“There have been many Green Belt ideas for a long time,” says Prof. Heck, Executive Director of IfaS. However, the afforestation of an area of around 50,000 hectares in the African country of Mauritania, where it hardly rains at all, is novel. The areas were chosen because there is no competition for land, i.e. nothing is taken away from the local population. Solar-powered desalination plants are to filter the salt out of the water of the Atlantic Ocean and make it usable for reforestation of the desert. The project in Mauritania is an investment project that will refinance itself in the future through the sale of products such as vegetable oil and wood. Through forest management and the manufacture of products, local jobs are created. Consequently, the rural exodus of the population can be counteracted by creating a new perspective, at least in part. According to Prof. Heck, the market for these sustainable products already exists and the first companies have already expressed their interest. IfaS has already invested around 200,000 € in the preliminary planning. For the implementation of the project, e.g. the construction of the desalination plants, billions of euros are needed, which Prof. Heck is convinced can be raised in the coming months through the acquisition of investors and cooperation partners, among other things.