Warsaw, Poland, 19 November 2013 – ‘Land belongs to the future, let’s climate proof it!’ is the slogan for next year’s World Day to Combat Desertification and drought. It captures the theme of ecosystem-based adaptation for 2014 and underscores the urgent need for action to protect healthy…

Bonn, Germany, 6 May 2013 – The secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification is pleased to announce the 16 semi-finalists of this year’s Land for Life Award. The semi-finalists are from 13 countries - Australia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya…

Bonn, Germany, 19 April 2013 – A major conference of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), convened onto assess progress in the implementation of the Convention’s 10-Year Strategy and to find ways to enable affected countries to better address desertification and drought…

Bonn, Germany, 18 April 2013 – The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) today signed an agreement to collaborate in the nuclear technologies to strengthen the assessment of soil erosion and monitor improvements over time. The…

Bonn, Germany, 14 April 2013 – Desertification, the degradation of the land in the world’s dryland areas, now affects 168 countries that are Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the latest reports submitted by the Parties show. This is much higher than previous estimations…

Geneva, Switzerland, 15 March 2013 – A top-level United Nations conference has, for the first time, laid the foundations for practical and proactive national drought policies to increase resilience to the world’s most destructive natural hazard, which is being aggravated by climate change. The High…

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 13 June 2012 – At the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), the secretariats of the biodiversity, climate change and desertification conventions and the Global Environment Facility are joining forces under the Rio Conventions Pavilion to promote…

Chifeng, China/Bonn, Germany, 23 May 2012 – The international community needs to agree on a sustainable development goal with a measurable target of achieving zero net land degradation by 2030. Such a bold decision would enhance efforts in all regions of the world to restore degraded land and…

Bonn, Germany, 17 February 2012 – The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) announced the theme for the 2012 World Day to Combat Desertification, which will be celebrated on 17 June all over the world. UNCCD Executive Secretary Luc Gnacadja presented the slogan for the 2012…

Bonn, Germany, 14 February 2012 – UNCCD Secretariat with EarthAction and The Global Citizens Initiative (TGCI) will organize a Virtual World Community Forum on Desertification and Citizen Action – Saving the Life-Giving Soils of the World that will take place Tuesday, February 28 through Tuesday…

Rewarding leadership for sustainable land management Bonn, Germany, 9 February 2012 – Applications for the 2012 Land for Life Award are now open. The award will go to inspiring initiatives which secure the health and productivity of soil for the well-being of present and future generations. The…

Bonn, Germany, 1 February 2012 – The following message is an excerpt from the condolence letter addressed to His Excellency Dr. Lee Don Koo, Minister of Korea Forest Service, Republic of Korea: It is with deep sadness that I would like to offer to you, on behalf of the United Nations Conventions to…

New York, United States, 31 January 2012 – On 24th January 2012, Miss Universe 2011, Leila Lopes, Drylands Ambassador visited the New York Liaison Office of the UNCCD. She was accompanied by Brenda C. Mendoza, Director, Public Relations from the Miss Universe Organisation. This is the first visit by…

25 January 2012, Bonn, Germany, 25 January 2012 – Hon. Dr. Haroun Kabadi, President of the National Assembly of Chad and recently elected Chair of the Steering Committee of the UNCCD Parliamentarian Forum was joined by Madame Khadidja Hassaballah and Mr. Keda Ballah, Members of the National Assembly…

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 13 January 2012 – The United Nations has released the draft document that will be negotiated by governments and adopted by the heads of state and government during the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 20-22 June 2012…

Bonn, Germany, 25 January 2012 – The Minister of Rural Development and Agriculture of Cape Verde, Ms. Eva Ortet, visited the secretariat on 23 January 2012. During the exchange with the Executive Secretary the discussion focused on the significant efforts and successes achieved by the Rep. of Cape…

Bonn, Alemania, 22 Febrero 2016 – “Protejamos el planeta. Recuperemos la tierra. Involucremos a la gente´ es el eslogan para el Día Mundial de Lucha contra la Desertificación de este año, que se celebrará el 17 de junio. Hago un llamamiento a la solidaridad de la comunidad internacional hacia todos…

Top sustainable land management prize totaling USD 70,000 goes to development organizations in Afghanistan and Republic of Korea Washington D.C., United States, June 17 2014 – For the third year running, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has announced the winners of the…

Ghent, Belgium, 17 July 2013 – Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary, UN Convention to Combat Desertification this morning called for action at the policy and grassroots profits in order to mitigate the effects of drought, and to combat desertification and land degradation effectively. “On the ground…

Capturing the True Value of Land: Kigali to host international workshop on natural capital valuation Kigali, Rwanda, 7 December 2012 – The OSLO Consortium, the Global Mechanism, UNECA and the Land Policy Initiative, with support from the UNCCD, the Economics of Land Degradation, the Government of…

Bonn, Germany, 20 December 2011 – The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has recently announced the Land for Life Award, with a fund of up to 100,000 USD, to recognize excellence in sustainable land management, particularly efforts that promote the natural health and…

Bonn, Germany/New York, United States, 16 November 2011 – The Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Luc Gnacadja, has named Leila Lopes, Miss Universe 2011, as the Drylands Ambassador of the Convention. Drylands Ambassadors are appointed to take a…

Changwon City, Republic of Korea, 22 October 2011 – "This session will be remembered as the session that has brought a lot of innovation both in the actions proposed and the way parties interact among themselves. We have brought together the pieces that will enable the engine called science to move…

Doha, Qatar, 4 December 2012 – Three civil society organizations, Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (SOIL) from Haiti, Conservation Efforts for Community Development (CECOD) from Uganda and the Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion (TEMA) of Turkey took home international…

Bonn, Germany, 14 December 2011 – Tropical timber is a valuable agricultural commodity whose production however has been associated with excessive forest clearing in dry tropical forests, causing degradation of these biomes with all its implications. To stop and reverse this detrimental process…