Increasing the Effectiveness of the “Great Green Wall” as an Adaptation to the Effects of Climate Change and Desertification in the Sahel

Sustainability

David O𠆜onnor¹  James Ford² 

[1] Redpath Museum, McGill University, 859 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC H3A 0C4, Canada;Department of Geography, McGill University, 805 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC H3A 0C4, Canada; E-Mail:

关键词: climate change;    adaptation;    Africa;    desertification;    land reclamation;   

DOI  :  10.3390/su6107142

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

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.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.