A plan to build a 6,000km-long wall across the Sahara Desert to stop the spread of the desert has been outlined.
The barrier - formed by solidifying sand dunes - would stretch from Mauritania in the west of Africa to Djibouti in the east.
The plan was put forward by architect Magnus Larsson at the TED Global conference in Oxford.
A 2007 UN study described desertification as "the greatest environmental challenge of our times".
"The threat is desertification. My response is a sandstone wall made from solidified sand," said Mr Larsson, who describes himself as a dune architect.
The sand would be stabilised by flooding it with bacteria that can set it like concrete in a matter of hours.
North African nations have promoted the idea of planting trees to form a Great Green Belt to prevent the spread of the sand.
A similar proposal - known as the Green Wall of China - has also been proposed to stop the spread of the Gobi Desert.
link: BBC NEWS | Technology | Wall 'could stop desert spread'
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