Über das Werk :
Caravane de dromadaires
Dromedary caravan in the dunes, near Nouakchott, Mauritania (18°09’ N – 15°29’ W). The Sahara, the world’s largest sandy desert, covers 3.5 million square miles (9 million km2)—equivalent to the area of the United States—spread over eleven countries. Mauritania, which lies on its western border, is three-quarters desert and is thus particularly vulnerable to the phenomenon of desertification. Excessive grazing, harvesting of firewood, and agricultural expansion are gradually destroying soil-retaining vegetation on the perimeters of the great dune ranges. This facilitates the advance of sand, which today endangers cities, including the capital, Nouakchott. In 1960 the town was laid out on a grassy plain, several days of walk from the Sahara, but now has the desert on its doorstep. In arid and semiarid zones (which make up two-thirds of the continent of Africa), fragile arable lands deteriorate rapidly if farming and other exploitation become too intensive. In the past half-century, 65% of arable lands in Africa have suffered degradation, resulting in a drop in agricultural yield. In this vicious cycle, so difficult to break, poverty is both a cause and a consequence of the depletion of arable soil and the decline in agricultural productivity.
Über den Künstler :
Yann
Arthus-Bertrand
Yann Arthus-Bertrand war zuerst Schauspieler, dann, in den 60er Jahren, Verwalter eines Tierreservats. Später, in den 70ern, war er Heißluftballonfahrer in Kenia. Für die Verwirklichung seiner Ausstellung „La Terre vue du ciel“ (Die Erde von oben) musste er sich hart durchkämpfen, wo sie doch im Nachhinein hunderttausende Besucher angezogen hat. Sein Buch, ebenfalls nach der Ausstellung benannt, war ein echter Best-Seller. Ewig verliebt in Erde und Menschheit widmet er seine Arbeit dem Umweltschutz und den sozialschwachen Völkern.