Beating Back the Desert

In Niger, Trees and Crops Turn Back the Desert
By LYDIA POLGREEN
Published in the New York Times February 11, 2007

In this dust-choked region, long seen as an increasingly barren wasteland decaying into desert, millions of trees are flourishing, thanks in part to poor farmers whose simple methods cost little or nothing at all.

Better conservation and improved rainfall have led to at least 7.4 million newly tree-covered acres in Niger ... achieved largely without relying on the large-scale planting of trees or other expensive methods often advocated by African politicians and aid groups ...

(click the headline above to read the article, and be sure to watch the five minute video)