edges change based on rainfall patterns.
The main goal today is to restore 100 million hectares (250 million acres) of damaged land, capture 250 million tons of carbon dioxide, and create 10 million jobs by 2030. The project was created to address problems like land damage and drought in rural areas. It helps communities deal with and adjust to climate change while also improving food supplies.
History
In the 1950s, British explorer Richard St. Barbe Baker led an expedition in the Sahara Desert. During his 40,000-kilometre (25,000 mi) journey, he suggested a "Green Front" to plant trees in a 50-kilometre-deep (30 mi) buffer zone to stop the desert from spreading. This idea was discussed again in 2002 at a special meeting in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad, during World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. In 2005, leaders from the Community of Sahel-Saharan States approved the plan during a meeting in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. The African Union supported the plan in 2007, naming it the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative (GGWSSI).
Lessons from the Algerian Green Dam and China’s Green Wall project helped shape a plan that included many areas, such as economy, environment, and society. Originally focused on planting trees, the project grew to address challenges like land degradation and desertification. In 2007, leaders from 11 countries—Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, and Chad—formed the Panafrican Agency of the Great Green Wall (PAGGW) to manage the effort.
In 2012, the African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN) approved a unified plan for the region. AMCEN stated that the Great Green Wall is a key project to help achieve the United Nations goal of a "land degradation neutral world" from the RIO+20 conference.
In 2014, the European Union and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, along with African partners, started the Action Against Desertification program to support the GGWSSI. Nigeria created a temporary group to help with GGW development.
Since 2014, the eco-friendly search engine Ecosia has worked with people in Burkina Faso to plant trees. Ecosia expanded its efforts to Ethiopia in 2017 and to Senegal in 2018.
Ecosia reported that as of September 2021, it had planted over 15,117,046 trees and restored 14,137 hectares (34,930 acres) in Burkina Faso. In Senegal, it planted over 1,424,748 trees, restored 300 hectares (740 acres), and planted over 9,963,757 trees. In Ethiopia, it restored 3,609 hectares (8,920 acres).
In 2015, Drylands Monitoring Week evaluated how to measure desert conditions and started efforts to monitor drylands on a large scale. Planning, including selecting plants and working with local communities, and land restoration efforts began in Ethiopia, Senegal, Nigeria, and Sudan.
By 2016, 21 countries had projects linked to the GGW, including efforts to help farmers grow trees naturally. Restoring bare land has been successful in Burkina Faso, though security issues from terrorist activity remain a challenge.
In September 2017, the BBC reported that progress was most advanced in Senegal.
Progress
In March 2019, 15% of the wall was completed, with major progress in Nigeria, Senegal, and Ethiopia. In Senegal, more than 11 million trees were planted. Nigeria restored 4.9 million hectares (12 million acres; 49,000 square kilometers) of degraded land, and Ethiopia reclaimed 15 million hectares (37 million acres; 150,000 square kilometers).
On the fifteenth anniversary of the program’s start, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) released a report on September 7, 2020. It stated that the Great Green Wall had covered only 4% of the planned area, with 4 million hectares (9.8 million acres) planted. Ethiopia had the most success, planting 5.5 billion seedlings, while Chad planted only 1.1 million. Concerns were raised about the survival rate of the 12 million trees planted in Senegal.
In January 2021, the project received support at the One Planet Summit, where partners pledged USD 14.3 billion to launch the Great Green Wall Accelerator. This initiative aimed to improve collaboration among donors and stakeholders in 11 countries. By March 2023, $2.5 billion of the pledge had been spent.
According to the second edition of the Global Land Outlook (GLO2), published by the UNCCD in April 2022, challenges in the project include political risks in fragile nations and the low economic returns of many Great Green Wall projects compared to their environmental and social benefits, which often lack market value. International donors tend to favor stable nations and select projects to fund, leaving countries with less stable governments with fewer resources.
By 2023, about 18 million hectares, or 18% of the target, had been restored. The estimated $33 billion needed for the project faced unmet promises, delays, and poor coordination. By 2024, 30 million hectares had been restored, completing 30% of the target.
Non-profit Tree Aid partnered with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to grow an “Olympic forest” in Mali and Senegal, planting more than 589,000 trees. The team chose 55 native species with economic value, including baobab (Adansonia digitata), balanite (Balanites aegyptiaca), African crabwood (Carapa procera), gum acacia (Senegalia senegal), tamarind (Tamarindus indica), and African grape (Lannea microcarpa). Pilot restorers planted 2,235 hectares, creating income opportunities for 32,000 people. Wild-collected seeds were added to the planting effort.
Monitoring
Little monitoring and record keeping have been done, even in areas where projects were carried out. The conflicts in Sudan and South Sudan made monitoring more difficult. Locusts have caused damage to many projects.
Partners
The Initiative includes more than 20 countries, such as Algeria, Burkina Faso, Benin, Chad, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, The Gambia, and Tunisia.
Other groups and countries from around the world include:
Major principles
The project covers the Sahara Desert, including its northern and southern borders, as well as the desert’s oases and enclosed areas.
The GGWSSI plans to improve current programs, such as the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program and the Environmental Program of the New Partnership for Africa's Development, along with regional, sub-regional, and national plans to fight desertification. These improvements will focus on better teamwork and coordination.
The Regional Harmonised Strategy highlights the importance of partnerships among groups involved, integrating efforts into existing programs, sharing knowledge (especially through South-South cooperation and technology sharing), involving local communities in planning, and creating more unified and global strategies.
The $8-billion project aims to restore 100 million hectares (250 million acres; 1 million square kilometers) of land that has been damaged by 2030. This effort is expected to create 350,000 jobs in rural areas and remove 250 million tonnes (250 million long tons; 280 million short tons) of carbon dioxide from the air.
Risk of collapse
As of 2023, the Great Green Wall was reported to be in danger of failing because of terrorist attacks, a lack of strong leaders, and not enough money. "The Sahel countries have not spent any money in their budgets on this project. They are only waiting for money from other countries, like the European Union or the African Union," said Issa Garba, an environmental activist from Niger. He also said the goal to complete the project by 2030 is very hard to reach. Because of these problems, more people are saying the project should be stopped.