Launch of the 4th International Forum on China’s Taklamakan Desert
December 25, 2025
The Minister of Trade and Tourism, Ms Zeinebou Ahmednah, acting Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, inaugurated, on Sunday in Nouakchott, the launch of the proceedings of the first International Forum on China’s Taklamakan Desert held in Mauritania, the fourth after the three editions organised in China.
This three-day forum is organised by the Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall (PAGGW), within the framework of its partnership with the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (XIEG) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which co-organised the Fourth Edition of the International Forum on the “Taklamakan Desert” from 14 to 19 December 2025 in Nouakchott, in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
The meeting aimed to strengthen scientific cooperation and the exchange of experiences between research institutions and national agencies, expanding the partnership between the countries concerned through the protection of natural resources and the improvement of the conditions of communities affected by climate change.
In his address, the Executive Secretary of the PAGGW, Mr Elmoustapha Garba, declared that “the Great Green Wall is a pioneering African programme implemented by the Agency in 11 countries of the Sahel and the Sahara, constituting a model for combating soil degradation and achieving social and environmental development,” underscoring that the Agency has established fruitful relations with various partners in order to unite efforts and achieve integration towards the common goal of combating the advance of the desert.
In her speech on this occasion, the Minister declared that “the International Forum on the Taklamakan Desert constitutes a unique platform for dialogue and the exchange of experiences between two pioneering global experiences in the face of major environmental challenges (the Great Desert and the Taklamakan Desert).”
She stressed that “the meeting of these two experiences in a single place, on Mauritanian soil, and for the first time on African soil, reflects the strategic vision of His Excellency the President of the Republic, Mr Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, aimed at strengthening environmental resilience, promoting South-South cooperation, and opening up to successful international experiences, in particular the pioneering Chinese experience in combating desertification and rehabilitating arid zones.”
For his part, the Director General of the National Agency of the Great Green Wall, Mr Sidina Ahmed Aly, declared that “the Agency has worked in recent years to strengthen its credibility with partners and to develop quality projects thanks, among other things, to cooperation with the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, under the Chinese Academy of Sciences,” commending the role of the African Agency of the Great Green Wall in coordinating joint efforts.
In a speech delivered on behalf of the Ambassador of China, the embassy’s economic counsellor, Mr Xiao Wensheng, indicated that “soil degradation and desertification are a challenge facing humanity,” reaffirming “his country’s willingness to cooperate in achieving the Great Green Wall, and to work with Mauritania and all partners for scientific governance in the field of combating desertification.”
As for the speakers, Mr Duan Weili, Deputy Director of the Chinese Xinjiang Institute, Ms Wang Hua, Director of the Chinese administration for combating desertification, and Mr Brahim Echaw, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, guest of honour of the Forum, they emphasised the need to combat desertification, the importance of the Chinese academic experience, and the strengthening and intensification of joint efforts.
Subsequently, the Minister oversaw the signing ceremony of two bilateral agreements of a five-year duration between the National Agency of the Great Green Wall and the Chinese Xinjiang Institute, on the one hand, and the African Agency of the Great Green Wall and the Chinese Xinjiang Institute, on the other, aimed at expanding and strengthening the partnership between the two Agencies and the Chinese Institute.
Mint Ahmednah also announced the creation of the Integrated African Research Centre of the Great Green Wall, founded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences – Xinjiang and the African Agency of the Great Green Wall.
Several sessions were held during the forum on, among other topics, the analysis of the Chinese project to stabilise 3,046 km of sand dunes and its repercussions on the African Great Green Wall (7,750 km), the integrated measures to strengthen the resilience of the Sahel region’s soils in the face of climate change, science, policy, action, global environmental monitoring, and the implementation of the Great Green Wall – practices and challenges in Africa.
