The Great Green Wall, also called the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel (French: Grande Muraille Verte pour le Sahara et le Sahel; Arabic: السور الأخضر العظيم), is a project started by the African Union in 2007. It was first created to stop the Sahara Desert from spreading into the Sahel region by planting a long line of trees from Djibouti City, Djibouti, to Dakar, Senegal. The original plan was for the wall to be 15 kilometers wide and 7,775 kilometers long. Over time, the project grew to include more countries in northern and western Africa. The idea changed to focus on collecting rainwater, protecting plants, and improving ways people use land to create more green and useful areas across North Africa. Later, the project recognized that the edges of deserts can shift depending on how much rain falls.

The main goal now is to restore 100 million hectares (250 million acres) of land that has been damaged, capture 250 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, and create 10 million jobs by 2030.

The project was created to address the problems of damaged natural resources and drought in rural areas. It helps communities deal with and prepare for 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, calling it the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative (GGWSSI).

Lessons from the Algerian Green Dam and China's Green Wall helped shape a plan that includes many areas, such as environment, economy, and society. The project started as a tree-planting effort but later became a tool to address problems like land damage and desertification. In 2007, leaders from 11 countries—Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, and Chad—created the Panafrican Agency of the Great Green Wall (PAGGW) to manage the project.

In 2012, the African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN) agreed on a plan to work together across regions. AMCEN said the Great Green Wall is a key project that supports the United Nations goal of creating a world where land degradation is reduced.

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 GGWSSI. Nigeria formed 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. As of September 2021, Ecosia reported planting over 15,117,046 trees and restoring 14,137 hectares (34,930 acres) in Burkina Faso; over 1,424,748 trees planted and 300 hectares (740 acres) restored in Senegal; and 9,963,757 trees planted and 3,609 hectares (8,920 acres) restored in Ethiopia.

In 2015, Drylands Monitoring Week focused on improving how dryland conditions are measured and encouraged teamwork for large-scale monitoring. Planning, including choosing plants and working with local people, and tree planting or land restoration efforts began in Ethiopia, Senegal, Nigeria, and Sudan.

In 2016, 21 countries had projects related to the GGW, including efforts by farmers to help natural tree growth. In Burkina Faso, restoring bare land has been shown to work, but security challenges, such as terrorism, remain a problem.

In September 2017, the BBC reported that progress was most successful in Senegal.

Progress

By March 2019, 15% of the Great Green Wall project was completed, with notable progress in Nigeria, Senegal, and Ethiopia. In Senegal, over 11 million trees had been planted. Nigeria restored 4.9 million hectares (12 million acres; 49,000 square kilometers) of land that had been damaged. Ethiopia reclaimed 15 million hectares (37 million acres; 150,000 square kilometers) of land.

On the fifteenth anniversary of the project’s start, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) released a report on September 7, 2020. The report stated that only 4% of the planned area had been covered, with 4 million hectares (9.8 million acres) of trees planted. Ethiopia had planted the most trees, with 5.5 billion seedlings, but Chad had planted only 1.1 million. Concerns were raised about how many of the 12 million trees planted in Senegal survived.

In January 2021, the project received support at the One Planet Summit, where partners promised $14.3 billion to launch the Great Green Wall Accelerator. This initiative aimed to improve cooperation among donors and stakeholders in 11 countries. By March 2023, $2.5 billion of the promised funds had been used.

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 countries with fragile governments. Many Great Green Wall projects provide little economic return compared to their environmental and social benefits, which are often not valued in the market. International donors also tend to support projects in more stable countries, leaving some nations with less stable governments without enough funding.

By 2023, about 18 million hectares (18% of the target) had been restored. The project needed $33 billion in funding, but promises were not fully met, and delays and poor coordination occurred. By 2024, 30 million hectares (30% of the target) had been restored.

The nonprofit Tree Aid partnered with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to grow an “Olympic forest” in Mali and Senegal. This effort aimed to plant over 589,000 trees using 55 types of native plants with economic value, such as baobab, balanite, African crabwood, gum acacia, tamarind, and African grape. Restorers planted 2,235 hectares of land, creating income opportunities for 32,000 people. Seeds collected from the wild were used in the project.

Monitoring

There has been little tracking and recording of information, even in areas where projects took place. 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.

Regional and international partners include:

Major principles

The project includes the Sahara Desert area, its northern and southern edges, as well as the desert’s oases and enclosed regions.

The GGWSSI aims to improve current programs, such as the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program and the Environmental Program of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, by making them work better together through teamwork and coordination. These programs help fight desertification at regional, local, and national levels.

The Regional Harmonised Strategy focuses on working with different groups, combining efforts with existing programs, sharing knowledge (especially through cooperation between countries in the Southern Hemisphere and sharing technology), involving local communities in planning, and creating more complete and global plans.

The $8-billion project plans to restore 100 million hectares (250 million acres; 1 million square kilometers) of damaged land by 2030. This would 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. Issa Garba, an environmental activist from Niger, explained that countries in the Sahel region have not set aside any money in their budgets for this project. Instead, they are waiting for financial support from other countries, such as the European Union or the African Union. Garba also said the goal of completing the project by 2030 is unlikely to be achieved. Because of these challenges, more people are now suggesting that the project should be stopped.