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A wall against the Sahara

To mark World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, we turn the spotlight on the Great Green Wall, a crazy project that could transform the lives of millions of Africans.

Desert landscape of Mauritania, Banc d'Arguin National Park.

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It's a global phenomenon, and it's getting worse every year. Desertification and drought already affect more than 40% of the Earth's land surface, causing terrible famines, leading to colossal fires and rendering entire regions uninhabitable. It is estimated that the equivalent of four football pitches become hostile to life every second, especially in the most exposed regions.

This is why the African states of the Sahel have launched an unprecedented and particularly ambitious initiative to try and roll back the desert: the "Great Green Wall", a mosaic of green and productive ecosystems stretching from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea, nearly 7,000 km long and 15 km wide.

Senegal is particularly active in this project, and it is here that local scientists and CNRS researchers are closely studying the environmental and social impacts of this green wall.

On this World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, we invite you to discover our reports on this crazy project, which could well change the lives of millions of people, and some images of different deserts.

Go further, and read "Africa, a world in transition"

Acacias nursery © Axel Ducourneau / CNRS Images

Go further into the Great Green Wall International Research Network

Go further into Asian Steppe history

Science and the Great Green Wall

To address climate change, the Sahelian countries have started a forest regeneration initiative called Great Green Wall. Senegalese and French researchers participate in this programme by surveying under a cross-disciplinary perspective the impacts on local environments and societies.

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Great Green Wall (The)

In 2004, 11 African countries have gathered to challenge a major ecological issue: the Sahel desertification. That ' s how the Great Green Wall was born. The purpose of this project is to create a vast area crossing Africa, ecologically and economically viable.

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Only available for non-commercial distribution

In Botswana, an amazing stream in a desert

Elephants, crocodiles, hippopotami… In Botswana, the Okavango delta is a real paradise for the local fauna during the flood, which lasts several months a year. In this documentary, a team of French scientists takes you on board to study the geological, hydrological and climatic features of this unique region.

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Garden of drought (The)

A Tuareg nomad in Niger, who lost his flock because of the drought of 1972-1973, is trying to create a garden in the desert to maintain his family. : In Niger a Twareg whose cattle has been ruined by the drought tries to organize and cultivate a garden.

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CNRS Images,

Our work is guided by the way scientists question the world around them and we translate their research into images to help people to understand the world better and to awaken their curiosity and wonderment.