Originally, the plan was to build a “4,000-mile-long wall of trees” that would stop the “spread” of the Sahara desert.
This plan proved to be impractical for a number of reasons, but the process of failing to create a “great green wall” led to the discovery of a far more practical method of preventing desertification.
“Slowly, the idea of a Great Green Wall has changed into a program centered around indigenous land use techniques…the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization now refer to it as ‘Africa’s flagship initiative to combat land degradation, desertification, and drought’“
And the new plan appears to be working! Areas that were nothing but dry, brown sand that blew away in the wind are now lush with trees and productive land.
Here is the same area between 1975 and 2003. It’s a little hard to see in black and white, but the change in groundcover and numbers of trees is staggering.