A tree belt 15km wide and nearly 8,000km long (Al Jazeera)

Read at :

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/earthrise/2011/09/201193010363023547.html

The Great Green Wall

The Sahara Desert is slowly extending its reach, but one pan-African project is planning to stop it in its tracks.

Earthrise – video

The Sahara Desert is slowly extending its reach into the verdant south. Climate change and over-exploitation of resources by humans has opened the way to sandstorms, droughts and deforestation, destroying both environments and livelihoods.

To counter this desertification, the Community of Sahel-Saharan States launched the Great Green Wall, an ambitious project that aims to plant and nurture a tree belt 15km wide and nearly 8,000km long, crossing Africa coast to coast through 11 countries.

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Easily rooting willow trees and privets can be very useful for reforestation. It suffices to push cuttings in the soil to see new trees thriving, even in rather dry regions. Here, a splendid weeping willow (Photo WVC)