The Great Green Wall is an African-led movement with an epic ambition to grow an 8,000 km long natural wonder across the width of Africa.Ten years on from its inception and with around 15% of the way completed, the initiative is already breathing life back into Africa’s degraded landscapes on an unprecedented scale, providing food security, jobs and a reason to stay for millions of people who live along its route. The Wall promises to be a compelling solution to the many urgent threats not only to the African continent, but to the entire global community, particularly climate change, drought, famine, conflict and migration.Once completed, the Great Green Wall will be the largest living structure on the planet, three times larger than the Great Barrier Reef.
The Great Green Wall is taking root in the Sahel region of Africa, at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, one of the poorest places on the planet.More than anywhere else on Earth, the Sahel is on the front line of climate change and millions of local people are already dealing with its devastating impact. Persistent periods of drought, lack of food, conflicts linked to the decline of natural resources and mass migrations towards Europe are just some of the many consequences.However, communities from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east are fighting back;Since the initiative began in 2007, life has begun to return to the land, bringing improvements in food security, job creation and stability in people’s lives.
A GLOBAL SYMBOL The Great Green Wall is not just for the Sahel.It is a global symbol of humanity overcoming its greatest threat: our rapidly degrading environment.It shows that if we can collaborate with nature, even in challenging places like the Sahel, we can overcome adversity and build a better world for future generations.
IT GROWS MORE THAN TREES In addition to growing trees and plants, the Great Green Wall is transforming the lives of millions of people in the Sahel region;The Great Green Wall makes a fundamental contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (known as SDGs);a global agenda that aims to achieve a more equitable and sustainable world by 2030.
