A decades-long initiative in Algeria has been evolving from a government program to a national movement to combat desertification and protect ecosystems, especially as climate change challenges increase. The Green Dam project was established in the 1970s to plant millions of trees to stop desertification, specifically to prevent the northward advancement of the Sahara Desert. At the edge of the vast Sahara, Algerian farmer Alawi Moumen surveys what remains of his family's fields. They've lived there for generations, watching as the desert creeps ever closer each year -- swallowing everything in its path. The government's response has over the years been both sweeping and strategic. Under the long-running Green Dam initiative, military units have been re-purposed as reforestation brigades. On the frontlines, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has planted his own tree saplings and pushed for the introduction of advanced monitoring systems. They now combine satellite data with ground sensors to track the progress of each sapling -- a technological leap from the project's beginning. Up to 300,000 hectares of once-degraded land now host thriving ecosystems. Experts say this is consequential but consistency will be key if long-term success is to be achieved. But some say the Green Dam's true innovation lies in its evolution from just being a government program to becoming a national movement. School children now learn desertification science alongside algebra, and university graduates deploy artificial intelligence-assisted planting patterns across the tundra. These efforts are valued by those at the forefront who keep calling for more concerted efforts to combat desertification. The Green Dam project aims to expand forest cover to 4.7 million hectares, including reforesting at least 400,000 hectares of land by 2026. Shotlist: Algeria - Recent: 1. Various of desert, people walking, animals; 2. Tumbleweed in well, desert; 3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic, dubbed in English) Alawi Moumen, farmer (starting with shot 2): "Sand encroachment and desertification are a major problem facing Algeria, especially in the areas bordering the Sahara. Sometimes we lose all our crops and even the roads leading to them due to this phenomenon."; 4. Various of desert, plants, animals; 5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic, dubbed in English) Yacine Ouinten, genetics and animal biotechnology PhD (starting with shot 4): "I believe the problem is not a large-scale afforestation campaign, but rather a permanent, continuous, and scientific policy that balances all factors that can contribute to preserving the vegetation cover from sand encroachment. Among these factors is unplanned livestock grazing, for example, which is itself a major problem today, as pastures are in a state of extreme deterioration."; 6. Desert, plants, wire entanglement; 7. Various of solar panels, water tank; 8. Various of desert, plants; 9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic, dubbed in English) Alawi Moumen, farmer: "I believe that combating sand encroachment in the Green Dam, which is supervised by the Algerian state, is important, but not sufficient. There are multiple methods and effective technologies that can help halt sand encroachment and desertification, and many countries around the world, such as China, have relied on them and succeeded. We must combine efforts to stop this."; 10. Various of desert, plants, shovel, camel. [Restriction - No access Chinese mainland]