Deserts & Climate Change
Shrinking, growing & fighting back
The world's deserts are not fixed. Some are creeping outward as the climate warms and land is overused, while people are fighting back with one of the most ambitious restoration projects ever attempted.
~12 million ha
lost every year
Roughly 12 million hectares of productive land are degraded by desertification and drought each year — an area about the size of Greece.
~10% bigger
the growing Sahara
Studies suggest the Sahara expanded by around 10% over the 20th century, creeping into the semi-dry Sahel on its southern edge.
A new desert
the Aralkum
Diverting rivers for irrigation drained most of the Aral Sea since the 1960s, exposing a dusty new desert — the Aralkum — where a huge lake once lay.
8,000 km
the Great Green Wall
An African-led plan, launched in 2007, to grow a mosaic of trees and grassland right across the continent — from Senegal to Djibouti — to hold back the Sahara.
The Great Green Wall
Africa is growing a living wall of trees and grassland right across the continent to stop the Sahara spreading south — one of the boldest environmental projects in history.
- Launched by the African Union in 2007 as an 8,000 km belt of restored land across the width of Africa.
- Aims to restore 100 million hectares of degraded land and lock away carbon by 2030.
- Spans more than 20 countries along the Sahel, the dry band just south of the Sahara.
- Beyond trees, it blends grassland, farmland and water projects to bring back soil, food and jobs.