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16 October is the World Food Day, celebrated to draw attention to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 that calls to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. Modern agriculture and livestock cover over one-third of the world’s land surface. In spite of production increases, we are now experiencing widespread food insecurity in what should be a world of plenty. Proven and cost-effective alternatives to minimize these impacts already exist. Overall, agriculture needs to be more effectively integrated with other land use sectors. Multifunctional approaches to food production are needed, recognizing that land provides many other vital services. Key elements include increasing productivity and nutritional values from a given area of land, reducing offsite or downstream impacts on the environment, and promoting more local production, less land-intensive diets, and a reduction in food waste. Learn more: Global Land Outlook Chapter 7: Food security and agriculture Land and SDGs
Bonn, Germany – 26 experts, including scientists and policy-makers from every region, as well as the representatives of the global observer organizations, gathered on 10-12 October for the eighth meeting of the UNCCD Science-Policy Interface (SPI). The meeting objectives included defining outlines and planning milestones for the delivery of the objectives of the SPI 2018-2019 work programme, as well as advancing coordination activities between the SPI and various global panels engaged in the science-policy nexus. The partner list includes the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services (IPBES), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS), International Resources Panel (IRP) and Global Land Indicators Initiative (GLII). The experts also worked on the production of work programme outputs and annotated outlines for technical reports that guide the implementation of land degradation neutrality (LDN) and the land-based interventions for drought management and mitigation. During the meeting, considerable progress has been made to provide science-policy ingredients for the key upcoming UNCDD events: Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC17) and the Conference of the Parties (COP14) that will take place in 2019. Read more: UNCCD Science-Policy Interface Achieving land degradation neutrality Land and drought
The International Day for Disaster Reduction is celebrated on 13 October to showcase how people and communities around the world reduce their exposure to disasters and to raise awareness on the importance of managing disaster risks. The UNCCD is making a contribution to addressing extreme natural events through a recently launched Drought Initiative that will work to enhance the resilience of communities and ecosystems to drought through the design of national action plans. The aim is to promote a paradigm shift in the approach to how drought is managed – from a reactive and crisis-based towards a proactive and risk-based one, built on three key pillars: Implementing drought monitoring and early warning systems Assessing drought vulnerability and risk Implementing measures to limit impacts of drought and better respond to drought An interactive Drought Toolbox will be developed as part of the initiative to help policymakers design drought risk reduction strategies at the national and local levels. Learn more: Land and human security Land and drought Drought: reducing impacts and building resilience The Drought Initiative Le Monde: Notre avenir vaut bien nos investissements
Agadez, Niger – A community stabilization project, recently launched by the International Organization for Migration and supported through the UNCCD 3S (Sustainability. Stability. Security) Initiative, is giving young Nigerians in Agadez a reason to dream of a better future in their communities. The group of thirty is made up of returnees from Libya, ex migrant smugglers and youth at risk; their lives are all guided by a mix of ambition, uncertainty and, most importantly, hope. They are now looking to the agricultural sector for opportunities to improve their lives. Read full story Watch video See pictures Find more info in French Learn more about the 3S Initiative
The Trust for Sustainable Living invites schoolchildren around the world to share their ideas on how they can help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goal 15 “Conserve and sustainably manage life on land.” The essay competition is open to primary and secondary students, and to participate, a school must first register a Teacher Champion. The Grand Prize is a free trip for the author of the essay plus a Teacher Champion and a parent to the TSL International Schools Debates and Awards in British Columbia, Canada on 8-12 July, 2019. Read more on how to participate... Resources: Videos: Youth for land Land degradation-neutral world Desertification: the silent crisis Action against desertification Global Land Outlook Desertification – a visual disaster A stronger UNCCD for a land degradation neutral world Publications for secondary students and teachers: Education kit on combating desertification Teaching resource kit for dryland countries The land in numbers The land degradation neutrality: Resilience at local, national and regional levels A better world: life on land Desertification: a visual synthesis Primer on citizen advocacy and education Building a more sustainable world through education Publications for primary students: Soils challenge badge There's no rug big enough to sweep the desert under
The UNCCD Secretariat welcomes the Pyongyang Joint Declaration of September 2018. We welcome the Summit’s pledge to actively promote environmental cooperation, in particular, through forestry. The UNCCD secretariat is ready to support common efforts that, in the spirit of the Sustainable Development Goals, help achieve Land Degradation Neutrality. Such cooperation could deliver peace, prosperity and a more sustainable future for all the people on the Korean Peninsula. Read the Declaration (Rep. of Korea government's homepage) (Photo Korea Forest Service)