Stories

21 March 2018 – Ankara, Türkiye – The Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs has embarked on the second “Mobilization for afforestation” campaign. 23 million households across Türkiye will receive a letter signed by the President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, asking the recipients to plant the seeds to increase country’s forest assets from 28.6 per cent to 30 per cent by 2023. The campaign will help restore degraded lands and reach national land degradation neutrality (LDN) targets.   Over four billion trees have been planted in Türkiye in the past 15 years. Other nation-wide land rehabilitation campaigns, launched in 2008-2012, include “Mobilization action plan for afforestation and erosion control,” “Five thousand income-generating forests in five thousand villages,” “Action plan for erosion control,” “Upper watershed flood control action plan,” “Dam reservoirs Green Belt afforestation action plan,” “National action plan to combat desertification” and “Action plan to rehabilitate mine sites.”  

28-30 March 2018 – Bangkok, Thailand – Member states gathered at the Fifth Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) shared their progress the 2030 Agenda under the theme "Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies." The forum focused on transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies, the opportunities and challenges in the implementation of SDGs, as well as ways to promote the means of implementation. The roundtable that took place during the conference worked to assess the outlook on the SDG implementation, establish a shared understanding of interlinkages within the SDG clusters as well as with other sustainable development goals, and develop policy recommendations on how to hasten the progress of the SDGs in Asia and the Pacific.   On SDG 15 Life on Land, the round table provided several recommendations to make further progress on the SDGs in the region, including: achieving land degradation neutrality implementing integrated data systems that support ecosystem-based management, combining information from diverse  sources, including community, indigenous and traditional knowledge promoting engagement across sectors and stakeholders, in particular with local communities and indigenous groups  strengthening governance approaches and laws that clarify land-tenure arrangements, ensure the rights of indigenous groups, support ecosystem-based management approaches and recognize the intrinsic rights of nature diversifying financing and linking it to improvements in governance and management approaches strengthening regional cooperation, including by implementing the outcomes of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Summit on the Environment held in 2017 The outcomes from the Fifth APFSD will provide inputs into the global discussions held at the High-Level Political Forum at UN HQs in New York in July 2018. For more information, click here.  

26 March 2018 – Dublin, Ireland – During her recent visit to Ireland, the UNCCD Executive Secretary Ms. Monique Barbut has attended a reception hosted by the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins to urge the country take leadership in addressing the global challenge of desertification and in supporting Africa’s Great Green Wall initiative. The event, which was held at the Presidential Residence Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin, was also attended by the Papal Nuncio, key government representatives and a broad section of Irish civil society. During the reception, President Higgins made reference to the global ramifications of desertification challenge: "We are one global family: we must recognise that the problems faced by a farmer in Niger are our problems; that the struggles of women in Mali to live decently are our struggles; that the hunger of a child in the Sudan is our hunger." President Higgins further noted that the Great Green Wall can act as a powerful solution to these urgent challenges: "With its capacity to unite nations and communities in solidarity, the Great Green Wall represents the best kind of international cooperation that will be required in this century." Ms. Barbut echoed President Higgins’ words, stating that: "The Great Green Wall is an idea we can all truly embrace. A powerful symbol that a better future – full of hope and possibility – is firmly within our grasp." The event also served as an opportunity for the inauguration of the Laudato Tree Project, an initiative launched by the Society for African Missions in Ireland. Inspired by Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical Laudato Si, the project aims to encourage the protection of biodiversity in Ireland among young people, and match this with concerted action in evolving the Great Green Wall.  Ms. Barbut was invited to officially inaugurate the project in front of a broad section of Irish media, presenting a group of Irish school children with a tree to take back to their schools, as a symbol for the future evolution of the project.  Read more: President Higgins' full speech Selected media coverage: RTÉ Morning Ireland Irish News The Belfast Telegraph The London Times Daily Mail Shropshire Star Guernsey Press This is Money UK Jersey Evening Post Independent Irish Times President's Diary Irish Examiner OLA Ireland Jesuits in Ireland

The Capacity Building Marketplace (CBM) was one of the main highlights of the UNCCD’s stand at the just concluded Global Festival of Action for Sustainable Development held last week at the Bonn World Conference Center. Here the CBM team shared with participants of the festival information of the great opportunities and possibilities offered on the Marketplace; invited the young visitors to become involved in the sustainable development process; and explained the importance of achieving Land Degradation Neutrality to the realization of the SDGs in general.

26 March 2018 – Medellín, Colombia – A landmark 3-year assessment report produced by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and approved at the 6th session of the IPBES Plenary, identifies land degradation as the main cause of species loss and the driver of mass migration. Worsening land degradation caused by human activities is undermining the well-being of two fifths of humanity, driving species extinction and intensifying climate change. It is also a major contributor to mass human migration and increased conflict, according to the world’s first comprehensive evidence-based assessment of land degradation and restoration. Providing the best-available evidence for policymakers to make better-informed decisions, the report draws on more than 3,000 scientific, government, indigenous and local knowledge sources. Learn more: UNCCD Lead Scientist Barron Joseph Orr welcomes IPBES thematic assessment on land degradation and restoration Read the full press release from IPBES   Photo credit: Popsuievych/Shutterstock.com 

A Better World – Actions and Commitments to the Sustainable Goals, Goal 15: Life on Land, is a joint publication of Tudor Rose, a prominent UK book publisher, and UNCCD. It will show why it is smart and strategic to focus on the land degradation neutrality target of avoiding, reducing and reversing land degradation in the race to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. First, it offers solutions to most of the Goals and, therefore, would help to accelerate the achievement the Goals. Second, it brings together different actors and sectors, saving money and effort. Electronic copies will be ready for High Level Political Forum in July 2018 where governments will report progress their achievement of Goal 15, Life on Land. A limited number of hard copies will be available in September during the United Nations General Assembly. Click on the pdf attachment for more information about the publication A Better World, Actions and Commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals - Goal 15: Life on Land. This page has been updated. The pdf attachment contains proposed content for the book and the background image showing land restoration is new and provided by the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs of Türkiye. For information about the UNCCD partnership with Tudor Rose contact: Wagaki Wischnewski, wwischnewski@unccd.int For information about the publication, production and distribution of the product, contact: Sean Nicklin, sean.nicklin@humandevelopmentforum.org.