India, May 8 -- Aimed at halting desertification and meeting climate goals, the project to create a 1,400-kilometre green wall faces major hurdles - land conflicts, poor coordination, and tight timelines - with just three monsoons left to deliver

The idea of planting tree barriers or green walls to stop the spread of deserts has met with little success worldwide. In 2007, the African Union responded to the extending desertification of the Sahara Desert and resolved to build the green wall by planting trees for an 8,000 km long stretch passing through eleven countries - namely Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan - to be completed by 2030.

The idea of a wall slowly morphed i...