Republic of Moldova promotes effective multi-stakeholder engagement to achieve LDN

The first national workshop on Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) was recently held in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova. This event brought together participants from both national and local public administration institutions, scientific and civil society, the business community, and representatives of other key stakeholders.

The purpose of the meeting was to officially launch the LDN target setting process with the mobilization of the high level of governmental representation and multi-stakeholder engagement in order to create a collaborative and synergetic framework for of the effective steering of the LDN target setting and subsequent implementation processes in the Republic of Moldova. Hosted by the State Hydrometeorlogical Service as the country's UNCCD national focal point institution, and actively facilitated by the Secretariat of the UNCCD, this workshop has become a key reference for the LDN process in this country.

During the event, participants were familiarized with the land degradation neutrality target setting approach and the key steps to defining national voluntary LDN targets.  Mr. Mihail Roiby, director of the State Hydrometeorological Service and the UNCCD National Focal Point, highlighted that “the economic benefits of LDN in specific conditions in Moldova can advance the achievement of other Sustainable Development Goals, such as job creation and poverty reduction, food and water accessibility and climate change mitigation”.

With this event, the National LDN Working Group has also now become operational. Thanks to the high level status and multi-stakeholders composition secured, the Republic of Moldova will ensure the effective mainstreaming of LDN into all relevant national development policies and plans. The Working Group now includes 20 experts and policy specialists from governmental organizations (line ministries, national land use planning, agriculture, environment and forestry, statistics), scientific institutions, the private sector (farmer organizations, land-based companies) and the civil society.

The Republic of Moldova is now demonstrating how government leadership and meaningful multi-stakeholder engagement creates a collaborative and synergetic framework for the successful implementation of the LDN target setting process at country level, constituting a good example that other countries can follow.