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The UNCCD and the International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA) are launching the Land and Drought Media Reporting Fellowship for six journalists to cover COP17 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (August 17–28, 2026).

New global assessment reveals deep gaps in land tenure security, governance and women’s land rights  For billions of people, land is more than property. It is their livelihood, income, identity and stability. Yet that stability is increasingly fragile. Only about one-third of the world’s land is formally documented. More than one billion people – nearly one in four adults globally – feel insecure about their rights to land or housing and fear they could lose them within the next five years. A new global assessment, The Status of Land Tenure and Governance, sheds light on this growing insecurity. Co-published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Land Coalition and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), under the Global Land Observatory, it brings together data from governments, researchers and civil society to show who holds land, how secure those rights are and where governance gaps remain. With up to 40 per cent of the world’s land already degraded, secure land tenure is essential to restoring land at scale. A widening gap between land management and recognition Although states legally own most of the world’s land, much of it is governed in practice through customary systems. Indigenous Peoples and local communities manage 42 per cent of global land, yet only a small portion of those territories are formally recognized as theirs. This gap between management and legal recognition means that many communities who depend on land do not have formal protection of their rights.  In contexts characterized by high land concentration and ongoing large-scale land acquisitions, the absence of recognition can leave customary landholders with limited legal safeguards. Where land rights are unclear or unprotected, adoption of sustainable land management practices becomes more difficult. Farmers and communities are less likely to invest in restoring degraded soils, conserving water, or adopting sustainable practices if their claims to land are uncertain. “The findings of the Status of Land Tenure and Governance Report confirm that secure and equitable land tenure is a prerequisite for sustainable land management,” said Ward Anseeuw, Senior Land Tenure Officer at FAO. “Strengthening land governance is therefore essential to achieving the objectives of the UNCCD, particularly in advancing land degradation neutrality and enabling local land users to invest confidently in the long-term health and productivity of their land.” Rising insecurity and persistent inequality Land insecurity is increasing globally. Since 2020, the share of adults who feel insecure about their land or housing rights has risen from 19 per cent to 23 per cent worldwide – affecting more than 1.1 billion people. In several regions, more than one-quarter of adults' report feeling insecure, with youth facing particularly high levels of uncertainty. Gender disparities remain pronounced. Across 108 countries assessed, 48 per cent of men report being sole or joint landowners, compared to 40 per cent of women. In agricultural contexts, the gap is often wider. Women produce roughly half of the world’s food yet own less than one-fifth of land globally. Where women lack secure tenure – due to inheritance barriers, limited legal protections or discriminatory customary norms - their ability to invest in soil restoration and sustainable practices is constrained. Advancing women’s land rights is therefore not only a matter of equality. It is essential for resilient food systems and sustainable land management. Customary lands, climate and resilience Customary land systems often overlap with areas of high biodiversity and significant carbon storage. Communities managing these territories have demonstrated long-standing stewardship practices that contribute to ecosystem stability. Healthy land, including soils and water, plays a significant role in climate mitigation and adaptation. According to the UNCCD estimates, drought losses now exceed USD 300 billion annually, and large parts of the world are becoming progressively drier. Billions of people could face increasing aridity in the coming decades. In this context, strengthening recognition of customary tenure is not only about justice – it is about safeguarding ecosystems and supporting communities that are already on the frontlines of climate stress. A structural data and governance gap Land is central to food security, climate action and sustainable development – yet information about land tenure arrangements and the security of those rights remains patchy. Only a limited number of countries report fully on land-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicators. Compared to sectors such as health or public finance, land tenure data are far less available and often not publicly accessible. The assessment calls for stronger national data systems, clearer legal frameworks and better alignment with international standards, including the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (VGGT), endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security and supported by FAO – the only globally agreed framework that sets standards for how land tenure rights should be recognized and protected. These guidelines form the foundation for a number of critical policy decisions of the UNCCD Conference of the Parties.  Without reliable and transparent information, it becomes harder for governments to track progress and meet commitments under the SDGs and the Rio Conventions – the three global agreements on climate change, biodiversity and desertification. Governance at the heart of restoration These themes were further explored during a joint side event convened by the UNCCD together with TMG Think Tank for Sustainability – an independent research and policy institute focused on land governance and environmental justice – as well as the Robert Bosch Foundation and other partners. The discussion underscored that restoration, food security, and resilience cannot be separated from land governance systems. Transparent land administration, inclusive decision-making, and legal certainty are foundational conditions for sustainable land management. Governments have pledged to restore one billion hectares of degraded land by 2030, with nearly half of that commitment under the UNCCD framework. Achieving this ambition will require more than finance and technical solutions. It will require trust and equity for the people who depend on the land. “Land underpins food systems, climate stability and livelihoods,” said Dr Barron Joseph Orr, Chief Scientist of the UNCCD. “Without responsible and inclusive land governance that safeguards land tenure, the intended positive impacts of restoration efforts risk being temporary. Securing land rights is not simply about the four "R's" of Redistribution, Restitution, Recognition, and Regulation - it is about creating the conditions that allow communities to restore land and sustain it for generations to come.” Photo (c) : FORESCA

Across Southern Africa, drought is no longer an occasional shock — it is a recurring reality shaping landscapes, economies and daily life. As climate variability increases, pressure on land, water systems and rural livelihoods continues to grow. In Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Madagascar, the impacts are increasingly severe and they fall hardest on women and local communities who depend on land and natural resources to feed families and earn an income. In Madagascar, more than 9 million hectares (over 15 per cent of the country’s land area) are affected by drought, with some regions experiencing near-total crop failure during prolonged dry events. Mozambique faces frequent seasonal droughts that threaten food security for over 4 million people, particularly in its central and southern provinces. In Zimbabwe, recurring drought episodes have put nearly three million hectares of farmland at risk, with smallholder farmers and pastoralist communities most affected. Across these countries, drought disproportionately impacts women, who make up the majority of smallholder farmers, and other vulnerable groups dependent on agriculture and natural resources for their livelihoods. Yet the story is not only about risk. It is also about opportunity: how these countries are designing gender-smart, community-led solutions that turn drought resilience into livelihoods, restore degraded land and protect food and income while advancing sustainable land management and Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN). A key shift is placing women and local communities at the center — not only as beneficiaries, but as leaders of resilient livelihoods and value chains. This means recognizing women’s role in managing farms, water and household food security while tackling the barriers they face in accessing land, finance, skills, markets and decision-making. It also means strengthening community institutions so local knowledge and priorities shape what resilience looks like on the ground. Another big change is using drought risk data together with economic and livelihood analysis to identify where resilience investments can create real opportunities. In practice, this helps countries move from broad vulnerability profiles to concrete ideas that match local realities: which landscapes are most at risk, which groups are most exposed, what options can reduce pressure on land and water, and which interventions can generate reliable incomes even during dry periods. Countries are also working to develop scalable investment ideas — from climate-resilient agriculture to water management — that can attract blended finance and align with national priorities. Examples discussed through this work include community-based water management that secures access during dry spells, climate-resilient agriculture that stabilizes yields, and women-led enterprises that diversify income while reducing vulnerability and restoring degraded land. These solutions are designed to be practical, locally anchored and capable of expanding beyond pilot sites. “Women and local communities are already on the front line of drought. When they lead the solutions — supported by secure land tenure together with access to finance and investment-ready plans — resilience becomes real: it protects food and incomes today and restores land for generations to come,” emphasizes Louise Baker, Managing Director of the Global Mechanism of the UNCCD. This work is being advanced through the Gender-Transformative Drought Resilience in Transition States in Southern Africa (GRDSA) Project, supporting Madagascar, Mozambique and Zimbabwe to help countries prepare drought investment plans, strategies and pipelines. The GRDSA Project does not finance investments directly. Instead, it focuses on project preparation so countries can later mobilize additional public and private finance, building on existing national policies, drought monitoring systems and vulnerability assessments rather than duplicating them. National inception workshops held in 2025, alongside a regional exchange, helped set this work in motion. The project is financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Government of Canada and implemented by the Global Mechanism of the UNCCD. Photography (c) : Global Water Partnership Southern Africa, Krees Raharison

The Guna use eco-taxes to protect their forests, feed their people and save their culture

How carbon markets can deliver real benefits for land and livelihoods

La COP17 de la CNULD se celebrará en Ulán Bator (Mongolia) del 17 al 28 de agosto de 2026)Ulán Bator/Bonn, 5 de febrero de 2026 – Mongolia y la Convención de las Naciones Unidas de Lucha contra la Desertificación (CNULD) han anunciado hoy el lema de la 17.ª sesión de la Conferencia de las Partes (COP17) de la CNULD, mientras se intensifican los preparativos para la conferencia mundial sobre desertificación, degradación de la tierra y sequía que se celebrará en Ulán Bator (Mongolia) del 17 al 28 de agosto de 2026. El lema, ‘Restaurar la tierra, restaurar la esperanza’, se ha anunciado durante las reuniones de alto nivel entre la CNULD y los dirigentes de Mongolia para avanzar en los preparativos de la COP17 de la CNULD. “La tierra es nuestra infraestructura más vital, ya que sustenta la seguridad alimentaria, el agua, los medios de vida y la estabilidad. Cuando las tierras fallan, aumenta la inseguridad debido a la pérdida de medios de vida, los desplazamientos forzados y la competencia por los escasos recursos”, afirmó la secretaria ejecutiva de la CNULD, Yasmine Fouad. “Con la COP17 de la CNULD, Mongolia ofrece al mundo un poderoso mensaje: ‘Restaurar la tierra, restaurar la esperanza’ no es solo una agenda medioambiental, sino una forma de priorizar el desarrollo y la resiliencia. A medida que la sequía se intensifica y la degradación de tierras se acelera, la conferencia debe impulsar soluciones prácticas y viables, desde la restauración de las tierras y los suelos degradados hasta el fortalecimiento de la gestión conjunta de las tierras y el agua para que las comunidades prosperen”. El primer ministro de Mongolia, Sr. Gombojavyn Zandanshatar, indicó: “Mongolia es plenamente consciente de la responsabilidad que conlleva acoger la COP17 de la CNULD y nos comprometemos a trabajar para que la Conferencia tenga resultados concretos, orientados a la acción y duraderos. Como país cuyo desarrollo, medios de vida y cultura están profundamente ligados a la tierra, creemos firmemente que restaurar tierras es un pilar fundamental de la paz, el desarrollo sostenible y el crecimiento socioeconómico inclusivo. La celebración de la COP17 en 2026, Año Internacional de los Pastizales y los Pastores, ofrece una oportunidad única para poner el foco en los pastizales y los medios de vida de los pastores, avanzando en materia de concienciación, implementación e inversión, y reforzando la cooperación mundial contra la desertificación, la degradación de tierras y la sequía.”Como la primera de las tres COP de las Convenciones de Río —sobre tierras, biodiversidad y cambio climático— que se celebrarán en 2026, la COP17 de la CNULD busca acelerar la acción colectiva para proteger los medios de vida vinculados a la tierra y fortalecer la resiliencia de las comunidades.Se espera que la COP17 reúna a delegados de las 197 Partes de la CNULD, junto con líderes gubernamentales, empresariales y de la sociedad civil, así como científicos, jóvenes, pueblos indígenas, pastores y pequeños agricultores.El objetivo es forjar soluciones para los retos interconectados de la desertificación, la degradación de tierras y la sequía, reconociendo que la restauración de tierras es esencial para reducir la inestabilidad, prevenir desplazamientos forzados y reforzar la seguridad humana y nacional en regiones vulnerables.La degradación de tierras ya afecta a hasta el 40 % de la superficie terrestre del mundo, con repercusiones de gran alcance en la producción de alimentos, la disponibilidad de agua, los medios de vida y la estabilidad económica. La COP17 ofrece un momento crucial para que los países y los socios avancen en la aplicación de la Convención y movilicen una mayor inversión para la resiliencia a la sequía y la gestión sostenible de tierras.Con un vasto territorio de 1,56 millones de kilómetros cuadrados, Mongolia es uno de los países más afectados por la desertificación y la degradación de tierras, con casi el 77 % de su territorio ya degradado. La celebración de la COP17 de la CNULD en Ulaanbaatar centrará la atención internacional en las prioridades de restauración de tierras; especialmente, para proteger los medios de vida, la seguridad alimentaria y los ecosistemas en las regiones áridas.La COP17 se celebra durante el Año Internacional de los Pastizales y los Pastores, declarado por la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas y promovido por Mongolia. Esto supone una gran oportunidad para acelerar las medidas de gestión sostenible, restauración y conservación de los pastizales, al tiempo que se ponen de relieve las necesidades de las comunidades pastorales que dependen directamente de estos ecosistemas para su sustento.Los pastizales cubren más de la mitad de la superficie terrestre, sustentan los medios de vida directos de alrededor de 500 millones de personas y proporcionan una sexta parte de las necesidades nutricionales del mundo, pero siguen siendo uno de los ecosistemas más ignorados y afectados por la degradación del planeta.Durante las dos semanas que durará la conferencia, los participantes tomarán parte en un segmento de alto nivel que incluirá diálogos ministeriales, junto con foros de múltiples partes interesadas y debates temáticos sobre la integración de la ciencia y la política, la innovación y las soluciones, las herramientas y tecnologías, y la financiación. Además de las negociaciones formales, se espera que la COP17 promueva la acción colectiva en materia de pastizales, resiliencia y agua, así como de sistemas alimentarios y salud del suelo.En preparación para la COP17, Mongolia ha puesto en marcha iniciativas nacionales que vinculan la restauración de tierras con los medios de vida y el desarrollo rural, incluida la campaña nacional ‘1.000 millones de árboles’, liderada por el presidente y que se inició en 2021 con el objetivo de plantar 1.000 millones de árboles para 2030.Mongolia también ha ampliado la participación pública y la participación de los jóvenes a través de diálogos nacionales y actividades de divulgación, incluido el Foro Nacional Youth4Land. A través del Consejo Empresarial de Mongolia, la Presidencia de la COP17 ha involucrado al sector privado del país en el apoyo a la Iniciativa Business 4 Land de la CNULD, cuyo objetivo es acelerar la acción del sector privado para la gestión sostenible de tierras.“Las iniciativas de Mongolia ilustran el tipo de enfoques integrados de resiliencia y restauración de tierras que la COP17 de la CNULD busca promover. Su objetivo es generar un mayor impulso político y resultados prácticos, ayudando a los países a movilizar recursos y fortalecer las alianzas para ampliar la restauración de tierras y fomentar la resiliencia donde más se necesita”, concluyó la secretaria ejecutiva Fouad.Para consultas de los medios de comunicaciónOficina de prensa de la CNULD: press@unccd.intAcerca de la CNULDLa Convención de las Naciones Unidas de Lucha contra la Desertificación (CNULD) es la visión y la voz mundial para las tierras. Unimos a gobiernos, científicos, responsables políticos, el sector privado y las comunidades en torno a una visión compartida y una acción global para restaurar y gestionar las tierras del mundo en aras de la sostenibilidad de la humanidad y el planeta. Mucho más que un tratado internacional firmado por 197 Partes, la CNULD es un compromiso multilateral para mitigar los efectos de la degradación de tierras y promover su gestión sostenible con el fin de proporcionar alimentos, agua, refugio y oportunidades económicas a todas las personas de manera equitativa e inclusiva.