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The Group on Earth Observation Land Degradation Neutrality (GEO-LDN) Initiative announced the winner of its international technology innovation competition on the development of tools to support land use planning for Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN). The team that presented the “LUP4LDN”(Land Use Planning for Land Degradation Neutrality) tool won the competition and will receive financial and technical support valued at USD 100,000 to transform their prototype into an operational and scalable tool. LUP4LDN integrates LDN into participatory land use planning via an interface that allows users to evaluate land use and land management transition scenarios, providing visual and quantitative representation of land degradation gains and losses. “LUP4LDN supports users to answer where is most crucial to focus land restoration efforts and what sustainable land management interventions are optimal and feasible ito achieve LDN” said Pythagoras Karampiperis, CEO of SCiO, and leader of the LUP4LDN team, which includes experts in agriculture, sustainable land management, land preservation and conservation, as well as users from Tunisia and Burkina Faso. On behalf of the Jury Panel, Douglas Cripe, Senior Scientific Adviser at the Group on Earth Observation Secretariat, highlighted the achievements of the winning team during an online award ceremony in the margins of UNCCD CRIC19. “Of the tools presented, the LUP4LDN tool is the most innovative and the most directly responsive to the Competition’s challenge. LUP4LDN goes beyond analyzing data –  it brings stakeholders together. It directly facilitates collaborative land use planning and the process guidance provided is applicable globally. We recognize the value of the tool in training land use planners toward embedding LDN in planning processes,” said Cripe. In his welcoming remarks, Neil Sims, Co-Chair of the GEO-LDN Initiative and Chair of the Jury Panel, expressed his satisfaction in the large turnout for the competition. “We received entries from 23 teams, with participants from 36 countries across all continents, which reflects the significance of land degradation to countries around the world. The high level of engagement for this competition also demonstrated the value of coordination efforts such as the GEO-LDN Initiative,” he added.    Other finalists included the LDN Analytics tool, developed by a team led by Vanja Westerberg, co-Founder of Altus Impact, jointly with Simon Reynolds and Luis Costa, and users from Haiti and Ghana; and the Multi-layered Land-Dynamics Tool (ML-LDT) developed by a team led by Claudio Zucca, University of Sassari, and technical implementers and users from the Republic of Korea, India and Mongolia. “We would like to thank all three finalists' teams for their outstanding efforts, their contribution toward more transparent and well-informed land use planning and management, and their commitment to solving one of the world’s greatest environmental challenges,” said the jury in its official statement. “We were very impressed by the quality and the diversity of the finalists' tools, with approaches ranging from neural networks to expert knowledge. Through the direct engagement and co-development of the tools with end users from Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, the finalists' teams created tools that have the potential to better address the specific context, behaviors and expectations of the people who will directly interact with the technology. Especially in these difficult times, the competition provided an indispensable space for innovation and collaborative action,” said the Jury. In her closing remarks, Sara Minelli, Programme Officer at the UNCCD Secretariat, invited country Parties to express their interest in supporting further development, testing and pioneering of the winning tool. On behalf of the UNCCD Science Policy Interface, which was represented in the jury panel by Nichole Berger and Peter Verburg, Minelli said: “Land use planning is the place where different land objectives come together to enhance productivity and support livelihoods, while conserving biodiversity and combating climate change. The tools developed for this competition will provide the critical step for policy makers to include LDN in land use planning. We look forward to watching how these winning solutions – will contribute to bringing a scientific understanding of LDN into land use planning practice.” For more information or to express interest in supporting further development and testing of the winning tool, please contact Ms. Sara Minelli sminelli@unccd.int, Programme Officer on Monitoring and Assessment. Learn more:  LUP4LDN tool at a glance LUP4LDN demonstration Statement of the jury GEO-LDN Competition Competition playlist on UNCCD YouTube channel GEO-LDN Initiative

The nineteenth session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC 19) to the UNCCD will be conducted online from Monday, 15 March to Friday, 19 March 2021. The five daily online meetings will last for two hours from 12:30 – 2:30 pm Central European Time (11:30-1:30pm GMT/UTC). The meetings will be conducted in the six UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish

At least 90 countries have already set voluntary national targets to restore more than 450 million hectares of land under UNCCD – the largest global restoration initiative and a significant milestone for the Convention. But where is the land that is being restored? How many people will benefit from land restoration? What social, economic and environmental gains will communities in these areas receive from all this work?

UNCCD relies on the input of expert women in implementing its mandate. In particular, the members of our Science-Policy interface (SPI), which guides the application of world-leading science into meaningful and impactful policy that we, our Parties, and our partners can use on the ground. The SPI includes female specialists in desertification, forestry, soil, dust-modelling and weather extremes. Guided by all these women, the UNCCD continues to strive for a better, more equal world. During the month of March, we are featuring them here: Nichole Barger is an ecologist who works in partnership with diverse entities in the US on land degradation and restoration issues such as the ecological risks of fire mitigation treatments, historical drivers and biogeochemical responses to woody plant encroachment, forest decline and regeneration, and more recently restoration of degraded dryland ecosystems with a specific focus on soil ecology Anna Luise is working in Romeat ISPRA – Institute for the Environmental Protection and Research (Italy’s environmental agency) on issues related to sustainable development at local, national and global level, the assessment of the environmental damage, the monitoring, evaluation and governance issues related to sustainability issues, land degradation and desertification, the analysis of policies and the development of indicators, playing a role of technical support in decision and policymaking processes as well as in the negotiation within the UNCCD. She is Italy’s science and technology correspondent for the convention  Everlyne Nairesiae is a social scientist known for her contribution in coordinating and facilitating global networks, development of global methodologies and tools for  land governance, including monitoring of land in the SDGs and impact evaluation; research and analytical frameworks and strategies for mainstreaming gender in natural resource governance and management; and capacity development for governments, CSOs and other actors. Caroline King-Okumu's expertise includes work on institutional, policy and economic aspects of global environmental challenges with focus on land, water and climate-related issues in the global drylands, especially in Africa. She works with the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology on international development issues and business cases for the environment. Katrin Ehlert is an environmental scientist with over eight years research and consultancy experience in the field of soil protection in the context of agricultural usages,  soil and water quality assessments and environmental impact studies. Katrin is part of tech support unit at the Integrated Drought Management Programme (IDMP) which works with stakeholders globally and on all levels to develop drought early warning systems and policies Karma Dema Dorji serves as the Programme Director of the National Soil Services Centre in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests in Bhutan which works on sustainable aspects of soil and land management to achieve food security and protect the country’s pristine environment. As the national focal point for UNCCD, Ms. Dorji oversees the fulfillment of the Convention’s requirements, including the development of the national action program to combat land degradation and national reporting Marijana Kapović Solomun is a member of UNCCD Roster of experts, LDN national expert for Bosnia and Herzegovina and expert for the national drought management plan. Dr. Kapović Solomun has broad international and national experience in scientific projects, as leader or expert for soil, land degradation and forestry, who published significant number of scientific papers  Read more: UNCCD Science-Policy Interface

Inna Modja is a Malian actress and singer who topped the charts across continents. She has appeared in the Great Green Wall documentary, making an extraordinary journey along this new world wonder. Inna actively engaged with communities involved in the visionary initiative and later said that during her trip from west to east of the Sahel, following the route of the Great Green Wall planted by surrounding communities, she witnessed first-hand the importance of land for a world at peace.  Women, young people and everyone can work the land and reap the benefits when the land remain productive. It is when land is degraded and depleted, that communities are forced to migrate or the conflicts over access to resources arise. Inna says that it is her hope that the Great Green Wall will continue to grow, allowing all who live around it to coexist in peace, health and safety. As a proud UNCCD Land Ambassador, Inna is among young people who are changing the narrative of the Sahel. Her music, energy, commitment and humanitarian work resonate with audiences worldwide. Read more: The Great Green Wall of Africa UNCCD Land Ambassadors  

Updated just in time for CRIC19, the UNCCD conference will be indispensable to the participants of the first-ever fully virtual gathering of the convention Parties in March.