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Niger's Desert

Save the world -- plant a tree. If only it were that simple.

In the denuded lands of Niger, it just might be.

More than 7 million acres in Niger that once were barren are now covered with trees, largely because individual farmers are learning to grow crops around them instead of chopping them down. In this land where desertification was destroying the fertility of the soil, where hunger and poverty pervade, the trees are giving people new wealth, new life and new hope – even as the population explodes.

Drought, destructive farming and livestock practices, and government regulations that prevented individuals from owning trees had severely denuded the land in this country, causing the desert to expand. Fierce winds lifted the soil once held down by tree roots and blew large sand dunes into areas where people once lived and farmed. That is, until individual farmers began to take small steps that are now reaping large-scale rewards: They stopped cutting down the trees on their property and started farming around them.

Little by little, the trees are returning. Villagers now protect the trees so that they can sell their fallen limbs and leaves for food or firewood and so the tree roots will help refertilize and protect the soil. They are filling holes in arid land with manure, helping to restore the land’s ability to grow things. The result is less barren land, more trees, and less poverty and hunger.

The area remains poor, of course. Trees alone won’t solve all the problems of the region. But they are making a difference.

Plant a tree – save the planet. In Niger, it’s working – one farm at a time.

For more information about this story, visit the NY Times.

To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org