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Drying out
But overgrazing by cattle has done terrible damage to the Sahel – the soil has been eroded, the plants are disappearing and the whole region is drying up.
This has made the Sahara desert wider, and some birds – such as sand martins – now find it much harder to cross. Sand martins no longer visit Europe in the same numbers they did fifty years ago.
Last modified: 11 January 2005