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I grew up thinking that wetlands can only be used for livelihoods. I caught fish, practiced recession agriculture and collected firewood and herbs from floodplains. Wetlands were also part of my playground. As a professional, I took part in a Ramsar COP in Canada, which exposed me to the idea of wetlands being drained and misused for human activities. The concept of wise use of wetlands was born as a compromise and a bridge between the need to make use of this essential resource for millions and the absolute necessity of protecting these vital ecosystems. Wetlands are sometimes called “nature's kidneys” because of how critical they are for the overall health of our planet. Wetlands in drylands have the double characteristic of being critically important for life and being extremely vulnerable. Indeed, drylands, experience prolonged periods of drought and water scarcity. As such, they are being critically threatened by human activities and environmental change. Celebrated this year under the theme “iIt's time for wetland restoration,” World Wetlands Day is particularly appealing to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. We must invest in wetland restoration and regeneration. This requires a concerted effort from governments, civil society, and the private sector. Invest in science and technology for innovation, infrastructure for effective management, and financial mechanisms to support wetland restoration. We must protect and manage wetlands in a way that considers the needs of local communities and the rights of Indigenous peoples. We must remember that wetlands are not just important for us, but they are part of our shared heritage. They are a source of beauty and wonder and they are a reminder of our interconnectedness with nature. They are the main source of livelihoods for millions around the world. We at UNCCD are proud to join in this celebration and recognize the unique and valuable ecosystem services provided by wetlands. We are committed to doing our part to conserve and protect wetlands, and we are calling on all of you to join us in this vital cause. On this World Wetlands Day, let us come together in a unified voice to revive and restore these essential habitats. Together, we can make a difference.

Since 2016, the Ankara Initiative has supported the UNCCD and its parties in building capacities and deepening their knowledge to successfully promote land restoration worldwide as an important solution to multiple challenges. 

Drought is one of nature's costliest disasters – across the globe, more frequent and prolonged droughts are up nearly by a third since 2000. No country or region is immune to their impacts, which cost the global economy billions of dollars each year and range from the loss of life, livelihoods and biodiversity to water and food insecurity, disruption in the energy, transportation and tourism sectors, as well as forced migration, displacement and conflicts over scarce resources.  As the drought resilience and preparedness are taking the center stage in the global efforts to bolster the economies and communities against natural disasters, the new collaboration launched today between the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is particularly timely.   According to the cooperation agreement signed by the UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Michael Boehm and NDMC Director and Associate Professor Mark Svoboda, the NDMC will be tasked with recommending approaches to integrated drought risk management focused on drought-smart land-based solutions.   The Center will also serve as a think tank on emerging drought policy issues, convening independent scientific debate on drought resilience and providing methodological guidance on knowledge management related to SDG targets of building disaster resilience, mitigating water scarcity and achieving land degradation neutrality.   The UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw welcomed the new agreement by saying that it “will help to foster better collaboration between UNCCD, and local and national institutions, and to develop and share best practices on drought resilience and adaptation. Through this partnership, we will increase access to information and knowledge and will be able to provide technical guidance and support to countries and communities to build their capacity to manage drought risk and vulnerability.”  “This is the next step in formalizing the collaboration on drought risk management between the UNCCD and the NDMC," said Mark Svoboda, Director of the National Drought Mitigation Center. “We look forward to this next stage, building on the NDMC’s long track record with international drought planning.”  Today’s signing builds on the successful cooperation between NDMC and UNCCD over the past decade. The Center, whose mission is to reduce the effects of drought on people, the environment and the economy by researching the science of drought monitoring and the practice of drought planning, is an active participant in several drought-related initiatives spearheaded by the Convention, including the Intergovernmental Working Group on Drought, the UNCCD Science-Policy Interface and the UNCCD-led Drought Toolbox. These platforms are focused on supporting decision-makers and practitioners in adopting timely, proactive and coordinated approach to drought risk management.   “For more than 25 years, the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has provided invaluable guidance to communities and other entities across the United States and around the world seeking to understand drought, plan for drought events and ultimately reduce the negative effects of such events,” said Mike Boehm, NU Vice President and Harlan Vice Chancellor for the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at UNL. “It is an honor to work with the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification to offer these essential tools more broadly to combat drought and improve lives worldwide.”  The future collaboration between UNCCD and NDMC is envisioned as a working partnership that will utilize the latest science to help reduce the high human, social and economic costs of drought and water scarcity. The partnership will focus on recommending methods for integrated drought risk management that prioritize a strategic shift from emergency response to building long-term resilience through early warning, vulnerability assessment and risk mitigation.   Catalyzing political will and accelerating action to enable such a shift is the ambition of the International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA) launched last November at the UN Climate Summit that brings together 30 countries and over 20 entities.   At the forefront of these efforts is the drought-smart sustainable land management: adapted to the national and regional contexts, it has the potential to buffer ecosystems and communities against drought so that periods of water scarcity do not escalate to humanitarian or ecological disasters.   For more information, contact:  UNCCD: Ms. Xenya Scanlon  Chief, Communications, External Relations and Partnerships  T: +49 152 5454 0492  E: xscanlon@unccd.int   NDMC: Ms. Leah Campbell  Communications Specialist  National Drought Mitigation Center  University of Nebraska-Lincoln  T: +1 402 472 8121  E: lcampbell21@unl.edu  About   The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is the global vision and voice for land. We unite governments, scientists, policymakers, private sector and communities around a shared vision and global action to restore and manage the world’s land for the sustainability of humanity and the planet. Much more than an international treaty signed by 197 parties, UNCCD is a multilateral commitment to mitigating today’s impacts of land degradation and advancing tomorrow’s land stewardship in order to provide food, water, shelter and economic opportunity to all people in an equitable and inclusive manner.  https://www.unccd.int/   The National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln helps people, organizations and institutions build resilience to drought. Our mission is to reduce the effects of drought on people, the environment and the economy by researching the science of drought monitoring and the practice of drought planning. We collaborate with and learn from decision-makers at all levels across the U.S. and around the world.   https://drought.unl.edu/  

Land degradation, one of the world’s most pressing environmental problems affects 16.5 percent of the land in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), according to the latest UNCCD baseline assessment; equivalent to one out of every eight acres or hectares of the land in the region. From 6 to 9 December 2022, Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the countries in the region, hosted a workshop to consider actions to take to avoid, reduce and reverse the land degradation, and to increase the area to be restored. Most CEE countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, participate in the drought initiative that is helping countries to be better prepared for droughts and have set their targets for restoring degraded lands. However, more restoration commitments above the current 13.5 million hectares, or 5% of the total degraded area, are needed to to reverse the ecosystem degradation and loss forests, croplands, grasslands, and peatlands in the region. The Workshop explored how to restore 350 million hectares of land degraded landscapes. The workshop participants, drawn mostly from countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the UNCCD and agencies that the Global Environment Facility (GEF) finances to help countries to carry out the desired actions discussed a new GEF programming cycle, known as “Healthy planet, healthy soils,” which offers countries the possibility to deliver on their environmental and climate agendas.   The Global Environmental Facility (GEF) is a financing instrument of the UNCCD and the largest environmental multi-donor trust fund. It contributes directly to the goals of the Convention through targeted financial and technical support to the countries which seek to meet the objectives of the UNCCD, and other international environmental agreements. Senad Oprašić, Head of Environmental Protection Department at Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which hosted the workshop spoke about the importance of tackling environmental challenges with the help of existing climate financial mechanisms. Bosnia and Herzegovina committed to revitalize 100,000 hectares of abandoned land as a part of its LDN target-setting process, according to the Global Land Outlook’s second edition of the Central and Eastern European Thematic Report. Ms. Nadezda Dementieva and Ms. Munazza Jaleel Naqvi, on behalf of the UNCCD, stressed that investing in land restoration as a win-win solution for the environment, the economy and people to combat desertification, climate change and loss of biodiversity. They encouraged participants to work closely with the Global Mechanism of the UNCCD (GM), which assists countries to mobilize substantial resources to implement agreements under the Convention. The GM helps Parties to translate their voluntary LDN targets and national drought plans into concrete actions on the ground, including developing gender-responsive transformative projects and programmes that generate multiple benefits. The GM also drew attention to upcoming events relevant to the work under consideration, more specifically, the 21st session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC21) that will take place in October 2023 in Uzbekistan and the 16th session of the Convention’s Conference of the Parties to be held in 2024 in Saudi Arabia.

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) welcomes the landmark agreement reached by countries this week to save the diversity of life on our planet.

Healthy food, healthy climate, healthy planet: they are all impossible without healthy soil. Soil is literally the foundation of human wellbeing on this planet. That’s why on World Soil Day we celebrate this precious and precarious layer of life-giving substance. Almost 99% of our calories come from land. So we can say soil is where our food begins. It can take up to a thousand years to produce just one inch of soil. But it only takes moments to destroy it – through flash floods or sand and dust storms that strip our fertile topsoil. Every five seconds, the equivalent of one soccer field is eroded. We must urgently change the way we care for our land and the way we feed our world of eight billion people. Diversifying cropping system, no-till farming, replacing chemical fertilizers and pesticides with organic alternatives are just some solutions that can lead to healthier soils and more nutritious foods. Beyond food, soil is a mighty ally in mitigating and adapting to climate change. More organic carbon can be stored in the soil than in vegetation and atmosphere combined. Restoring degraded land makes it a powerful carbon sink. Finally, the world’s soils are teeming with biodiversity: they are home to one trillion times more bacteria than there are stars in the universe! Fungi is an essential part of healthy soil. It breaks down organic matter so that nutrients become available for plants. And then there are over 2,700 species of earthworms. These vital but under-appreciated creatures keep our soil alive and fertile. This World Soil Day and every day, let’s celebrate our soil, let’s cherish our soil, let’s save our soil. Thank you.