 During an expedition to the Sahara in 1954 Richard St. Barbe Baker proposed a ‘Green front’ to act as a tree buffer to contain the expanding desert.The idea re-emerged in 2002, at the special summit in N'Djamena, Chad on the occasion of World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.It was approved by the Conference of Leaders and Heads of States members of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States during their seventh ordinary session held in Ouagadougou on June 1-2, 2005.