Great Wall of Sahara to stop desertification

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Great Wall of Sahara to stop desertification

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25 July,2009 05:24 pm

A plan to build a 6,000km-long wall across the Sahara Desert to stop the spread of the desert has been outlined. The barrier - formed by solidifying sand dunes - would stretch from Mauritania in the west of Africa to Djibouti in the east. The plan was put forward by architect Magnus Larsson at the TED Global conference in Oxford. A 2007 UN study described desertification as the greatest environmental challenge of our times. The threat is desertification. My response is a sandstone wall made from solidified sand, said Mr Larsson, who describes himself as a dune architect. The sand would be stabilised by flooding it with bacteria that can set it like concrete in a matter of hours.