In 1973 a reportedly drunk driver flattened a tree in the middle of the Sahara, which sounds unremarkable until you learn it was the only tree for 250 miles around, a 300-year-old acacia so isolated it was marked on maps covering half a continent. https://share.google/ePM21R48Aq0VRqTUb
We do and we might get back there eventually if we keep up with water harvesting techniques and permaculture designs in the region, which are aimed at greening the edge of Sahara
Andrew Millison has a few episodes on this on his channel. For those interested, non YT links:
How Africa’s Great Green Wall is Solving an Ancient Conflict which shows projects in Chad
How Refugees are Greening the Edge of the Sahara near the border with Sudan in Chad
Inside Africa’s Food Forest Mega-Project with projects in Niger