A green wall across Africa

July 31, 2009 in Environment by Stephen | 2 comments

Sahara desert

Sahara desert

This morning at LBi we were privileged to have a visit from Magnus Larsson, a graduate architect with an amazing vision for stopping the spread of the Sahara Desert southwards – an inexorable process that is disrupting the lives of many Africans living in the region. Magnus talked to us about his life and his most recent presentation at TEDGlobal 2009, and took us on the journey that he’s been on for these past few years.

His idea hinges on the introduction of bacteria into the Saharan sand dune ecosystem – a process which solidifies the dunes and turns them into sandstone. Coupled with a plan to build a green wall of trees right the way across the African continent, Magnus suggests that the desert might be slowed down from growing at its current rate of 30 miles a year, as well as creating the opportunity for creating living spaces for the region’s many inhabitants.

But most of all, I enjoyed his honesty and openness, as he shared the story of his recent life, and the opportunity to start today with a truly inspirational character…

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  1. T. Caine’s avatar

    T. Caine on August 1, 2009 at 3:06 am

    Very interesting concept. It seems in the same vein as Evolution Architecture’s Sahara Forest Project. Perhaps you have seen it?

    http://progressivetimes.wordpress.com/2009/05/26/the-sahara-forest-project/

    Combating desertification is a huge task, but if it can be done in ways that actually benefit other environmental problems at the same time, then all the better. Though it does not suggest housing for locals, Evolution Architecture’s proposal is interesting given that it promises a net exports from its installations of power, food and fresh water with no importing of energy.

    At the same time, I always have to be a little bit nervous about these plans to alter huge ecosystems. Even for what we would view as positive changes on the local level, could a greener Sahara affect wind and rainfall somewhere in Asia? Affect currents in the Atlantic? In the end, we just don’t know.

  2. Stephen’s avatar

    Stephen on August 12, 2009 at 2:04 pm

    Thanks for your comment!

    I agree that a wholesale shift in ecosystem could be a radical and possibly dangerous step too far – my understanding of the current ‘green wall’ proposal is that it only suggests planting trees at the edge of the Sahara to stop its continual drift southwards, and this is where the proposal to solidify the dunes on the edge of the desert come in…