Can India's Great Green Wall stop desertification?

Do you know of any regreening projects in your area?

Andrew Millison did a great job documenting India's Paani foundation water cup contest, in which farmers fixed their local desertification, village by village, in just a couple of years. It's really impressive.

No point having a green wall if there are no strong environmental laws protecting it.

I grew up in a village in the Shekhawati region of Eastern Rajasthan where the entire village was once surrounded by several small hills on each side, lending breathtaking views to the area. About 10 years ago, several mining companies starting blasting and mining one side of the hill and within 5 years the entire hill disappeared. I was shocked to see the impact on the area when I visited the village after a few years. The frequency of dust storms has increased significantly and a large part of the agricultural land is now almost barren. Rajasthan Govt. (and residents) really needs to do take urgent actions to prevent this from happening in other areas of the state.

Im from Rajasthan and I can tell you that politics, illegal mining & widespread corruption has ensured zero progress on the ground. Construction and real estate business is on boom and businessmen are happy to support the upcoming election campaigns. Most of the so called NGOs are hand in gloves with these corrupt business lobbies.

5:42 conservation agriculture is also a really amazing solution for this problem. Not only does it reduce the amount of soil getting taken away by wind, but it also allows farmers to grow their crops with significantly less fertilizer which reduces the GHG required to grow our food!

So far as an Indian, I haven't seen this project in action till now. I live in NCR and the quality of air is degrading each year. Hopefully, the Government take strict action and more people come forward for this great cause.

Re forestation efforts in last 20years have succeeded in parts of Maharashtra state so well that leopard population has increased & humans have suffered. Irrespective of results we still need green cover.

These are the kinds of news reports we need rather than meaningless political debates.

I live in Gurgaon but I never knew about this. Thank you DW!

The expert on desertification didn't actually say anything about why it didn't had a good track record, was it inviable or just bad execution?

Rajasthan has built a great tradition of conserving water through johads. They need to take the lead with such citizen initiatives

Razing down mountains and replacing it with a stretch of forest is the very embodiment of 'putting a bandaid'.

The transformation by the IamGurgaon group is amazing - loved seeing those before & after pictures!

Thank you DW for covering this 🙏

Here is my suggestion for greening deserts: 1. Use Supercritical water oxidation to convert fecal waste into water 2. Use this water and other organic waste to fertilize the soil 3. Focus on planting big trees that can provide shade and let nature do the rest. 4. Use drone and AI to spot for any mining activity in the region and create a strong legal framework for addressing this. 5. Provide incentives to people to invest money here in return for either land parcels or other ways of getting a return on their investment.

Thanks DW for such deep analysis

2023 this year is unpredictable, As in January we receive very less Snowfall in North India, in March-April we receives heavy rainfall which destroyed crops(wheat) heavily, In May-June summer breaks up the record in Delhi, UP. Resulting in Forest Fires Burning hectares of Forest , Destroying WildLife, Even Flying birds falls down in Delhi and when the summer is going on, Kedarnath and Surrounding area were experiencing Snowfall in summers. These all were just Trailer and the climax was performed by Monsoon season with flash flood all over India. Himachal Pardesh was tremendously suffered by flash floods, Landslides destroying lives, cities, Ecosystem, Economy. The scene was completely unforgettable. But who cares, After Monsoon, Rapid unplanned develpment, Deforestation, Reducing Forest, Shortning of rivers, Mining, Deforestation, Road Construction, Tunnels, Hydro-Power projects in Himalayas all are going in their rapid. Recently, Negativity between people is increasing rapidly in India, as you can see in Manipur, Haryana. When People are killed in the name of religion. So How can we expect Care of Environment. Hope India to Revive I don't wants to Lose my Country its people, its Natue, Its Ecosystem, Its Environment, Diffrent cultures in India, Diffrent relegion in India.

If you go to Google earth you would see how much of land is converted to farmland in India. Exception is kerala and north east states where farmland and forests coexist and look how the air quality and dust control is much better in these states

I don't get it. How does illegal mining happen if the government has already banned it? More than once too? Mountains and hill don't move around. And you need heavy equipment to actually put a meaningful dent in them. What has been the barrier to enforcing the ban?