CIESIN Meeting on the Great Green Wall and Retention Basin - Environment and Security Cross-Cutting Initiative

02/13/2008

The president presides over today's agenda in Mbour

Senegal - A conference of ministers from countries in Africa's Sahel region is taking place in Mbour, Department of Mbour, Senegal. Their goal: to come up with funding strategies to implement an innovative weapon to hold back the Sahara Desert. The "Great Green Wall" was conceived by Nigeria's ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005 and has been enthusiastically supported by Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade. It will consist of a strip of trees and shrubs and a series of small irrigation basins stretching across 11 countries, according to Senegal's Minister of the Environment, Djibo Leyti Ka. Mamadou Ibrahima Ouattara of the African Union Commission, along with a group of engineering and water experts, presented the plan to the European Union in Brussels, Belgium two weeks ago. The EU promised to fund a feasibility study.
- summary by Louise Shaler
Source: Le Soleil by Babacar Bachir Sane
Original Language: French

CIESIN: Center for International Earth Science Information Network