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…

by UNCCD Executive Secretary Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw for the SDG Knowledge Hub In many parts of the world, autumn is the time to gather the harvest and count our blessings. This year’s trials and tribulations have taught us that while we can count on blessings bestowed by other humans to overcome the…

The Thematic Scientific Conference of the International Geographic Union (IGU) “Practical Geography and XXI Century Challenges” dedicated to the Centennial of the Institute of Geography of Russian Academy of Sciences will take place on 4-6 June 2018 in Moscow, Russian Federation. The conference will…

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…

Statement by UNCCD Executive Secretary Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw Madame Chairperson, Bureau members, distinguished delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, Let me first offer my warmest congratulations to you Madam Chair and Bureau members on your election at the helm of this Committee. You are carrying out your…

Bonn, Germany – Once again UNCCD has joined other UN organizations based in Bonn for a yearly celebration in the historic Marktplatz on 20 October 2018. To entice the crowds to visit the UNCCD booth and learn more about the organization's work, the Capacity Building Marketplace team designed fun…

A decade ago at the UNCCD COP10 in Changwon, two key ideas in the UNCCD process were rolled out: the “Changwon Initiative” and the global target of “zero net land degradation.” The initiative has been instrumental in materializing this new vision of a land-degradation neutral world and played a…

Katowice, Poland – UNCCD has joined other Rio conventions in the margins of the ongoing Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP24) to foster the alignment of the three conventions that tackle similar problems, have similar goals and operate in the same ecosystems. Addressing the audience, the UNCCD…

Senegalese singer and UNCCD Land Ambassador Baaba Maal believes that the future of Africa is in the hands of the youth. He is actively supporting the new narrative on the Sahel as the region of opportunities, rich in traditional culture and with a large potential for development in the management of…

New Delhi, India – “If human actions have created the problems of climate change, land degradation and biodiversity loss, it is the strong intent, technology and intellect that will make difference. It is human efforts that will undo the damage and improve the habitats. We meet here now to ensure…

Bonn, Germany – The UNCCD COP Bureau held a virtual meeting on Friday 26 June, confirming the commitment of the Parties to advocate for environmental action and drive transformative change for people and the planet. The Bureau has reviewed the updates to the UNCCD 2020-2021 work programme in view of…

Land degradation neutrality (LDN) is achieved if land degradation is avoided or reduced, and new degradation is balanced by reversing degradation elsewhere in the same land type through restoration or rehabilitation. The primary instrument for avoiding and reducing degradation is the application of…

New Delhi, India – The global community has long recognized that land degradation/desertification is a major economic, social and environmental problem of concern to many countries in all regions of the world. In an unprecedented global campaign to save productive land, country parties have agreed…

UN General Assembly (UNGA) unanimously adopted a resolution on the work of UNCCD on 19 December, reaffirming the role of land degradation neutrality (LDN) as a vehicle for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and recognizing the potential of land-based solutions to address climate…

Seoul, Republic of Korea – The UNCCD Executive Secretary Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw visited the Republic of Korea on 23 July to discuss the future Peace Forest Initiative with the Minister of the Korea Forest Service (KFS) Mr. Kim Jae-Hyun as well as representatives of international organizations and…

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) launched its first short writing contest this year in order to understand the different ways in which people around the world describe their relationship to land. More than 230 submissions from nearly 50 countries were made by…

Promoting sustainable land use unifies our voices for bird conservation Birds are highly sensitive to their environments. With 30 per cent of the land now degraded, the long journeys migratory birds fly every year across continents to find food, breeding and rearing grounds are becoming ever more…

Reykjavik, Iceland – The UNCCD was invited to give the opening address at SERE Europe 2018, an event that has attracted over 400 practitioners, policy makers and scientists from governments, NGOs, industry and academia. The European chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration (SERE) asked…

In a positive environmental turn, a record 120 countries are in the process of setting voluntary land degradation neutrality (LDN) targets that could reduce the loss of productive land dramatically by 2030. At least 80 countries have already set targets, whose implementation could reverse land…

This virtual event will take audiences on thematic journeys for a deep dive into specialist topics such as sustainable food production, transforming finance, and ecosystem protection, and will explore some of the practical solutions and ambitious actions that are paving a path toward a nature…

Bonn, Germany, 16 July 2011 – The World Day to Combat Desertification will be observed on Friday, 17 June 2011. The global observance event opened on Friday, 10 June, in Dakar, Senegal, with the First Africa Drylands Week that will conclude with the observance of the Day. Over 100 participants…

Nominations for the 2021 Land for Life Award of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) opened today. The submission of nominees will close after two months, on 28 January 2021. The Award recognizes initiatives to halt, reduce and/or reverse land degradation that have had a…

UN General Assembly (UNGA) unanimously adopted a resolution on the work of UNCCD on 19 December, reaffirming the role of land degradation neutrality (LDN) as a vehicle for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and recognizing the potential of land-based solutions to address climate…