The lands around the Mediterranean Sea (the Mediterranean Basin) form the largest of the five world regions subjected to a Mediterranean climate – long, warm to hot, dry summers and mild to cool, wet winters. These climatic conditions make the Mediterranean vegetation (woodlands, scrubs and grasslands) well adapted to survive dry conditions and to recover from droughts, floods and fires. Yet, land degradation and desertification do occur in croplands, rangelands and woodlands in the Mediterranean Basin.

The Regional Implementation Annex IV offers opportunities for an effective national action in the Northern Mediterranean Region. The Annex involves 12 affected country members and three observers. Seven of the affected countries are members of the European Union, all but two (Portugal and Hungary) are within the Mediterranean Basin, and all but one (Albania) have drylands. In four affected countries, drylands cover most of the territory.

Currently, four countries to the Annex IV (Albania, Portugal, Spain and Türkiye) have aligned their national action programmes (NAPs) with the 10-year Strategy.

Northern Mediterranean regional cooperation

In 2011 the members of Annex IV identified priorities for five subprograms of the regional work programme for 2012-2013.

These include:

  • Aligning existing NAPs with the 10-year Strategy
  • Generating a roadmap for further developing Annex IV regional action programme (RAP)
  • Exploring options for regional projects
  • Regional testing of the impact indicators adopted by the Conference of the Parties (COP)
  • Exploring the possibilities for cooperation with other countries of the Mediterranean Basin and with the Central and Eastern European countries
Contact Regional Liaison Office for Northern Mediterranean (Annex IV)

Tarım ve Orman Bakanlığı 1. Bölge Müdürlüğü
Büyükdere Caddesi No: 265
Fatih Ormanı Kampüsü Maslak / Sarıyer ,
Istanbul - Türkiye

Mr. Mustafa Yurtoglu

  • Regional Liaison Officer
  • myurtoglu [at] unccd.int (myurtoglu[at]unccd[dot]int)
  • 00 90 212 262 57 56 / 1444
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A capacity-building workshop on drought resilience marks achievements of the Ankara Initiative
Children and UNCCD - Florence, Italy 2021

This project, “Children vs Desertification” is part of the UNCCD Capacity Development and Innovation Office’s (CDIO) series ‘‘Children and the UNCCD.’’  It was designed and managed by Giorgio Falchi as part of his internship with support from the CDIO Team. The aim of the project was to raise awareness of desertification and land degradation among younger generations in two Italian primary schools located in the municipality of Montespertoli (25 km far from Florence). 40 children ages 10 to 11, pupils of the schools "Don Lorenzo Milani" and “Rita Levi Montalcini” were involved in 2-hours of exercises on ways of combatting desertification and land degradation. Planning and development     The efforts and spirit of our multicultural/international Team were central to the development and realization of this project. First School: Istituto Comprensivo Statale "Don Lorenzo Milani" Second School: Scuola Primaria "Rita Levi Montalcini".   Giorgio's experience As I walked through the front door of the school that had shaped my childhood mindset for five years, I was overwhelmed by a flood of memories and emotions. Since taking the final examination, I had not set foot in primary school again. Why? I would like to say it was because of lack of time, but perhaps it would be more correct to say lack of will. It was as if I wanted to consign all the moments and memories I had experienced there, both the good and the bad, to that yellow and grey building, so that I would never have to deal with them again.   While I was explaining to the caretaker the reason for my presence, I looked around me: the entrance, the stairs, the large mosaic in front of the door, the lockers, the colors had not changed one bit. Even the arrangement of the benches seemed the same. After shaking the teacher's hand, we entered the classroom assigned to me. It was strange to occupy the place that for five years, as a child, had been occupied by people to whom we, or at least I, attributed absolute authority. As I laid out the materials I had prepared for the exercise, I kept asking myself: "Will I be able to get the message across to them? Will I be interesting? Will I be able to make them learn and enjoy themselves?”. The answers to these questions I hoped to gage from their smiles and their happy faces at the end of the exercise.   Description of the simulation   The idea of preparing an exercise in which the children had to combat the advance of desertification came from the CDIO Team's passion for resource management board games. The training activity was then studied and approved together with the councillor for the culture of the municipality of Montespertoli, Daniela Di Lorenzo, and Professor Barbara Papini. 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Children and UNCCD - Florence, Italy 2021