Monday 30 August 2010

'Great Green Wall of Africa' to halt Sahara

There are plans to plant a tree belt all the way across Africa, running from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east, in an effort to halt the advance of the Sahara Desert.

If it goes ahead, the tree belt would be 15km wide and nearly 8,000km long. The project is still tentative because there are concerns about lack of funding and longer term doubts regarding its maintenance.

The trees that would be planted are more drought resistant, helping to reduce soil erosion, slowing wind speeds and helping rain water to filter into the ground thereby holding back the desert.

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