Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio k
Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, Africa is on its way
Speaker 1: to completing the next World Wonder, a nearly five thousand
Speaker 1: mile or eight thousand kilometer belt of greenery and conservation
Speaker 1: initiatives covering the continent's entire width. This lofty goal, The
Speaker 1: Great Green Wall, is not a pr stunt. It's an
Speaker 1: African lad movement designed to breathe life into the degraded
Speaker 1: landscapes across the Sahel, which is the vast semi arid
Speaker 1: region of Africa separating the Sahara Desert to the north
Speaker 1: and the tropical savannahs to the south. This area is
Speaker 1: experiencing a slew of ecological crises due to overgrazing, drought,
Speaker 1: and poor farming practices, and desertification here is on the rise.
Speaker 1: The Sahara Desert is expanding. Study published in the May
Speaker 1: issue of the Journal of Climate shows that it's grown
Speaker 1: ten percent since ninety The ambitious Great Green Wall, which
Speaker 1: will be Earth's largest living structure once complete, is designed
Speaker 1: to save this a hell from ecological implosion and to
Speaker 1: make those changes sustainable. The Great Green Wall project, kickstarted
Speaker 1: by the African Union in two thousand seven. Was initially
Speaker 1: designed to build a string of trees across the continent
Speaker 1: to curb desertification, helping the hell communities survive and thrive.
Speaker 1: But there were some issues early on. First and foremost,
Speaker 1: the science behind tree planting as the sole solution wasn't
Speaker 1: fully there. Many of the first planted trees died, which
Speaker 1: is when leaders acknowledged that it was time to change course.
Speaker 1: The Great Green Wall team analyzed indigenous land use techniques
Speaker 1: and adapted their methodology accordingly. From there, the project evolved
Speaker 1: from a wall of trees to more of a continent
Speaker 1: wide movement of mosaic of projects combating land degradation, desertification,
Speaker 1: and drought based unproven indigenous practices. In some cases, that's
Speaker 1: tree planting, which the Great Green Wall largely hires locals
Speaker 1: to do. For other land stretches, it's indigenous adaptations for
Speaker 1: agriculture or simply growing grass. In other cases, it's a
Speaker 1: mix of all of the above. This re greening is
Speaker 1: truly transformational for both the land and the local people.
Speaker 1: The Great Green Wall is roughly fifteen complete, with millions
Speaker 1: of trees planted and aspirations to quote restore two hundred
Speaker 1: forty seven million acres or a hundred million hectares of
Speaker 1: currently degraded land, sequester two d and fifty million tons
Speaker 1: of carbon, and create ten million jobs in rural areas
Speaker 1: by according to the Great Green Wall website. Another equally
Speaker 1: impressive outcome the Pan African camaraderie and leadership. The initiatives
Speaker 1: started out with the loving countries, but now has over twenty,
Speaker 1: making it a truly Pan African program. Each country created
Speaker 1: its own national action plan for implementation, which ensures each
Speaker 1: nation has ownership instead of being told what to do
Speaker 1: by outsiders. This puts power and potential for progress back
Speaker 1: in the hands of those most affected. So far, the
Speaker 1: project has created some three hundred and fifty thousand jobs
Speaker 1: and generated over ninety million dollars in revenue across the
Speaker 1: countries that host the Great Green Wall. Some of the
Speaker 1: best Great Green Wall outcomes so far have been in Nigeria, Senegal,
Speaker 1: Burkina Fasso, and Ethiopia. Rikina Fasso has seventeen million new trees,
Speaker 1: while twelve million acres or four point eight million hectares
Speaker 1: of degraded land in Nigeria are now restored. With Senegal
Speaker 1: and Ethiopia seeing similar success. One Elvis Paul to hang them.
Speaker 1: The African Union Commissioner for the Sahara and Sahel Great
Speaker 1: Green Wall Initiative, said, the Great Green Wall is about development.
Speaker 1: It's about sustainable climate, smart development at all levels. Each
Speaker 1: of the thirty countries developed national action plans. That is
Speaker 1: the bast achievement because now they own it. It's about
Speaker 1: ownership and that has been the failure of Development AID
Speaker 1: because people were never identified with it. But this time
Speaker 1: they identify this is our thing. But considering that the
Speaker 1: total project is triple the size of the Great Barrier Reef,
Speaker 1: it's inevitable that the Great Green Wall has faced some challenges.
Speaker 1: The goals do vary from country to country, complicating implementation,
Speaker 1: and like many conservation projects before it, funding is another hindrance.
Speaker 1: Countries like Senegal spend two hundred million per year on
Speaker 1: planting and eco care, but other nations can't afford similar investments.
Speaker 1: We spoke via email with Chris mcgarrow, program officer for
Speaker 1: the International Union for Conservation of Nature. He said within
Speaker 1: most of the country's investments in dry lands remain a
Speaker 1: challenge based on the misconception that dry lands are wastelands.
Speaker 1: This view is rapidly changing as dry lands continue to
Speaker 1: be recognized for their richness in bio diverse the productivity,
Speaker 1: especially of livestock, and provision of other ecosystem services, including water.
Speaker 1: According to its latest status report, the program needs to
Speaker 1: restore over twenty million acres or eight million hectares of
Speaker 1: land every year, plus invest an annual four point three
Speaker 1: billion dollars for the hopeful twenty thirty completion. This goal
Speaker 1: is lofty given that the Great Green Wall has restored
Speaker 1: only roughly forty billion acres or twenty million hectares of
Speaker 1: land from two thousand seven to but leaders remain optimistic.
Speaker 1: In a press release, Abraham t O, Executive Secretary to
Speaker 1: the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, said, the Great
Speaker 1: Green Wall is yielding immediate benefits for the local communities
Speaker 1: and long term ecosystem benefits At the international level. It
Speaker 1: shows that when countries dare to dream, work together and
Speaker 1: make the right choices, we can prosper and live in
Speaker 1: harmony with nature, and where innovative ideas emerge, pause of
Speaker 1: dramatic change that benefits both the local and international communities
Speaker 1: will happen. Today's episode was written by Stephanie Vermillion and
Speaker 1: produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots
Speaker 1: of other green topics, visit how stuff works dot com.
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