Combating Desertification and Restoring Ecosystems: A Comparative Study of the Green Wall Initiatives in China and Africa

Rasool Mogooei

PhD Candidate in International Relations, University of Isfahan

Introduction

The intensification of climate change, rising temperatures, declining precipitation, and the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources have exposed many of the world’s arid and semi-arid regions to an accelerating process of land degradation. Under these circumstances, protecting soil, water, and vegetation, while seeking to restore the functions that ecosystems have lost, has become a major priority of environmental policymaking at both the national and international levels.

In contemporary approaches, combating desertification is no longer understood merely as an effort to contain the physical expansion of deserts. Rather, it encompasses a coordinated set of measures aimed at promoting sustainable land management, restoring vegetation cover, conserving water resources, strengthening biodiversity, and enhancing the resilience of local communities. The growing prominence of this approach reflects the increasing recognition among governments and international institutions of the potential of ecosystem restoration to improve environmental conditions, reinforce food security, create economic opportunities, and support the livelihoods of vulnerable communities.

Against this backdrop, several countries and regions have sought to develop practical and enduring models for addressing desertification through the design of large-scale strategies and the implementation of ambitious, long-term projects. China’s Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, commonly known as the Great Green Wall of China, and Africa’s Great Green Wall Initiative are among the most prominent examples of this approach. Both demonstrate the potential of sustained cooperation, long-term planning, and the large-scale mobilization of resources for land restoration.

Accordingly, this article examines the role of desertification control in ecosystem conservation and restoration, while assessing the objectives, achievements, and challenges of these two major initiatives.

Desertification: A Critical Challenge in the Age of Climate Change

Desertification is among the most significant environmental challenges facing the contemporary world. It is being intensified by the combined effects of climate change, declining precipitation, rising temperatures, and the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources. Defined as land degradation in dryland regions resulting from climatic variations and human activities, desertification affects approximately 250 million people worldwide, according to the United Nations (Si Hui & Tang, 2026).

The risk of desertification is extensive, encompassing more than 100 countries. Its effects fall disproportionately on the world’s poorest and most vulnerable populations, particularly because subsistence agriculture remains widespread across many affected regions. According to the European Commission’s World Atlas of Desertification, more than 75 per cent of the Earth’s land area is already degraded, and this figure could exceed 90 per cent by 2050. The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre has further reported that an area equivalent to approximately half the size of the European Union—1.61 million square miles, or 4.18 million square kilometres—is degraded every year, with Africa and Asia bearing the greatest share of the impact (Nunez, 2019).

Studies indicate that Africa lost approximately 12 per cent of its gross domestic product between 1990 and 2015 as a result of increasing aridity. Under a moderate emissions scenario, aridification is projected to reduce Africa’s GDP by approximately 16 per cent and Asia’s by 6.7 per cent by 2079 (Harvey, 2024).

According to The Global Threat of Drying Lands, a report prepared under the auspices of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, more than three-quarters of the Earth’s land experienced a drier climate during the three decades leading up to 2020 than during the preceding thirty-year period. By 2100, as many as five billion people may be living in drylands—more than twice the current number. The report emphasizes that no country is immune from this process (Delacroix, 2024).

Deforestation, overgrazing, and excessive human consumption of water are among the principal drivers of desertification. Scientific research suggests that, through its contribution to heat-related illnesses, deforestation has caused approximately half a million deaths over the past two decades (Watts, 2025). The consequences of deforestation are not confined to the expansion of desert-like conditions. They also include declining soil fertility, depletion of water resources, destruction of vegetation cover, and the erosion of local livelihoods.

Arid and semi-arid regions are particularly exposed to these threats, whose consequences may extend to food security, migration, and social stability. One United Nations climate assessment has identified several major centres of dryland degradation, including South Asia, northern China, the high plains and California in the United States, and the Mediterranean region (Watts, 2024).

China, one of the case studies examined in this article, provides a particularly important example. Darrin Magee, Professor of Environmental Studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in the United States and a specialist in Chinese water resources, has observed that hotter summers and shorter winters with reduced snowfall are likely to produce a general decline in soil-moisture levels across the region. This, in turn, would make the soil more susceptible to wind erosion and long-distance transport, thereby threatening China’s otherwise commendable tree-planting efforts.

Magee has further argued that climate change will almost certainly aggravate the problem of sandstorms in north-eastern China. Combating desertification has therefore become a central component of environmental policy and ecosystem-restoration programmes in many countries (Standaert, 2021). This policy shift closely reflects the priorities emphasized by international institutions, particularly the United Nations.

The United Nations recommends that states improve their land-use practices and use water resources more efficiently. At a substantially larger scale, this would include cultivating crops that require less water and adopting more efficient irrigation techniques, such as drip irrigation, which delivers water gradually and directly to plants in order to minimise evaporation (Arasu, 2024).

Combating Desertification and Conserving and Restoring Ecosystems

Large-scale ecological restoration has emerged as one of the principal strategies for addressing land degradation, desertification, and water scarcity in arid and semi-arid regions across the world. Measures such as reforestation, afforestation, and grassland restoration have delivered significant benefits, including greater soil stability, expanded vegetation cover, and stronger ecosystem services capable of regulating local climates and hydrological cycles. Nevertheless, the hydrological consequences of large-scale ecological restoration are complex and often vary considerably from one region to another (Halefom et al., 2026).

Accordingly, in recent years, policymakers and international institutions have shifted away from an exclusive focus on mitigating the consequences of desertification and towards ecosystem restoration and sustainable land management. Within this framework, the restoration of degraded land is viewed not only as an instrument of environmental protection, but also as a strategy for strengthening resilience to climate change, enhancing food security, and improving the livelihoods of local communities.

Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), has stated:

“Restoration is the natural solution to help address the triple planetary crisis, deliver new jobs, lower poverty and build resilience to extreme weather. Land is life – and we must protect it.” (UNEP, 2024).

On this basis, the United Nations Environment Programme has identified seven key approaches to restoring land, combating desertification, and strengthening resilience to drought:

• making agriculture more sustainable by developing and applying indigenous knowledge adapted to the climatic conditions of each region;
• restoring and protecting soil by improving its fertility;
• protecting pollinators and insects, particularly bees;
• restoring freshwater ecosystems through the effective management of runoff and wastewater;
• revitalising coastal and marine areas by preserving biodiversity, preventing pollution, and remediating existing contamination;
• bringing nature back into cities by expanding urban green spaces; and
• mobilising finance for the restoration of ecosystems that are vulnerable to degradation or destruction (UNEP, 2026).

The manner in which these approaches are implemented, however, varies from one country to another. Each state has adopted a combination of policies—and in some cases innovative mechanisms—tailored to its own climatic, geographical, economic, and social conditions in order to reduce the effects of desertification and advance land restoration.

Saudi Arabia, for example, is implementing the Saudi Green Initiative with the aim of expanding vegetation cover and restoring degraded land. Algeria has pursued the Green Dam project to protect pre-Saharan regions and contain the spread of desertification. India has developed the Aravalli Green Wall Project to restore degraded land and counter the expansion of the Thar Desert. Kazakhstan, meanwhile, has sought to reduce soil erosion and dust storms through afforestation programmes and the establishment of protective forest belts.

Among these experiences, two of the largest and best-known initiatives in the world are China’s Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, widely known as the Great Green Wall of China, and Africa’s Great Green Wall Initiative. Although they differ in structure, objectives, and methods of implementation, both represent extensive efforts to contain land degradation and restore damaged ecosystems.

China’s Great Green Wall Project

Deserts account for a substantial proportion of China’s territory. The country’s arid and semi-arid regions, extending across north-eastern, northern, and north-western China, cover more than 1.6 million square kilometres. More than five decades ago, the Chinese government recognised that the continuing processes of desertification and the resulting dust storms could endanger the lives and livelihoods of nearly 200 million people (Wang et al., 2010).

According to National Geographic, desertification in China takes four principal forms:

• wind-induced desertification, which occurs when vegetation is destroyed and the exposed land is subsequently degraded by wind erosion;
• soil and water loss caused by water erosion, which is particularly widespread across the Loess Plateau;
• salinisation resulting from improper water management; and
• rocky desertification, which is distributed across the karst regions of south-western China (Petri, 2017).

These challenges prompted the Chinese government to undertake a vast and highly ambitious environmental project. China’s Great Green Wall, officially known as the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, was launched in 1978 to combat desertification, contain the expansion of the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts, and reduce the incidence and severity of dust storms.

Regarded as the world’s largest afforestation and ecosystem-restoration programme, the initiative covers 13 provincial-level regions across northern, north-western, and north-eastern China and is scheduled for completion by 2050. Its implementation has not been limited to tree planting. It also encompasses grassland restoration, the stabilisation of shifting sand dunes, soil conservation, and water-resource management. The programme is therefore regarded as one of China’s most important national initiatives for strengthening ecological security.

Zhu Lidong, a forestry official in Xinjiang, stated that poplar forests along the northern edge of the desert would be restored by diverting floodwaters. He added that the authorities were also planning to establish new forest networks to protect farmland and orchards along the desert’s western margin (Reuters, 2024).

Zhang Youyong, Chief Engineer at the Forestry, Grassland and Desert Control Bureau of Alxa Right Banner, an administrative area within China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, explained the local approach as follows:

“We use the straw checkerboard method to first lock the shifting sand, followed by planting drought-resistant trees such as saxaul. This approach helps us build an effective sand-prevention and control system, ultimately strengthening the ecological barrier” (Bela, 2025).

According to media reports, China had planted approximately 66 billion trees under the programme by 2025. The authorities intend to sustain these efforts through the programme’s scheduled completion in 2050 and to plant a further 34 billion trees by that date (Pare, 2025).

More broadly, since becoming a party to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification approximately three decades ago, China has emerged as the largest contributor to global greening and an important international model for desertification control (Xinhua, 2024).

Over the course of several decades, the programme’s afforestation activities have expanded across approximately 30 million hectares. Forest coverage within the programme area increased from 5.05 per cent in 1978 to 13.57 per cent in 2018. Studies have identified the programme’s substantial contribution to reducing wind erosion, conserving soil and water, and sequestering carbon dioxide.

Nevertheless, as the programme enters a new phase focused on higher-quality development, it has encountered several challenges, including ageing forest stands, increasing uniformity in species composition, and the deterioration of certain ecological functions (Guan et al., 2026). Questions have also consistently been raised regarding the exceptionally long timeframe required for the programme’s completion.

In this regard, Barron Joseph Orr, Chief Scientist of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, has observed:

“The broad significance of the Three-North Program is not only the scale of restoration, but the long-term political commitment behind it.”

In a written response to the Associated Press, Orr explained that reversing desertification becomes possible when it is incorporated into long-term development strategies (The Associated Press, 2026).

Ecologists have also expressed concern about the programme’s reliance on monoculture plantations. Poplar and willow species predominate across many parts of the shelterbelt. Limited species diversity may reduce ecological resistance to pests and diseases. In response to these concerns, funding has increasingly been redirected towards mixed-species plantations and the use of native vegetation (The Times of India, 2026).

Africa’s Great Green Wall Initiative

Forest loss has become an urgent concern across Africa as the Sahara Desert continues gradually to advance southwards. According to the environmental non-profit organisation Tree Aid, nearly 7,722 square miles—equivalent to approximately 20,000 square kilometres—of forest have been lost in Mali alone over the past three decades (Diallo, 2024).

Against this backdrop, Africa’s Great Green Wall Initiative represents one of the continent’s most significant environmental programmes for addressing desertification, land degradation, and the consequences of climate change. Launched by the African Union in 2007, the initiative was initially conceived as a ten-mile-wide belt of trees extending from coast to coast across 11 countries in the Sahel. By halting desertification, the project sought to protect farmers, contribute to food security, curb migration, and even reduce the conditions conducive to violent extremism. By 2024, it was estimated that approximately 30 per cent of the project had been completed (Yale Environment, 2025).

The initiative was established to restore degraded land across the Sahel and create a green corridor stretching from western to eastern Africa. Extending for approximately 8,000 kilometres from Dakar in the west to Djibouti in the east, the “Wall” aims, by 2030, to restore 100 million hectares—approximately 247 million acres—of degraded land, create 10 million jobs, and sequester 250 million tonnes of carbon as part of efforts to address climate change (Raman, 2025).

Contrary to its original conception as a continuous belt of planted trees, the initiative has evolved into a broad portfolio of ecosystem-restoration measures, sustainable agricultural practices, water-management programmes, and interventions designed to support the livelihoods of local communities. In line with this broader approach, world leaders—including French President Emmanuel Macron—committed approximately USD 19 billion through the Great Green Wall Accelerator to help measure, coordinate, and accelerate the initiative’s implementation (McGrath, 2024).

In addition to its environmental objectives, Africa’s Great Green Wall seeks to reduce poverty, strengthen food security, and generate employment opportunities in vulnerable regions. Assessments conducted in recent years illustrate the range of achievements that the initiative may produce. Between its launch by the African Union in 2007 and 2018, nearly 20 million hectares of land were restored, more than 350,000 jobs were created, and approximately USD 90 million in revenue was generated.

Ethiopia alone accounted for 15 million hectares of the restored land. The benefits of these efforts have been considerable. Threatened plant and animal species began to recover, while food security improved significantly. Several local communities also demonstrated renewed resilience to drought and did not require food assistance during the severe drought of 2015–2016, which had a major impact across eastern and southern Africa (Thiaw, 2020).

Nigeria’s National Agency for the Great Green Wall has also claimed that, between 2015 and 2024, it produced more than 45 million tree seedlings and restored approximately 12,000 hectares of degraded land. Experts have nevertheless argued that this level of progress remains limited in relation to the overall scale of the initiative’s objectives (Eze & Puentes, 2025).

Despite all these achievements, the initiative continues to face major challenges, including inadequate financing, insecurity, weak coordination, and difficult climatic conditions. Some observers—particularly those adopting a more pessimistic assessment—regard the project as having failed to meet its stated ambitions.

With relatively little time remaining before the initiative’s self-imposed 2030 deadline, billions of dollars have already been spent and further billions have been pledged. Yet much of the Great Green Wall remains unrealised. Numerous projects have encountered serious difficulties, while African agencies responsible for overseeing the initiative have stated that they have largely been marginalised by the international donors that provide much of its funding (Alpha, 2025).

Challenges Facing Desertification Control

1. Securing Sustainable, Long-Term Financing

Desertification-control projects generally require substantial investment and sustained financial support over extended periods. In many cases, funding is provided intermittently, fragmented across different programmes, or made dependent on external assistance, making the coherent and continuous implementation of projects considerably more difficult. The high initial costs of restoration frequently overshadow its long-term benefits (Stewart, 2023).

The absence of stable financing—particularly during the maintenance, monitoring, and vegetation-replacement phases—can undermine or even reverse initial achievements. The success of such initiatives therefore depends not merely on securing sufficient resources to launch them, but also on guaranteeing the availability of funding over the decades that follow.

2. Adapting to Climatic and Ecological Conditions

There is no single model of desertification control that can be applied successfully across all regions. Differences in precipitation levels, soil composition, vegetation cover, water availability, and the severity of soil erosion mean that a method that proves effective in one region may produce adverse results in another.

The application of standardised, pre-designed solutions without sufficient regard for local conditions may disrupt ecological balances. Projects should therefore be designed on the basis of local environmental characteristics and a careful assessment of the carrying capacity and specific needs of each ecosystem.

3. Pressure on Water Resources

Expanding vegetation cover in drylands does not necessarily amount to successful ecosystem restoration. Large-scale tree planting can increase water consumption and place additional pressure on groundwater resources. In some areas, planted species require continuous irrigation in order to survive, thereby calling the long-term sustainability of the project into question.

Where water consumption exceeds the natural capacity of the region, an initiative originally intended to promote restoration may itself intensify water scarcity. The integrated management of water resources and vegetation cover is therefore among the most difficult and sensitive dimensions of desertification-control programmes.

4. Inappropriate Selection of Plant Species

The use of non-native, water-intensive, or single-species plantations is a recurring problem in afforestation and desertification-control projects. Such species may be poorly adapted to local conditions, become particularly vulnerable to pests and disease, or place excessive pressure on already limited soil and water resources.

The planting of a single species may also reduce biodiversity and create an ecologically fragile system. Species selection should therefore be based on ecological compatibility, water requirements, biodiversity considerations, and the long-term resilience of the restored landscape.

5. The Gap between Tree Planting and Genuine Ecosystem Restoration

Many projects measure success primarily by the number of seedlings planted. Tree planting, however, does not necessarily constitute ecosystem restoration. Seedling-survival rates, soil quality, the recovery of biodiversity, and the sustainability of water resources are more meaningful indicators of ecological success.

Millions of seedlings may be planted, yet a significant proportion may die in subsequent years. Project evaluation must therefore move beyond counting initial planting operations and assess long-term ecological outcomes, including ecosystem functionality, vegetation persistence, and the recovery of essential ecological processes.

6. Weaknesses in Monitoring and Evaluation

Many large-scale desertification-control initiatives suffer from insufficient data, the absence of common indicators, and a lack of independent evaluation mechanisms. As a result, it becomes difficult to determine their actual level of success, failure, or environmental impact.

Statistics concerning the area of land restored, the number of trees planted, or the degree to which erosion has been reduced are sometimes inconsistent or based on different methodologies. Without continuous and transparent monitoring, the ability to revise policies, identify shortcomings, and prevent the repetition of past errors remains limited.

Monitoring and evaluation frameworks may also prioritise different objectives, including carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, and food security. This plurality of priorities complicates project planning, implementation, comparison, aggregation, and oversight (Mansourian & Stephenson, 2023).

7. Climate Change and Growing Uncertainty

Climate change can gradually alter the environmental conditions on which a project was originally designed. Rising temperatures, declining precipitation, longer and more severe droughts, and increasingly intense storms may destroy newly established vegetation or render previous restoration methods ineffective.

Desertification-control projects must therefore remain flexible and should be designed in accordance with future climate scenarios rather than relying exclusively on historical climatic conditions. Without such an adaptive approach, large-scale investments may prove unable to withstand rapidly changing environmental circumstances.

8. Local Community Participation and Livelihood Considerations

Land restoration undertaken without the active participation of local residents is generally unlikely to remain sustainable over the long term. Farmers, pastoralists, and Indigenous and local communities are directly connected to land and natural resources. Excluding them from decision-making processes may result in resistance, indifference, or a lack of local ownership.

Similarly, restricting access to grazing areas or agricultural land without providing viable livelihood alternatives may intensify the economic pressures faced by local communities. Successful projects must therefore establish a direct relationship between environmental protection, employment, food security, and the tangible interests and livelihood needs of local residents.

Conclusion

An examination of the Chinese and African experiences in ecosystem restoration and desertification control demonstrates that large-scale initiatives can play an effective role in rehabilitating degraded land, expanding vegetation cover, reducing soil erosion, and strengthening the resilience of communities to drought and climate change.

These projects have also shown that, where ecosystem restoration is supported by long-term planning, sustained political commitment, and meaningful social participation, its effects can extend well beyond environmental protection. It can contribute to improved food security, employment generation, poverty reduction, and stronger local livelihoods.

China’s experience highlights the importance of policy continuity and long-term governmental commitment. Africa’s experience, meanwhile, demonstrates the potential of regional and international cooperation in addressing environmental crises that transcend national borders.

At the same time, preserving and expanding the achievements of these initiatives requires simultaneous attention to the climatic and ecological conditions of each region, the sustainable management of water resources, the selection of native and ecologically appropriate species, continuous financing, and the genuine participation of local communities.

The existence of such challenges does not necessarily indicate that these initiatives are ineffective. Rather, it demonstrates that land restoration is a gradual and complex process that requires continuous assessment, adaptation, and policy adjustment.

China’s Great Green Wall and Africa’s Great Green Wall Initiative have shown that, even on an exceptionally large geographical scale, it is possible to contain land degradation and restore at least some of the ecological functions that damaged ecosystems have lost.

The principal lesson emerging from these experiences is that desertification control produces its greatest and most durable effects when it is incorporated as a permanent component of national and regional development, climate, environmental, and social policies.

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