Great Green Wall, a project launched in 2007 by the African Union , with the support of the European Union , the World Bank and the United Nations in order to curb the impact of climate change and the advance of desertification seems to “revive” now with a new series of circular gardens that are giving a lot to talk about. Let’s see what these gardens are and why they are being created in the Sahara.
Why are circular gardens being created in the Sahara?
Papaya, cashews and lemons to stop the advance of the Sahara . Along with some medicinal plants and baobabs, they represent the staple crops of the tolou keur, circular gardens with which an attempt is made to stop the desertification of the Sahel, an African region that stretches between Senegal and Djibouti.
In this way, it is intended to give life to the Great Green Wall, a project launched in 2007 by the African Union, supported by the European Union, the World Bank and the United Nations. The goal was to create, as the name suggests, a “Great Green Wall” by planting trees in an area of 780 million hectares in an attempt to slow the advance of the desert.
Why circular gardens to stop the desert
Aly Ndiaye , the Senegalese engineer who has carried out the project, has explained that a series of small “permanent, useful and sequential ” gardens could be much more effective than an unbroken line of trees. Its particular circular shape allows the roots to grow inwards, trapping liquids and bacteria, increasing the soil’s water reserves. To date, dozens of them have been created throughout the region, but the hope is to exceed a thousand . The objective now is to raise awareness among the population, integrating them into the project so that they understand the environmental problem and participate actively.
And it seems that the inhabitants of the area are getting more and more involved. In fact, many of them have already accepted the invitation of the experts, committing themselves to the care of these gardens even after hours.
In these gardens it is possible to find, as we say, plants and trees resistant to hot and dry climates, such as papaya and mango. In addition, within a layer of the circle it is also possible to find a variety of medicinal plants, that is, used for the production of medicinal specialties.
As for the Great Green Wall project, there is no good news: the program has only planted 4% of the promised 100 million hectares of trees and completing it by 2030 could cost up to $ 43 billion.
