“The expansion of the desert is threatening the very existence of some countries, including Mauritania, where government officials say the Sahara Desert is moving south at a rate of four miles [6 km] a year. Mauritanians talk about the days when lions lived in the wooded areas of the country, the same areas that today are no more than a barren landscape of dead trees and blowing sand,” relates The Atlanta Journal and Constitution of January 20, 1985.

In order to till the land to feed the increasing populace, to build the houses, and to use the wood for fuel, every tree in sight is cut down. “Now there is a wood and charcoal shortage too,” said the director for the Protection of Nature in Mauritania, Africa. “Still the people cut and cut. They think Allah will provide the rain, the trees.” Their cattle, in order to survive, eat every blade of vegetation as far as they can graze. The result is that the exposed land is baked stone hard by the relentless sun, killing off microorganisms needed for plant growth. As the vegetation decreases, desert increases.