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A new report shows progress in restoring land, creating jobs and building resilience across the Sahel—while highlighting the scale of the work still aheadIn Garaké, Niger, a pond once choked by invasive plants has become a source of food, income and hope. After restoration work cleared the water and opened the land for crops, Abdoulaye Aboubacar began growing rice, maize, sugar cane, potatoes and sweet potatoes. He now feeds his family, sells the surplus and invests the income in other small businesses.Stories like his bring to life a new report marking five years of the Great Green Wall Accelerator an effort launched to help turn one of Africa’s most ambitious environmental visions into tangible progress for communities on the ground.Led by African countries and supported by partners including the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the Great Green Wall (GGW) initiative has evolved from a bold vision into a growing effort to deliver results on the ground and at scale.Senegal / Kaolack regionThe world's largest living structureOften described as the world’s largest living structure, it spans a vast mosaic of restored landscapes, farms, water systems and communities stretching across Africa’s drylands. Founded in 2007 by the African Union and UNCCD, the Great Green Wall extends across 156 million hectares — from the Senegal River Basin in the west to the Horn of Africa in the east. The 11 founding member countries are Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan.Five years into the Accelerator, the story is evolving—from ambition and scale to a stronger focus on tracking impact, improving transparency and building systems that can show what is working. It is no longer just about planting trees, but about whether large-scale restoration can deliver real change, fast enough, in one of the world’s most vulnerable regions.The initiative has long been thought of as a wall of trees. It’s more. A continental effort to restore degraded land, strengthen food systems and create new economic opportunities, while expanding access to clean energy and building resilience in one of the regions most exposed to climate change, land degradation and drought.Fetching water in NigerThe GGW Accelerator: Turning pledges into results on the groundLaunched in 2021 after the One Planet Summit, where major technical and financial partners pledged more than $19 billion, the Accelerator was created to improve coordination, track funding and help countries measure results. Five years later, the picture that emerges is still taking shape—but it is beginning to show how this effort is changing the way the Great Green Wall is planned, financed and monitored.Central to the Accelerator's success is its close partnership with the Panafrican Agency of the Great Green Wall (PAGGW), the intergovernmental body that coordinates regional implementation across borders. Together, the GGW Accelerator and the PAGGW work to convert financial commitments into tangible, measurable results across Africa's drylands, building the institutional architecture required for reporting and monitoring progress. The Observatory now tracks over 389 projects. But the data also tells a more complex story. Fewer than 90 currently report data aligned with the initiative’s harmonized indicators, highlighting both early progress and significant gaps in reporting that are still being addressed. Stonewall construction in Ethiopia's Tigray regionEven with these limitations, the available data points to early but meaningful gains: 1.66 million hectares under restoration, 24 million tons of CO₂ equivalent sequestered or mitigated, 4.6 million jobs created, 46 million beneficiaries reached and 2,315 MWh of clean energy produced.These results should be understood in the context of long-term land restoration processes, which can take years—sometimes decades—to fully materialize at scale, especially since reporting on the totality of GGW projects remains an iterative process that remains undergoing.For partners already investing in the Great Green Wall, the report offers a clearer —though still evolving— sense of how support is translating into results on the ground. For those considering future engagement, it points to something equally important: a growing architecture for transparency, accountability and investment readiness.Employment, women's leadership and the human face of restorationThe jobs figure is among the strongest early indicators of momentum. Against a 2030 target of 10 million jobs, the reported total suggests that restoration is not only an environmental undertaking but also an economic one. Across the Sahel, the Great Green Wall is increasingly being framed as a platform for rural enterprise, women’s leadership, youth employment and locally led adaptation.Reversing land degradation in Burkina FasoThe report’s human stories bring that shift into focus. In Mali, a women’s cooperative received tools, training and a tricycle that transformed the daily work of transporting organic fertilizer. The cooperative later expanded into processing local crops into enriched flour and was granted four hectares of land by the municipality. "We are leaders, innovators, and providers. Our daughters now see a future. Our municipality recognized our progress by granting us four hectares of land to scale up production. This is proof that women's leadership can inspire trust and collective action." — Florence Banou, 55, leader of the AMAKENE women's cooperative, Bandiagara, Mali — supported through WFP's Integrated Resilience ProgrammeIn Chad, women trained to install and repair solar panels turned clean energy access into a new source of income and independence."Since solar panels have come to Chad, families have benefitted a lot and women's lives have been transformed. Before, I depended on my husband. But today, we make a profit from each installation. Ever since I learned this job, I've wanted my sisters to follow my example." — Adouia Brema, Chad — trained to install and repair solar panels through a World Bank-supported initiativeSuch examples help reframe the Great Green Wall for its next phase—one that places greater emphasis on systems, data, and investment readiness alongside on-the-ground impact. They also point to three areas shaping what comes next: communication, innovative finance and transboundary land and water management. Together, they aim to build a stronger narrative, unlock financing tools such as green bonds, carbon credits and blended finance and align land restoration with shared water governance across borders. The next generation of land stewardsOne framework, one platform: Building a common evidence baseA central achievement is the move toward a common evidence base. This responds directly to longstanding challenges around fragmented data, coordination, and visibility of results. The Harmonized Results Management Framework, developed and validated with ten of the 11 countries in close collaboration with the PAGGW, gives partners a shared language for measuring progress. The GGW Observatory — launched in Ouagadougou in 2024 and now endorsed by 10 countries — builds on that foundation, offering a single platform for tracking projects, finance, results and geospatial data. Its indicators feed directly into real-time dashboards used by the GGW governments, donors and local communities.The Accelerator also supported the establishment of National Coalitions in nine of the 11 countries — bringing together Finance, Planning, Environment and Forestry ministries alongside civil society, academia, the private sector and media into whole-of-society platforms for GGW governance.Planting the seeds of the next harvest in SudanThe report also places the Sahelian effort within a wider continental frame, noting that the updated African Union Great Green Wall Strategy expands the initiative’s reach while keeping the Sahel as its foundation.The work ahead: From commitment to lasting impactThe work ahead remains substantial. Challenges persist, particularly in data completeness, coordination across actors, and the time required to translate financial commitments into on-the-ground results. Stronger national validation, more complete reporting and sustained political leadership will be needed to turn commitments into lasting impact. National coalitions, already supported in nine of the 11 countries, are expected to play a growing role in aligning ministries, donors, civil society and local actors.The PAGGW and the Accelerator will continue to use the COPs and Ministerial Councils to sustain political visibility and accountability, driving a unified 'One Africa GGW' momentum toward Mission 2030.This progress is supported by a broad coalition of partners working across the region. The next five years will be critical in turning these systems into real impact on the ground. The Great Green Wall is beginning to move from ambition to more visible and coordinated results—grounded not only in restoration, but in jobs, resilience and opportunity across Africa’s drylands.

The journey across Eurasian rangelands links land restoration with viable pastoral livelihoods on the road to Ulaanbaatar Bonn, Germany/Xilinhot, Inner Mongolia, China (17 July 2026 ) — The Silk Road Caravan today reached its 6,000-kilometer mark in northern China, exactly one month before the seventeenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) opens in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.  Since leaving Erzurum, Türkiye on 6 May on a symbolic journey connecting Riyadh COP16 to Ulaanbaatar COP17 in support of the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists 2026, the Caravan has travelled through Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan before arriving in China earlier this week.  Pastoralists and researchers from Africa, Asia, Europe and South America have joined UNCCD Goodwill Ambassadors and Sport4Land champions to explore how communities across countries are restoring degraded rangelands while sustaining the livelihoods that depend on them.  Rangelands cover more than half of the Earth’s land surface, support around two billion people and provide nearly 70 per cent of global livestock feed. Yet up to half are degraded or at risk. At UNCCD COP16 in Riyadh, countries adopted the Convention’s first decision devoted to rangelands, calling for stronger policies and investment, action against conversion, overexploitation and fragmentation, and a greater role for pastoralists in decisions on land management and tenure.  Along the way, the Caravan has served as a living showcase of restoration in practice, gathering ideas and experiences that will help inform discussions at COP17. From dune stabilization to sustainable grazing and value-added livestock products, each stop has offered a different perspective on the Eurasian rangelands—the world's largest continuous grazing region stretching 8,000 kilometers—that are under increasing pressures from the combined effects of drought and soil erosion. Carrying the knowledge, experiences and voices gathered along the route, the Silk Road Caravan journey will continue across Mongolia before culminating at UNCCD COP17 taking place from 17-28 August under the theme of “Restoring Land, Restoring Hope.”  Insights from the journey  In China’s Otindag Sandy Land, willow branches are woven into grids across shifting dunes, stabilizing the sand long enough for grasses to take root.  But restoration does not end with planting. Sites are monitored over time, and livestock numbers are matched to the land’s carrying capacity and local communities—including women— receive technical support and incentives to maintain restored areas. China is just one example of a broader pattern that emerged across the Silk Road Caravan's journey. Each country offered different solutions, but many pointed to the same underlying principles. In Türkiye, seasonal mobility distributes grazing pressure across the landscape and gives pastures time to recover. Around Erzurum, it also supports household economies, with milk processed locally into cheese and other products. The system depends on secure access to grazing land and the transmission of pastoral knowledge between generations. In Russia's Kalmykia region, one of the most affected by desertification, hardy dzhuzgun shrubs are transforming shifting sands into productive pasture, with survival rates of around 95 per cent. The shrubs stabilize the dunes and reduce wind erosion, allowing fodder grasses to be planted between the dzhuzgun rows. As vegetation recovers, degraded land gradually returns to productive pasture. Mobile research units monitor the results while training students in the field. Restoration here follows a sequence: stabilize the soil, rebuild vegetation, recover grazing value and monitor results.  Meanwhile, Uzbekistan offered a lesson in the economics of patience. In Nurabad District, drought-tolerant pistachio trees are being established on degraded, low-productivity pastures. Local residents are paid to plant and maintain them; once the trees mature, five-hectare plots are intended for lease to lower-income families. The trees take years to yield. The model addresses a gap many restoration programmes leave open: communities need income while land recovers, and a lasting stake once it becomes productive.  In Kazakhstan, soil science and new technologies are helping transform the way rangelands are managed. Decades of soil surveys, herbarium records and aerial imagery are being integrated with GPS, satellite data and digital agricultural maps. These systems can track pasture condition, water infrastructure and early signs of degradation, while supporting reporting under the UNCCD Land Degradation Neutrality framework. The resulting evidence helps detect degradation early, before land's health and productivity are compromised.  In Kyrgyzstan, the Caravan journey highlighted another dimension of restoration ---one rooted in people and culture. Young activists from the Innovation Center in Bishkek brought elders and youth together through an intergenerational exchange on pastoral knowledge. On Desertification and Drought Day, 17 June, a dialogue at the Ministry of Agriculture convened policymakers, UN and international partners, researchers and pastoralists to develop recommendations on rangeland restoration and sustainable pasture management. Near Lake Issyk Kul, an association of women artisans invited Caravan participants to weave a commemorative felt carpet, demonstrating how   traditional skills, value-added local products, and fair market access create resilient rural livelihoods.   Message to COP17 Together, these experiences showed that while restoration solutions differ from place to place, the conditions for success are remarkably consistent and extend far beyond the countries visited by the Silk Road Caravan.  What unites these examples ---and makes them scalable--- is a common set of principles: communities need the authority and incentives to sustainably manage their land; grazing pressure must remain within ecological limits; land restoration must generate economic value; women and youth must have a voice in decision-making and land health must be monitored over time.  In Ulaanbaatar, the Silk Road Caravan will deliver a clear message: the most successful restoration efforts are those that strengthen livelihoods, build resilience and create economic opportunity, showing that restoring rangelands is as much a development challenge as an environmental one. 

UNCCD COP17: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia | 17–28 August 2026: Media accreditation is open

По мере того как деградация земельных ресурсов, засуха и дефицит воды усиливаются в разных регионах мира, страны все активнее ищут пути восстановления экосистем, укрепления продовольственных систем, защиты источников средств к существованию и повышения устойчивости.

As drought risks intensify, experts urge governments to turn Earth observation data into life-saving decisions

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 9 July – The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) are advancing the landmark outcomes of the sixteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16), held in Riyadh in December 2024. As preparations gather pace for COP17 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (17–28 August 2026), the visit underscored the strong partnership between Saudi Arabia and UNCCD and the shared commitment to translating those outcomes into action on land restoration, drought resilience and sustainable development.Implementing COP16 decisions and flagship initiatives was at the center of a high-level mission to the Kingdom from 5 to 9 July, during which UNCCD Executive Secretary Dr. Yasmine Fouad held strategic discussions with senior Saudi officials and regional partners — including H.E. Abdulrahman AlFadley, Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture and President of COP16, and H.E. Adel Al-Jubeir, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs — on drought resilience, sustainable finance, private-sector engagement and regional cooperation, while also reviewing progress in delivering key COP16 commitments.Discussions with H.E. Adel Al-Jubeir also focused on the growing links between land degradation, drought resilience, stability and security — an issue now firmly on the international agenda, including in the G7 Environment Ministers’ statement of April 2026. The mission comes at a time when land degradation and drought are increasingly recognized not only as environmental challenges, but as systemic economic, social and security risks. Nearly 40 per cent of the world’s land is already degraded, affecting the natural resources that underpin almost half of global gross domestic product (GDP). The combined cost of land degradation and drought now exceeds USD 878 billion each year, while drought alone causes at least USD 300 billion in annual losses globally.The discussions reflected Saudi Arabia’s continued leadership in elevating land restoration and drought resilience on the global agenda following the successful hosting of COP16.“Land degradation and drought are no longer peripheral environmental concerns. They are increasingly shaping economies, food systems, water security, public finances and human security. What we recognized in Riyadh is that prevention must become the new global model — because reacting to crisis after it unfolds is no longer sustainable. The challenge now is to build the financial and institutional systems that can turn resilience into a long-term investment priority and help countries act before risk turns into disaster,” said Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Executive Secretary of UNCCD.A key focus of the mission was accelerating progress on the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership (RGDRP), launched at COP16 as a flagship initiative to help countries shift from reactive crisis response to prevention, preparedness and long-term resilience.The Partnership is designed to mobilize financing and technical support through three pillars: a Readiness Fund for national drought planning, an Investment Facility for large-scale resilience finance, and a Knowledge Bank to strengthen science, data and innovation.As it moves into its next phase, UNCCD and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are finalizing arrangements to establish a Multi-Partner Trust Fund ahead of COP17, helping translate commitments into action.Political commitments are already translating into investment. The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OPEC Fund) have each pledged USD 1 billion, in addition to a broader Arab Coordination Group commitment of up to USD 10 billion by 2030 to support drought resilience and land restoration.A major outcome of the mission was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between UNCCD and the Middle East Green Initiative (MEGI) — a regional initiative headquartered in Riyadh. Dr. Fouad and H.E.  Ibrahim bin Mohammed Alturki, Secretary-General of the Middle East Green Initiative, signed the agreement to strengthen cooperation on land restoration, sustainable land management and drought resilience across the Middle East. The Memorandum of Understanding reinforces a shared commitment to accelerating regional action and translating the outcomes of COP16 into concrete cooperation across the Middle East.Building on the engagement of business leaders during COP16, discussions also focused on  scaling private-sector investment in land restoration and drought resilience, including through stronger public-private cooperation and greater private-sector engagement through Business for Land (B4L), UNCCD’s platform for business action on land.These efforts reflect growing recognition that land degradation and water scarcity are increasingly influencing inflation, food prices, public finances and investment decisions — reinforcing their role as strategic economic issues for governments and businesses alike.UNCCD estimates that countries require USD 355 billion annually to address desertification, land degradation and drought, yet current investment stands at only USD 77 billion per year — leaving an annual financing gap of USD 278 billion. Private sector finance accounts for just 6 per cent of current flows, despite its growing exposure to land-related risks across agriculture, infrastructure, finance and supply chains.“Hosting COP16 by KSA was intended to be a historical turning point in the global focus on the significant impacts posed by land degradation and drought and was never intended to be a single event. It marked the beginning of a long-term commitment to accelerate global action on land restoration and drought resilience. We will continue working closely with UNCCD and various international partners to ensure that the significant outcomes achieved in Riyadh translate into tangible results on the ground towards achieving global objectives pertaining to land neutrality and drought resilience” said Osama Ibrahim Faqeeha, Deputy Minister for Environment at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. With key foundations laid at COP16 in Riyadh, COP17 in Mongolia is expected to mark an important shift from political commitment to implementation — accelerating action on land restoration, drought resilience, sustainable food systems, rangelands and the financing needed to deliver them at scale.For UNCCD and its partners, the challenge is no longer whether the world can afford to invest in land restoration and resilience — but whether it can afford not to.With every dollar invested in sustainable land management generating between USD 7 and USD 30 in returns, the foundations established at COP16 in Riyadh, including the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership and the stronger engagement with the private sector through Business for Land are now moving into implementation.  Together, they are helping build a new global financing architecture that reduces systemic risk, strengthens food and water security, unlocks investment and demonstrates that restoring land is not simply an environmental imperative, but one of the smartest investments countries can make for long-term prosperity and resilience.