Stories

Seoul, Republic of Korea – The First Global Land Degradation Neutrality Forum, organized by the Government of Republic of Korea in partnership with UNCCD, took place from 4 to 5 July 2018 to discuss experience in strengthening global partnerships to support achieving Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) and explore options to promote peace and security in post-conflict situations. Participants included UNCCD national focal points, representatives of international organizations, as well as experts on land management and security.  During the first day, members of the UNCCD Science-Policy Interface (SPI) presented the scientific conceptual framework for LDN, emphasizing that land planning and management are crucial to achieving a variety of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and maintaining LDN into the future. The importance of creating an enabling environment for LDN implementation was also central to the discussions, with several presenters introducing a range of innovative financing approaches explored in the LDN context, such as the value proposition behind its innovative investment mechanism of the LDN Fund.
 Other presenters showcased specific experiences in implementation – among them the Great Great Wall initiative in Africa, which works to improve life and resilience in the drylands of the Sahara/Sahel region and has recently expanded to eastern and southwest Africa. The presentations were followed by a discussion on ways to capture, disseminate and scale up best practices in sustainable land management (SLM), emphasizing the need to develop sophisticated organizational structure and results framework for initiatives that span multiple countries. The participants also discussed the need for private sector investment in LDN, focusing on ways to reduce risk and increase certainty in intervention design, using methods such blended public-private financing and negotiations on low interest loans for land stewards. The second session of the day addressed the role of LDN in promoting peace and security. The presenters outlined a range of regional challenges in LDN implementation, from land use change and local conflicts over natural resources to decentralized government structures and the lack of reliable data. The speakers presented regional cooperation initiatives led by non-governmental actors, emphasizing that to be relevant, the concept of LDN must clearly demonstrate its benefits in the regional context and resonate with local people, including indigenous communities, youth and the media. Regional knowledge platforms also need to be created to facilitate people-to-people exchange and provide technical capacity by introducing simple SLM techniques. On the second day, the high-level panel focused on the value of LDN in post-conflict situations. The Panel considered options to promote peace and security and improve the living conditions of communities in cross-border regions by implementing LDN – for instance, through collaborating on SLM. Ms. Monique Barbut, Executive Secretary of the UNCCD, stressed the need for a new initiative to achieve SDGs, including the implementation of LDN in post-conflict situations. She quoted the phrase by Otto Von Bismarck, renowned German statesman, “A statesman cannot create anything himself. He must wait and listen until he hears the steps of God sounding through events; then leap up and grasp the hem of his garment.”   The Forum supported and shaped the idea of a Peace Forest Initiative that will enhance trust and build lasting peace in post-conflict situations, while contributing to achieving SDG 15.3 through partnerships. The participants also agreed that the outcomes of the Forum should be delivered to other global fora to forge decision-making on the UNCCD and LDN implementation. As summarized by Mr. Ban Ki-moon, the President and Chair of the Global Green Growth Institute, "it would be worthwhile to explore potential partnerships among government agencies, international organizations, academic and research institutions, and even private firms to begin to identify projects that will simultaneously contribute to SDGs, LDN and post-conflict recovery."   Read more: Land and SDGs Land and climate change UNCCD Knowledge Hub: why SLM matters

Khon Kaen, Thailand – The 2018 World Day to Combat Desertification (WDCD) National Campaign, co-sponsored by the Land Development Department (LDD), Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and Thailand Soil Commission took place on 28-29 June 2018 to raise citizens' awareness on land degradation and promote sustainable land management (SLM) practices. The event, which drew some 500 participants, was opened and chaired by Mr. Suradesh, the Director General of LDD, which serves as the UNCCD national focal agency in Thailand. Following the opening speech, the UNCCD Asia RCU delivered the UNCCD WDCD 2018 message from the Executive Secretary Ms. Monique Barbut and gave a presentation on the history of WDCD and the importance of achieving land degradation neutrality in the context of other SDGs. The event also included presentations by experts on various challenges, such as saline soils, in the implementation of SLM in Thailand. 2018WDCD events around the world 2018WDCD video message from Ms. Monique Barbut Achieving land degradation neutrality Best practices in sustainable land management

The first online course on gender and land degradation was launched last week at the 6th Global Environment Fund (GEF) Assembly in Da Nang, Vietnam. The land degradation module is part of a five-module course on gender and environment, with a focus on the multilateral environmental agreements GEF funds. The module on land degradation is an introductory course targeting two audiences. First, the national focal points without gender expertise or training, even if they have experience working on gender. Second, gender experts with little to no knowledge of desertification, land degradation and drought issues. The course will enable DLDD and LDN experts to engage comfortably, constructively and effectively with gender activists and feminists. It will provide gender activists and feminists with a solid understanding of the global framework for combating land degradation and desertification, and mitigating the effects of drought, and enable them to promote gender equality and responsiveness in the implementation of the Convention. Participants are also encouraged, at a minimum, to take the overview module on gender and environment along with that on land degradation, for a comprehensive presentation of what “doing gender” or “mainstreaming gender” in environmental management means. Juan Carlos Mendoza, Managing Director of the Global Mechanism, represented UNCCD during the launch of the gender and environment panel session held in Da Nang, Vietnam. The e- course is a joint effort of the GEF, the GEF Small Grants Programme and the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). The land degradation module was developed in 2016-2017 with the guidance of the Global GEF Gender Partnership (GGGP), in a joint effort led by UNCCD, in collaboration with several organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United nations, International Fund for Agricultural Development, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Conservation International, among others. Click here to access the course and for more information.  Photo Above, Part of the Gender and Environment Workshop at 6th GEF Assembly, Da Nang, Vietnam: (c) Sean Wu/IISD Background Photo: (c) Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs, Türkiye

Da Nang, Viet Nam – The sixth Assembly of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) gathered on 27 June, 2018 to identify key environmental challenges, formulate effective solutions, evaluate the effectiveness of existing cooperation mechanisms and propose inter-regional and interdisciplinary projects to address the underlying causes of environmental degradation.  As part of discussions on food, land use and partnerships for achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs), Mr. Juan Carlos Mendoza, the Managing Director of the Global Mechanism of UNCCD, introduced programming directions prepared by the UNCCD secretariat to identify linkages between land and biodiversity, and land and climate change. Mr. Mendoza invited decision makers to pool resources for the implementation of the Rio Conventions by developing comprehensive and transformative projects that address biodiversity loss and land degradation, as well as climate change adaptation and mitigation.  Highlighting specific initiatives that address global issues, Mr. Mendoza spoke of the Land Degradation Neutrality Fund (LDN Fund) – an impact investment fund for enabling sustainable business activities that address land degradation. Mr. Mendoza emphasized that achieving LDN and managing land sustainably is the best bet to safeguard natural resources for present and future generations. Speaking of the 118 UNCCD country parties that have already set LDN targets, Mr. Mendoza encouraged the GEF to become an integral part of their journey through stronger support to the land degradation focal area as the accelerator for implementing the 2030 Agenda.  Read more: Global Mechanism Global Environment Facility

Bonn, Germany – How will the use and condition of land change worldwide over the next few decades? What drives those changes, and what will be the effects on agriculture, water, climate and biodiversity? How will they influence the challenge to achieve global sustainability ambitions? Which regions will see the largest challenges when it comes to land degradation and increased competition over land? And where will restoration and better management of land and soil yield the most benefits? These are some of the questions that Stefan van der Esch, senior policy researcher with the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, tried to answer when presenting the Global Land Outlook’s scenario report at UNCCD headquarters on June 27. 2018.  The report provides quantitative estimates that answer these questions, providing the backdrop to the UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework along with land degradation neutrality (LDN) targets. It explores the changes to land over future decades by analyzing different scenarios that match those applied in the IPCC, connecting land and climate. For the first time in global assessments, past and future changes to the quality of land and soil were added to the scenario analysis. The results also feature in the recent IPBES Land Degradation and Restoration Assessment. Emphasizing policy relevance as the prime concern of the presented study, Mr. van der Esch said that while forecasted challenges are expected to take place in the next few decades, policy makers still have time to respond to them effectively, provided that the quality of political and administrative decision-making is ensured by a sound and robust scientific basis. Read more: Achieving land degradation neutrality Land and sustainable development goals  

Sixty researchers from eight European countries – Spain, Italy, Holland, United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary and Finland – will be working together with companies and farmers for the next four years to develop a viable agricultural model as a environmentally and economically beneficial and sustainable alternative to mainstream intensive monoculture. The objective of Diverfarming project, coordinated by Cebas-CSIC and UPCT, is to orient agricultural practices towards diversified models that work with nature and create richer agricultural landscapes.  Diversification allows to improve the quality of soil, minimize the use of inputs and increase biodiversity while maintaining the productivity of crops and reducing the dependence of farmers on a single crop. It increases the soil’s capacity to retain water and nutrients and act as a carbon sink, building resistance to erosion and allowing the soil to adapt to the effects of climate change and even mitigate them. The project team intends to generate conditions in which the soils are more prepared to overcome long periods of drought and are more protected against degradation. Diverfarming brings together economists, engineers, social scientists, agronomists, ecologists, biologists and geographers to analyze, quantify and monetize the benefits of locally adapted agricultural diversification for ecosystem services and agro-economy. Diverfarming seeks to integrate and increase the biodiversity of agricultural landscapes, achieving a balance between the optimization of ecosystem services in agriculture and the economic benefits for the farmers. In Hungary, the project takes place on asparagus plantations, while in Germany the work is done in the vineyards on the steep slopes of the Rhine Valley. In Italy, the researchers and farmers work with cereals, while in Holland and Finland they focus on forage fields for cattle feed. More info (in Spanish)... (c) Images courtesy of Cebas-CSIC