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Sand, sand as far as the eye can see. This is Timbuktu in the north of Mali. Mysterious

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Timbuktu is located in the Sahel, one of the most arid desert zones in the world. Following

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the cycles of drought in these regions in recent decades, the desert continues to spread.

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Sand invades agricultural land, nibbles away at roads, fills in watercourses, insinuates

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itself into houses. It's a serious problem, and the battle seems almost lost before it

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begins. However, Borema Kamara is the head of the local branch of PELCD, the Environmental

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Programme to Combat Desertification.

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The programme's objective is to fight desertification, which, since the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992,

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has become a global problem, as well as an international priority. So how do you concretely

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combat the advance of the shifting sand? To stop its progress, you have to attack the

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element that actually moves it, wind. This is the objective of the Dune Stabilisation

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Project. It consists, in the short term, of making quadrants in the dunes with dry vegetation,

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and in the longer term, of planting trees in the middle of them. This will slow down

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the wind, stabilise the dunes, and so prevent the sand blowing onto agricultural land.

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These measures have provided protection not only to hundreds of hectares of crops, but

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also to the nearby river Niger. Elsewhere, in selected areas, eucalyptus forests have

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been purposefully planted, to act as a windbreak and protect the crops. And as wood is the

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main source of energy in these regions, the plantations serve a double purpose for the

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locals.

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The eucalyptus plantations also protect vegetable crops, as here in this large market garden

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managed by the women. In arid regions, water is a rare and precious resource. The EU Mali

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Programme finances the construction of wells and the purchase of motorised pumps. Thanks

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to this support, vegetable growing has developed in the region. More and more local people

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are becoming involved. They have well understood how they can benefit directly.