22 January 2021.
Introduction:
The Great Green Wall was launched in 2007 by African Union to overcome desertification.
Highlights:
- It is an African-led initiative aiming to restore Africa’s degraded landscapes and transform millions of lives in one of the world’s poorest regions, the Sahel.
- Once complete, the Wall will be the largest living structure on the planet – an 8,000 km natural wonder of the world stretching across the entire width of the continent.
- The Great Green Wall is now being implemented in more than 20 countries across Africa and more than eight billion dollars have been mobilized and pledged for its support.
- The initiative brings together African countries and international partners, under the leadership of the African Union Commission and Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall.
Objectives
- To restore 100 million ha of currently degraded land by 2030.
- To sequester 250 million tons of carbon and create 10 million green jobs.
- This will support communities living along the Wall .
- Grow fertile land, one of humanity’s most precious natural assets
- Grow economic opportunities for the world’s youngest population
- Grow food security for the millions that go hungry every day
- Grow climate resilience in a region where temperatures are rising faster than anywhere else on Earth
- Grow a new world wonder spanning 8000 km across Africa
Key Results (2020 data)
- The Great Green Wall snakes the Sahel region from Senegal in the West to Djibouti in the East of Africa.
- Several achievements have been recorded in most of the GGW member states, with some countries being more successful than others.
- While some countries started the implementation of the GGW activities as early as 2008, others joined as late as 2014, when the GGW declaration was ratified.
- The 11 countries selected as intervention zones for the Great Green Wall are:
- Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sudan.