Stopping Desertification in the Sahara

The headline reads what seems to be something not possible.  According to architect Magnus Larsson – anything is possible.  He has proposed a 6,000 km ‘wall’ be built from Mauritania in the west of Africa to Djibouti in the east.  His theory would keep desertification at bay possibly saving human lives and cities.

Larsson unveiled his idea at the annual TED Global conference in Oxford last week.  He proposed that by injecting a soil bacteria – Bacillus pasteurii - into the sand, a natural cement is formed (calcium carbonate or calcite).  Now, ‘injecting’ sand with a bacteria is much more easier said than done.  Currently, the idea is to station balloons along the proposed wall line and allow the sand dunes to blow over the top of them.  Once that happens, the balloons can be popped releasing the bacteria.

According to a 2007 UN study  desertification is described as “the greatest environmental challenge of our times” and that currently about 2 billion people are potential victims of desertification.

Of course anything that can save lives seems a worthy pursuit.  Many towns are facing extinction because of sand dunes threatening to envelope them.  I understand much more planning must be done before such a project is put in motion, but I am a bit wary about messing with nature.  I understand desertification is not natural, however the Sahara Desert does have a natural cycle of its own.

It has been substantiated that the Sahara Desert was once ‘wet’.  Larger and lakes and more rivers once existed in the Desert well before our time.  Most of our land was different back then, however how are we to know for sure that building this wall will not inhibit in some way the natural forces that take place across the Sahara or even the continent?

The great thing is that people are thinking and coming together to find solutions.