News & stories

Sixty researchers from eight European countries – Spain, Italy, Holland, United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary and Finland – will be working together with companies and farmers for the next four years to develop a viable agricultural model as a environmentally and economically beneficial and sustainable alternative to mainstream intensive monoculture. The objective of Diverfarming project, coordinated by Cebas-CSIC and UPCT, is to orient agricultural practices towards diversified models that work with nature and create richer agricultural landscapes.  Diversification allows to improve the quality of soil, minimize the use of inputs and increase biodiversity while maintaining the productivity of crops and reducing the dependence of farmers on a single crop. It increases the soil’s capacity to retain water and nutrients and act as a carbon sink, building resistance to erosion and allowing the soil to adapt to the effects of climate change and even mitigate them. The project team intends to generate conditions in which the soils are more prepared to overcome long periods of drought and are more protected against degradation. Diverfarming brings together economists, engineers, social scientists, agronomists, ecologists, biologists and geographers to analyze, quantify and monetize the benefits of locally adapted agricultural diversification for ecosystem services and agro-economy. Diverfarming seeks to integrate and increase the biodiversity of agricultural landscapes, achieving a balance between the optimization of ecosystem services in agriculture and the economic benefits for the farmers. In Hungary, the project takes place on asparagus plantations, while in Germany the work is done in the vineyards on the steep slopes of the Rhine Valley. In Italy, the researchers and farmers work with cereals, while in Holland and Finland they focus on forage fields for cattle feed. More info (in Spanish)... (c) Images courtesy of Cebas-CSIC

Bonn, Germany – UNCCD Capacity Building Marketplace now features a collection of specialized material to support the 2017-2018 Reporting Process, including an e-course, which contains numerous tips and training videos. The course has been developed to ensure that all reporting entities clearly understand the requirements for produce a quality report and have access to the necessary knowledge and tools that can make the reporting process more simple and straightforward. Read more...  

Twenty years have passed since the last atlas of desertification was published. Within that short period, enormous global changes have taken place in terms of human expansion and the impact that had on the environment. Equally significant progress has been made in understanding the fundamentals of human-environment interactions. This has been made possible, in part, by the massive increase and growth in the accessibility of global and WAD3 thus begins at a very different place than WAD2 in terms of scientific information and understanding. Read more...

The Capacity Building Marketplace (CBM) of the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) held a tremendous activity on 15th of June 2018 at St. Georges International School of Cologne, Germany in celebration of World Day to Combat Desertification (WDCD), which is actually commemorated on 17 June every year.    

Brussels, Belgium – UNCCD took part in the workshop organized by the European Commission (EC) on  the occasion of the World Day to Combat Desertification (WDCD) to increase synergies between EC partners and find ways to put land on the forefront of political agenda.  UNCCD presented the 2018WDCD video message from the Executive Secretary Ms. Monique Barbut and a trailer for the new documentary on the Great Green Wall initiative – a project that brings together development partners to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time – desertification, poverty and climate change.   Participants, who represented EC, GIZ, FAO, World Bank, ICRAF and World Agroforestry, shared specific examples of best practices in sustainable land management (SLM) and discussed opportunities for collaboration on drought issues as part of joint activities developed by UNCCD together with the German Development Institute and UNU.  Learn more: Workshop video #2018WDCD campaign 2018WDCD video message from Ms. Monique Barbut Best SLM practices  

By UNCCD Executive Secretary Ms. Monique Barbut Are you overwhelmed by the depressing news coming at you daily? Conflict, forced migrants, famine, floods, hurricanes, extinction of species, climate change, threats of war… a seemingly endless list.  It might surprise you, but you can really make a difference on many of these issues. Just like every raindrop counts towards a river and every vote counts in an election, so does every choice you make in what you consume. With every produce you consume, you strengthen the river of sustainability or of unsustainability. It is either a vote in favor of policies that spread social goods like peace and poverty eradication or social bads like – conflict or grinding poverty. We look up to governments a lot, forgetting that governments set up policies to encourage us to make specific choices. That’s how powerful our lifestyles choices are.  Imagine, what would happen if the world’s over seven billion consumers committed, every year, to just one lifestyle change that will support the provision of goods from sustainably managed land.   Every year, we make New Year resolutions about change. Why not include as one of those resolutions, a change of habit leading that will lead to a smart sustainable consumer lifestyle? Without any government intervention, you can make choices that will help to end deforestation, soil erosion and pollution or reduce the effects of drought or sand and dust storms. However, to make the right lifestyle change, each of us must first find out where the goods we consume are cultivated and processed. For instance, if they are linked to conflict in regions with rapidly degrading land or forests or polluted water or soils, then chose an alternative that is produced sustainably. It is a small, but achievable change to make every year.  Every country and product has a land footprint. What we eat. What we wear. What we drink. The manufacturer or supplier of the products we consume. The brands related to these suppliers that we will support. We prioritize buying from the local small farm holders to reduce our global land footprint. Consumers have plenty of options. But a vital missing link is the informed consumer.  Through mobile phone apps**, it is getting easier and easier to track where the goods we consume come from. It is also getting easier to find alternative suppliers of our choice, as the private sector embraces the idea of ethical business. The information you need is literally in the – mobile phone in the – palm of our hand. But you must believe in your own power to change the world. The global effect on the market may surprise you.  We will reward the food producers, natural resource managers and land planners struggling against all odds to keep the land healthy and productive. This is cheapest way to help every family and community in the world to thrive, and avoid the damage and loss of life that comes from environmental degradation and disasters.  Make 17 June, the celebration of the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, your date with nature. It’s the mid-point of the year and a good moment to review the progress you are making towards your New Year resolution of a sustainable lifestyle.  In 2030, when the international community evaluates its achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, you can point to positive changes that you have contributed in favor of present and future generations. You are more powerful than you think. Take your power back and put it into action. Read more: For information on how to track your land footprint, read: Fixing what the land is losing between the farm and your fork Information about World Day to Combat Desertification is here To understand the link between drought and land degradation read: Recurring droughts are clear and present dangers The opinion is available in other UN languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish About UNCCD The UNCCD is an international agreement on good land stewardship. It helps people, communities and countries to create wealth, grow economies and secure enough food and water and energy, by ensuring land users have an enabling environment for sustainable land management. Through partnerships, the Convention’s 197 Parties set up robust systems to manage drought promptly and effectively. Good land stewardship based on a sound policy and science helps integrate and accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, builds resilience to climate change and prevents biodiversity loss.