Nobody can ignore the multitude of environmental and socio-economic challenges in Sahelian Africa. They include climate change, poverty, threatened food security, and deteriorating human health.

In 2007, as a partial response to these challenges, eleven African nations situated in the Sahel region signed an unprecedented agreement: the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative (GGWSSI). The plan is to restore ecosystems across the entire African continent from east (Senegal) to west (Djibouti) (more that 7000 km long and 15km wide).
 
In this video, Deborah Goffner from Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS, French governmental agency for fundamental research) presents an overview of the GGWSSI project and how it extends far beyond planting a gigantic "wall of trees".