News: The initiative is in the news due to funding–implementation gaps, slow disbursements since 2021 pledges, and a renewed push through the Great Green Wall Accelerator.
About Great Green Wall Initiative
- It is a landmark project aimed at combating desertification, restoring degraded lands, and improving livelihoods across the Sahel and Sahara regions of Africa.
- Launched by: African Union in 2007
- Country involved:
- Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sudan. The initiative has expanded, with 22 Sahel governments now committed.
- Funding:
- More than US$20 billion has been pledged.
- Major pledges include US$4 billion (Paris climate conference, 2015) and US$14.3 billion (One Planet Summit, 2021).
- Goal:
- To combat desertification, restore degraded land and ecosystems, increase food security, create jobs linked to the environment, and absorb carbon that would otherwise enter the atmosphere.
- Targets:
- Restore 100 million hectares by 2030.
- Employ 10 million people in environment-related jobs.
- An 8,000 km long and 8 km wide ecological wall envisioned to stretch across Africa from Senegal (West) to Djibouti (East).
- Approached used: Uses an integrated landscape approach so each country addresses land degradation, climate adaptation and mitigation, biodiversity, forestry, and local livelihoods.
- Accelerator for Delivery and Oversight (2021): The Great Green Wall Accelerator introduced in 2021 strengthens monitoring, cooperation among stakeholders, and the tracking of funds to help the initiative move toward its 2030 goals.
About India’s Aravalli Green Wall Project
- Goal: To restore the Aravalli mountain range, by creating a 1,400 km long green belt to combat desertification spreading from the Thar Desert.
- Inspiration: Directly inspired by Africa’s Great Green Wall initiative.
- Scope: The project involves a 5km-wide green buffer around the Aravalli landscape across Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Delhi.
- Activities: Afforestation, restoration of degraded land, water resource management, and biodiversity conservation, with a focus on community engagement and agroforestry.
