In Niger” Trees and Crops Turn Back the Desert
February 11″ 2007
Lydia Polgreen
Guidan Bakoye” Niger — 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 new tree-covered acres in Niger” researchers have found” achieved largely without relying on the large-scale planting of trees or other expensive methods often advocated by African politicians and aid groups for halting desertification…