Desertification and Drought Day 2021. Restoration, Land, Recovery.

Land restoration is an essential component of any building-forward strategy.
Without land restoration, we will continue to face global crises. Ensuring food and water security, reducing emissions and conserving biodiversity will not be possible without concerted efforts to regenerate our natural capital and transform our food systems.
Land is the foundation of our societies. Over half of global GDP relies on what the land gives us. 99.9 per cent of the food we consume comes from land.
Land degradation already threatens the livelihoods and security of over three billion people (IPBES report 2018)
• More than 125 countries have committed to targets and measures to restore the land, which is a strong start. And the impact can be much bigger if COVID-19 stimulus packages are targeted toward green objectives.
• However, only about 2.5 per cent of recovery spending has green objectives.
We have the tools to create healthier and more resilient societies and economies.
They include:
• more responsible land governance,
• investments that protect and restore land and nature, and
• long-term strategic planning.
The pandemic has given us a rare opportunity to rethink the future we can create: healthier citizens, more secure livelihoods and greater equality for all. We can seize that opportunity now if we put land-centered solutions at the center of green recovery. (Source)

📚 The land is the basis of our food, feed and fibre production systems
📚 Where do we stand
📚 Solutions
📚 Land degradation neutrality (LDN) provides a framework to encourage sustainable land management and land restoration
📚 Land restoration is key to meeting the Paris Agreement
📚 Land restoration is key to biodiversity conservation
📚 Land restoration for a Green Recovery – The Solution
📚 The Scale of the Challenge – Reversing Course
📚 The International Response - Restoring Planetary Balance
📚 New Jobs – Working towards Restored Lands
📚Stories from the Land
📚 Financing Land Restoration - Making the Stimulus Green
Everyone has much to gain. Everyone has a role to play. Our collective future is at stake
Land is our greatest ally this decade as we seek to undo the damage our species has wrought on the nature, and ourselves. But first we must restore it to full health.


About Desertification and Drought Day

Desertification and Drought Day – known as the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought before 2020 – is observed every year to promote public awareness of international efforts to combat desertification. The day is a unique moment to remind everyone that reversing land degradation is achievable through problem-solving, strong community involvement and co-operation at all levels.

In 2021, the goal of Desertification and Drought Day is to demonstrate that investing in healthy land as part of a green recovery is a smart economic decision – not just in terms of creating jobs and rebuilding livelihoods, but in terms of insulating economies against future crises caused by climate change and nature loss, and in accelerating progress on all 17 Sustainable Development Goals as we recover from COVID-19.