Abstract
The Great Green Wall (GGW) has been advocated as a means of reducing desertification in the Sahel through the planting of a broad continuous band of trees from Senegal to Djibouti. Initially proposed in the 1980s, the plan has received renewed impetus in light of the potential of climate change to accelerate desertification, although the implementation has been lacking in all but two of 11 countries in the region. In this paper, we argue that the GGW needs modifying if it is to be effective, obtain the support of local communities and leverage international support. Specifically, we propose a shift from planting trees in the GGW to utilizing shrubs (e.g., Leptospermum scoparium, Boscia senegalensis, Grewia flava, Euclea undulata or Diospyros lycioides), which would have multiple benefits, including having a faster growth rate and proving the basis for silvo-pastoral livelihoods based on bee-keeping and honey production.
Highlights
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is believed to be one of the most vulnerable regions globally to climate change [1]
While the plan has suffered from a lack of funding and political will, we believe the central idea of the Great Green Wall (GGW) has significant potential for adaptation: similar programs have been developed in other regions (e.g., China, New Zealand) and have been successful in reducing, and in some cases reversing, desertification [16,17,19,22,23,24,25,26]
The GGW, as currently envisioned, proposes that the first step is the planting of a 15-km wide forested band composed of a mixture of native tree species that would traverse the African continent from Senegal to Djibouti, along the southern limit of the Sahara desert
Summary
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is believed to be one of the most vulnerable regions globally to climate change [1]. Semi-arid regions of SSA, the Sahel in particular, have been identified as “hotspots” of enhanced vulnerability to climate change [6,7] This reflects the already marginal environment, high dependence on rain-fed agriculture, ongoing desertification challenges and limited adaptive capacity of socio-economic systems [2]. While the plan has suffered from a lack of funding and political will, we believe the central idea of the GGW has significant potential for adaptation: similar programs have been developed in other regions (e.g., China, New Zealand) and have been successful in reducing, and in some cases reversing, desertification [16,17,19,22,23,24,25,26]. Before reviewing the GGW plan as currently envisioned, and propose our plan based on shrub planting
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