How rolling sand dunes are creeping up on last remaining oases on edge of Sahara

"On the ochre sands of Kanem, the neat vegetable gardens and silver-green palm trees of Kaou oasis stand out, incongruous in this desert province of 70,000 sq km in western Chad. Oases such as this, on the edge of the Sahara, have sustained human life in the world's deserts for thousands of years. Globally, an estimated 150 million people rely on the water, arable land and access to trade networks they provide."

"With two-thirds of its territory consisting of desert, the landlocked central African country is the most vulnerable in the world to climate breakdown. It ranks among the world's hottest and temperatures in Kanem province are rising almost twice as fast as the global average. Drone footage of homes in compounds in a desert with the odd tree dotted about; plots of cultivated soil, and a large oasis the size of a small lake surrounded by trees An aerial view of the desert village of Kaou, in Chad's Kanem province and an oasis on the edge of the desert town of Mao, known as the White City for the limestone used to build homes. The area's farmers rely on the oasis to grow food but these vital sources of water are disappearing as temperatures get hotter and winds grow stronger, elders say."

"Standing in the scalding sand, Mahamat Souleymane Issa gestures at a thin strip of greenery stretching along a few hundred metres. When I was a child, this wadi [river valley] was very big, he says. In the villages surrounding Kaou oasis, everyone used to have livestock cattle, camels, goats, recalls the 51-year-old chief. There were many trees and grass would grow in their shade. A lot has changed. Mahamat Ali, of SOS Sahel, inspects a barrier of palm fronds designed to secure sand dunes that threaten to swamp the oasis of Nokou in Kanem province The increasingly hot and dry climate has wiped out most of Kaou's trees, local people say."

Kaou oasis in Kanem province features vegetable gardens and palm trees that contrast with the surrounding desert. Oases on the edge of the Sahara have sustained desert populations for millennia and support an estimated 150 million people worldwide through water, arable land and trade routes. Chad is two-thirds desert and among the most climate-vulnerable countries, with Kanem warming almost twice as fast as the global average. Rising temperatures and stronger winds have shrunk wadis, killed trees, reduced livestock and allowed sand dunes to encroach. Local efforts using palm-frond barriers aim to secure dunes, but vital water sources continue to disappear, threatening food production and livelihoods.

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