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DK's artificial island + Great Green Wall could save Africa if past mistakes avoided

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Denmark is going to build its own artificial island (engineering - architecture)
https://bgr.com/2021/02/09/science-news-...d-denmark/

KEY POINTS: The planet desperately needs us to ramp up our clean energy production if we’re going to curb climate change fast enough to prevent calamity. Denmark, which is is the biggest oil producer in Europe, is attempting to turn the tide, and it now says it will build an entire manmade island that will eventually provide an abundance of clean energy. The island, which will be situated roughly 50 miles from the country’s coast, will utilize the wind to produce clean electricity that will then be distributed where needed. (MORE - details)


The Great Green Wall could save Africa. But can the massive forestry effort learn from past mistakes? (design)
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/02/...t-mistakes

EXCERPT: Since the African Union first launched the Great Green Wall in 2007, the initiative has struggled to make headway. Made up of local efforts across 11 countries, it has reached just 16% of its overall goal to vegetate 150 million hectares. But last month, the project—which analysts estimate will cost at least $30 billion—got a major boost: a pledge of $14 billion in funding over the next 5 years [...] But many are also apprehensive.

In recent years, research by ecologists, economists, and social scientists has shown that many forestry projects around the world have failed because they didn’t adequately address fundamental social and ecological issues. Project leaders often didn’t ask communities what kinds of trees they wanted, planted species in places where they didn’t belong, and did little to help the saplings survive...

[...] It’s a problem that Joda knows well. “I have traveled the breadth of Africa and seen it everywhere,” he says. “Trees are planted, but they are not taken care of and so they never grow.” The question now, he and others say, is whether Great Green Wall projects fueled by the fresh burst of cash will heed those hard-learned lessons.

There’s little doubt that well-executed agroforestry initiatives can deliver hefty economic and ecological benefits. In the Brazilian Amazon, for example, Brancalion and other researchers have documented projects that have helped restore native plants, improve soil’s ability to store carbon, and boost the quality of drinking water. Local residents report restoration projects have even fostered tourism.

In Africa, the adoption of one approach, called farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR), is credited with regreening a notable portion of the Sahel, the semiarid region south of the Sahara. [...] But many efforts, particularly those not led by local communities, stumble. Newly planted trees can die of neglect when planners don’t engage communities from the start in discussions about which species to plant, as well as whether residents are willing and able to provide the water, fertilizer, and protection from grazing animals that saplings need. Farmers are often busy and have their own priorities; they “will not … manage trees that they do not value...”

[...] A lack of community input is a leading cause of failure ... Other research has highlighted ... flawed projects. For example, many have used easily available, fast-growing species that are not native to project sites, such as eucalyptus and pine. In some cases, the results have been counterproductive: The poorly adapted saplings wither, or become invasive weeds that crowd out native species and suck up scarce water. ... Too often ... “The emphasis is on numbers, not quality.”

[...] promises to plant huge numbers of trees at low cost, for example at $1 per seedling, can distract from the real challenge. “You can plant a tree for $1 ... but you cannot grow a tree for $1.” Failing to account for social and economic concerns can also lead to misleading perceptions of how much degraded land is realistically available for restoration... (MORE - details)
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