Old people in Widou Thiengoly say they can remember when there were so many trees that you couldn’t see the sky. Now, miles of reddish-brown sand surround this village in northwestern Senegal, dotted with occasional bushes and trees. Dried animal dung is scattered everywhere, but hardly any dried grass is.

辛格利(Thiengoly)的老人們說，他們記得過去這里樹木繁多，遮天蔽日。而現在，在這個塞內加爾西北部小村莊周圍，紅褐色的沙漠延綿數英里。村里零星長著幾株灌木和樹木，四處散落著干燥的動物糞便，而干草卻難覓蹤影。

Overgrazing and climate change are the major causes of the Sahara’s advance, said Gilles Boetsch, an anthropologist who directs a team of French scientists working with Senegalese researchers in the region.“The local Peul people are herders, often nomadic. But the pressure of the herds on the land has become too great,” Mr. Boetsch said in an interview. “The vegetation can’t regenerate itself.”

人類學家吉勒斯•伯伊士(Gilles Boetsch)說，撒哈拉沙漠情況惡化加速，主要原因是過度放牧和氣候變化。伯伊士先生正帶領一個法國科學家小組與塞內加爾研究人員在這一地區共同開展研究工作。在接受采訪時，他說：“當地的佩爾人(Peul)是牧民，常常過著游牧生活。由于牲畜給土地造成巨大的壓力，植被無法自行恢復。”

Since 2008, however, Senegal has been fighting back against the encroaching desert. Each year it has planted some two million seedling trees along a 545-kilometer, or 340-mile, ribbon of land that is the country’s segment of a major pan-African regeneration project, the Great Green Wall.First proposed in 2005, the program links Senegal and 10 other Saharan states in an alliance to plant a 15 kilometer-wide, 7,100-kilometer-long green belt to fend off the desert.While many countries have still to start on their sections of the barrier, Senegal has taken the lead, with the creation of a National Agency for the Great Green Wall.

然而，自2008年以來，塞內加爾一直在與沙漠侵蝕斗爭。該國每年在一條長達545公里(約340英里)的地帶種植約200萬株樹苗，這是該國在綠色長城項目中承擔的任務。此項目是于2005年首次提出的一項龐大的泛非洲生態恢復計劃。塞內加爾與其他10個撒哈拉國家將共同行動，建造15公里寬、7100公里長的綠化帶，用于抵御沙漠侵蝕。許多國家還尚未啟動種植所承擔的綠化帶時，塞內加爾已率先行動，設立了落實綠色長城項目的國家機構。

“This semi-arid region is becoming less and less habitable. We want to make it possible for people to continue to live here,” Col. Pap Sarr, the agency’s technical director, said in an interview here. Colonel Sarr has forged working alliances between Senegalese researchers and the French team headed by Mr. Boetsch, in fields as varied as soil microbiology, ecology, medicine and anthropology.“In Senegal we hope to experiment with different ways of doing things that will benefit the other countries as they become more active,” the colonel said.Each year since 2008, from May to June, about 400 people are employed in eight nurseries, choosing and overseeing germination of seeds and tending the seedlings until they are ready for planting. In August, 1,000 people are mobilized to plant out rows of seedlings, about 2 million plants, allowing them a full two months of the rainy season to take root before the long, dry season sets in.

該機構技術主任佩普•薩阿上校(Col. Pap Sarr)接受采訪時說：“這片半干旱地區越來越不適宜居住。我們要讓人們有可能繼續在這里生活下去。”薩阿上校促成塞內加爾研究人員與伯伊士先生負責的法國科學家小組建立起研究合作關系，涉及微生物學、生態學、醫學和人類學等諸多領域。上校說：“在塞內加爾，我們希望通過嘗試各種行動方法，讓其他國家更積極地行動起來。”自2008年以來，每年五六月份，約有400人應招在八個苗圃工作，選種、育種、育苗，直到苗熟待種。八月份，要動員1000人栽種共約200萬株樹苗。這樣，在漫長的旱季到來之前，這些樹苗就有足足兩個月的時間在雨季扎根。

After their first dry season, the saplings look dead, brown twigs sticking out of holes in the ground, but 80 percent survive. Six years on, trees planted in 2008 are up to three meters, or 10 feet, tall.So far, 30,000 hectares, or about 75,000 acres, have been planted, including 4,000 hectares this summer.There are already discernible impacts on the microclimate, said Jean-Luc Peiry, a physical geography professor at the Université Blaise Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand, France, who has placed 30 sensors to record temperatures in some planted parcels.

第一次旱季之后，樹苗看上去枯萎了，褐色的嫩枝在樹坑里冒出來，但80%的樹苗存活了下來。六年后，2008年種的樹已有3米(約10英尺)高。至今植樹面積已達3萬公頃，約7.5萬英畝，其中包括今夏新植的4000公頃。考生如果怕自己錯過考試報名時間和考試時間的話，可以 免費預約短信提醒，屆時會以短信的方式提醒大家報名和考試時間。

“Preliminary results show that clumps of four to eight small trees can have an important impact on temperature,” Professor Peiry said in an interview. “The transpiration of the trees creates a microclimate that moderates daily temperature extremes.”“The trees also have an important role in slowing the soil erosion caused by the wind, reducing the dust, and acting like a large rough doormat, halting the sand-laden winds from the Sahara,” he added.Wildlife is responding to the changes. “Migratory birds are reappearing,” Mr. Boetsch said.

法國克萊蒙特(Clennot-Ferrand)地區帕斯卡爾大學的地理學教授讓•路可•佩里說，在微氣候學上，已經有了一些可見的變化。在該項目中，他放置了30個溫度記錄儀。佩里教授在接受采訪時稱：“樹木散發水分，形成一個小氣候，可以調節日溫差。”佩里教授還說：“這些樹木在減緩刮風引起的水土流失、降塵和充當巨大屏障方面也都發揮著重要作用，從而阻擋來自撒哈拉沙漠的風沙。”野生動物也得益于這些變化。伯伊士先生說：“候鳥又飛回來了.”

The project uses eight groundwater pumping stations built in 1954, before Senegal achieved its independence from France in 1960. The pumps fill giant basins that provide water for animals, tree nurseries and gardens where fruit and vegetables are grown.

該項目所使用的八個地下水泵站均建于 1954 年，在1960年塞內加爾從法國獨立出來之前。水泵把水抽到巨大的蓄水池里，供動物飲用并灌溉苗圃和種植水果蔬菜的園地。

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