非洲萨赫勒地区的绿色长城，以树木为屏障对抗沙漠化和气候变化。
As the Sahara's sands inch southward each year, an audacious counter‑measure is taking root across the width of Africa. The Great Green Wall, an 8,000-kilometer belt of restored land stretching from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east, aims to push back against desertification in the Sahel. Launched by the African Union in 2007, the initiative is not just about planting trees; it is a sweeping landscape‑restoration project designed to revive degraded soils, protect biodiversity, and bolster food security for millions of people living on the frontline of climate change.
The vision has evolved beyond a simple wall of trees into a mosaic of sustainable land uses. Instead of a solid green line, communities are creating checkerboards of drought‑resistant acacia groves, baobab saplings, and plots of regenerated pastureland. Techniques such as farmer‑managed natural regeneration—where farmers nurture stumps and roots that remain in the soil—have proven remarkably effective and low‑cost. This ecological patchwork rebuilds water cycles, captures carbon, and provides fodder, fruit, and firewood. In Senegal alone, over 12 million trees have been planted, and previously barren fields now boast millet harvests.
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