The Great Green Wall is one of Africa’s most ambitious sustainable initiatives. Launched 18 years ago, it carries a bold vision to restore 8,000 square kilometers of the continent’s natural wonders, stretching across the entire width of Africa.
According to the official website of the Great Green Wall initiative, around 15% of the project has been implemented so far. The initiative has already begun to revive degraded landscapes across Africa on an unprecedented scale—providing food security, employment opportunities, and hope for millions of people living along its path.
The Great Green Wall stands as a transformative solution to the challenges of climate change.
The Great Green Wall represents a radical solution to many of today’s most urgent threats—not only those facing the African continent but also the entire global community. It directly addresses the challenges of climate change, drought, famine, conflict, and migration. Once completed, the Great Green Wall will become the largest living structure on Earth, spanning an area three times the size of the Great Barrier Reef.
The initiative first began taking root in Africa’s Sahel region, located along the southern edge of the Sahara Desert—one of the poorest areas on the planet. The Sahel lies on the frontline of climate change, where millions of people are already suffering from its devastating impacts, including persistent droughts, food shortages, and conflicts over dwindling natural resources.
Yet, local communities—from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east—are standing resilient, determined to fight back against this harsh reality.
Since its launch in 2007, the initiative has begun bringing life back to the land, improving food security, creating jobs, and restoring stability to countless lives.
The Great Green Wall: A Global Symbol of Humanity
The Great Green Wall is not just a project for the Sahel; it has become a universal symbol of humanity’s determination to confront one of the greatest environmental challenges of our time. It demonstrates that by working with nature—even in the most difficult conditions— humanity can overcome adversity and build a better future for generations to come.
Beyond planting trees and vegetation, the Great Green Wall is transforming millions of lives across the Sahel. It plays a vital role in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—a global agenda aimed at creating a more just and sustainable world by 2030.
Goals of the Great Green Wall Project
According to Business Insider, the Great Green Wall—launched 18 years ago with an estimated cost between $36 billion and $49 billion—aims to create 10 million jobs and sequester 250 million tons of carbon by 2030.
From Senegal to Djibouti, countries are working to restore the semi-arid ecosystems of the Sahel belt, a vast region stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea.
12 African Nations Fighting Desertification
This ambitious project comes at a time when over a dozen African nations are battling desertification, striving to reverse its effects through a massive effort to replant trees and vegetation across 247 million acres of degraded land—an area roughly 2.3 times the size of the U.S. state of California.
