Mauritania Gets Aid to Combat Desertification

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=164139&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

This article talks about Qatar's commitment to help Mauritania combat desertification. Mauritania is mostly made up of desert, and desertification is a big problem for the country, hindering development and fight against poverty. Qatar's donation will be dedicated to helping Qasram village (with 600 families) by planting trees native to the region on 50 hectares of land.The trees will help hold down the soil, halt the spread of deserts, change the climate and make the land suitable for agriculture, which is a major source of living for the population, again. It seems like it's not the first time Qatar is helping Mauritania with its environmental problems. Qatar also helped Mauritania a few years ago with an invasion of locusts. I hope that its efforts to help Mauritania will continue, because planting trees is just the first step in a long journey. It seems like a lot of maintenance work is needed for trees to grow healthily in such harsh weather, such as ensuring a source of water. Also, planting trees do not target the root of the problem- human activities. Desertification is caused primarily by human activities, such as over-exploitation, inefficient water irrigation system, grazing of livestock, etc. I hope that more will be done to target the causes of desertification!

I wonder whether there are other countries helping Mauritania, especially the "leaders" of the world? What do you think about planting trees as a method to stop desertification?