Africa's Great Green Wall: Only 4% Complete on 2030 Deadline

The Great Green Wall of Africa, the world's most ambitious reforestation project, has achieved only four percent of its target area halfway through its 2030 completion date, a study revealed.

Authors of the study recommend that more funds, technical support, and tighter oversight are necessary to achieve the 100m hectares of trees and other vegetation targets. The findings of the study were reported at a meeting of regional ministers on Monday.

Great Green Wall's Achievements

The African Union conceived the Great Green Wall initiative in 2007 as a cross-continental barrier that spans 7,000 kilometers (4350 miles) from Senegal to Djibouti in the hopes of reversing the desertification of Sahara and Sahel. The initiative also aims to improve livelihoods in the poorest regions, trap carbon dioxide and reduce conflict, terrorism, and migration.

It was initially intended to be just a line of trees stretching from east to west in the hope of slowing down the Sahara's desert expansion. The project eventually evolved into various environmental interventions and ecological tools to establish a belt of vegetation across the region. Trees are still the primary focus, but other methods are also used to restore the land-based on the needs of the area.

The Great Green Wall has so far achieved generating 350,000new jobs, earned $90m (£70m) in revenues, and planted 18m hectares of in participating countries, the ministers and United Nations officials stressed.

UN deputy secretary-general Amina Mohammed said that the project is "a new world wonder in the making" and goes to show that working with nature can build more sustainable and equitable futures.

The Project's Challenges

Achieving the target areas for reforestation, however, is less impressive.

Only 4m hectares have been planted in the past decades, after an investment of $200m.

Reaching the 2030 target would mean more than 8 million hectares will have to be restored every year with an annual cost of $4.3bn.

The results varied per country. Ethiopia, which had started its reforestation initiatives earlier than other countries in the region take the lead by planting 5.5 bn seedlings in 11,000 hectares of new forest, and 792,000 of new terraces.

Burkina Faso planted 16.6m plants and seedlings while Chad restored 1.1m, despite receiving more financial support for the project.

Different geographies, levels of governance, and economic development are contributing factors to other countries' lag, the report said.

Monitoring the project is a significant problem. Although individual nations give their estimates of areas and seedlings planted, there are doubts like the numbers of seedlings that survived.

The lack of an adequate monitoring and evaluation system in place would also make it difficult to track where the money goes and how it is used, Salwa Bahbah of Climatekos, the firm hired to prepare the report said.

The project also featured investing in soil restoration and water management of productive areas in remote areas rather than planting trees, and it has gained more significant political support for the project. This affected the objectives, enthusiasm, and effectiveness of the project; the study also revealed.

Chris Reij of the World Resources Institute said that the modest results of the Great Green Wall show the need to focus on excellent and effective reforestation practices and those that are not working. He cited that there are numerous successful experiences across the Sahel that can be scaled in Africa.

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