News & stories

A successful fundraising campaign, organized by the Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion, for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Habitats (TEMA), brought together celebrities on national television to raise funds for environmental education.  TEMA is one of biggest environmental NGOs in Türkiye, supported by thousands of volunteers. It has been the the first NGO to identify and publicize soil erosion as a serious threat to the country’s environment as well as to its economic and social life. The foundation has achieved significant national impact with the help of volunteers who planted millions of saplings and tree seeds across the country. The foundation also implements livelihood projects along with advocacy and education programs that include training for farmers in soil science and technical issues. For over twenty years, TEMA has carried out environmental education programs with the help of volunteer teachers who work with school children to build their understanding of nature and the role they can play as the caretakers and nurturers of the Earth. In 2012, the foundation received the UNCCD Land for Life Award for its continuous efforts in promoting the sustainable land management.  Read more: Sustainable land management  

19-22 March, 2018 – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – The workshop for Annex I country Parties on the reporting requirements under the new UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework took place at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Conference Center. The workshop, organized by the UNCCD secretariat and the Global Mechanism in collaboration with UN Environment /GEF, was attended by the delegates from forty four Sub-Saharan African countries. The participants addressed linkages between the UNCCD and the SDG reporting processes, the complementarity between the GSP II and the UN Environment /GEF umbrella projects, data requirements, functionality of the reporting templates and the details of reporting on land-based indicators. The workshop in Addis Ababa was the second in the series of five regional workshops for the UNCCD Annexes. Read more: 2017-2018 reporting process Online reporting tutorials

27 April, 2018 – New Delhi, India – The four-day UNCCD Asia Pacific regional workshop that focused on building regional capacity and enabling country Parties to participate effectively and efficiently in the UNCCD reporting process, concluded today. The workshop provided a diverse and multi-disciplinary knowledge-sharing platform for addressing desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD) issues and for reporting on the Target 15.3 on Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN). It also provided an opportunity for all key stakeholders from the region to discuss the crucial aspects of reporting, sustainable development goals (SDGs) and LDN.   In his remarks, Deputy Executive Secretary UNCCD Dr. Pradeep Monga highlighted the importance of addressing DLDD for developing countries and commended India for supporting the convention and putting land agenda at the core of the SDG process. Read more: Statement from the Public Information Bureau of India

25 April, 2018 – Rome, Italy – A meeting at the FAO headquarters brought together representatives of the UNCCD secretariat, FAO and WMO to explore opportunities for collaboration in the framework of the new UNCCD Drought Initiative, adopted at the COP 13 in Ordos, China. The meeting focused on various drought-related tools, programmes and projects implemented by WMO and FAO. The discussion went on to explore areas of potential cooperation by harnessing synergies, identifying joint steps and the way forward.   Present at the meeting were Mr. Robert Stefanski, Chief of the Agricultural Meteorology Division at WMO, Mr. Frederik Pischke, Senior Programme Officer at GWP, FAO experts Mr. Eduardo Mansur, Director of Land and Water Division and Dr. Mark Svoboda (through Skype), Director of National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska, USA. UNCCD programme officer for drought Mr. Daniel Tsegai and the Global Mechanism programme coordinator Ms. Camilla Nordheim-Larsen represented the convention. 

25 April, 2018 – Cairo, Egypt – UNCCD Executive Secretary Ms. Monique Barbut attended the conference organized by SEKEM Initiative, Heliopolis University for Sustainable Development and the World Future Council. The goal of the event was not only to raise awareness on exemplary policies for land, soils and food in Africa, but also to create synergies between policymakers of international organizations, as well as national stakeholders – ministries, members of parliament, civil society, academia and media.  The conference welcomed high-level participants and experts on land and soil issues from across the globe. Addressing the gathering, Ms. Barbut emphasized that the path to tackling desertification and accompanying challenges, such as forced migration, lies in a clear vision combined with a concrete plan for action. UNCCD supports countries in fighting land degradation by promoting good land stewardship, based on sound policy and science. UNCCD flagship initiatives, among them Land Degradation Neutrality Target Setting Programme and the 3S (Stability. Sustainability. Security) Initiative, are actively implemented in Africa.  Photo (left to right): Hans Herren, President, Millennium Institute and President, Biovision Foundation; Abdelkarim Sma, Egypt Country Director, International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD; Dr. Auma Obama, Councillor, World Future Council and Director of the Sauti Kuu Foundation; Monique Barbut, UN Under Secretary General, UNCCD Executive Secretary; Alexandra Wandel, Director of the World Future Council; Lothar H. Fickert, Professor, Graz University of Technology; Prof. Hani Sewilam, Academic Director, Hydrology Department, RWTH Aachen University. Read more: Conference declaration

24 April, 2018  – New Delhi, India – Delegates from the states of India, ministerial representatives and the chairman of The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) participated in the opening session of the UNCCD Asia Pacific regional workshop on PRAIS reporting, chaired by the Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change of India Dr. Harsh Vardhan. The Minister highlighted the commitment of the Government of India towards the land agenda and presented several national initiatives related to the implementation of UNCCD. Emphasizing the crucial need to achieve land degradation neutrality (LDN) by 2030, Dr. Vardhan encouraged the delegates to transform the workshop into a milestone in combating desertification, land degradation and drought.  Participants showed strong interest in the Trends.Earth tool developed by Conservation International to assist in the new UNCCD reporting process. Several representatives of country parties shared their own national data and boundary shape files. Attendies raised a broad range of questions on data resolution and the use of national data for land cover data presentation. The parties were informed that they need to make the decision whether they will use the default data provided by the secretariat or utilize their own national data. If parties opt to use the default data, the template will be pre-filled with the necessary information. In this case, Trends.Earth may be used for future work and national data when it becomes available. The workshop will continue until 27 April 2018. Read more: Achieving land degradation neutrality 2017-2018 reporting process Online reporting tutorials