From diversification of crop and livestock systems to restoration of degraded production landscapes, the UN Environment Programme in partnership with the GEF continues to deliver a wide range of innovative approaches to ensure successful restoration on the ground.
With rising demands for agricultural products including food, feed, fiber and fuel, compounded by the ravages of climate change and loss of biodiversity, the need to tackle land degradation and desertification is significant.
To recognise this opportunity, 2021 marked the start of the UNEP and FAO led UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems all around the world for the benefit of people and nature. The UNEP-GEF partnership is contributing significantly to this effort with the Decade’s first flagship in the Great Green Wall, stretching 8,000km across 11 countries in Africa. Designed to tackle land degradation, desertification and drought, this ambitious initiative will bring investment, job opportunities, food security, conflict resolution, resilience and biodiversity protection to the Sahel.
The Restoration Initiative unites 10 countries and three GEF agencies (IUCN, FAO and UNEP) to work with governments and strategic partners to restore degraded landscapes. This GEF flagship initiative seeks to restore half a billion hectares of degraded landscapes through shared approaches to key barriers, technical support and knowledge capture and dissemination.
Some of our other initiatives include:
- Assisting over 100 countries to set out practical steps and measures to combat degradation and desertification as part of their National Action Programmes, for example in Mexico’s Sierra Tarahumara where local governance was strengthened and indigenous people involved in decision making around forest and land management – leading to a 30% increase in improvements of ecosystem services
- Enabling communities and policy-makers in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa to implement sustainable land management practices, contributing to the restoration of the entire Kalahari-Namib ecosystem and preserving the livelihoods of those who depend on it
- Using science-based sustainable land management practices to protect, restore and improve transboundary mountain ecosystems between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, helping alleviate poverty for thousands of households
All of our initiatives are aligned to the goals and outcomes of the 10-year strategy of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) to ensure policy coherence and synergies with best practice globally.
