WOCAT and WOCAT Consortium Partner ICARDA, together with other international organizations, participated in the inception workshop for the sand and dust storms (SDS) toolbox at UNCCD headquarters in Bonn. The development of the toolbox was requested by UNCCD parties at COP 14.

WOCAT participated in the Agency Partners Meeting of the Dryland Sustainable Landscapes Impact Programme at FAO headquarters in Rome. The meeting provided an opportunity to inform the design of the Global Coordination Project which will, amongst others, create linkages to the LDN pathway, support opportunities for public and private investment, and manage knowledge at regional and global level.

Interested in soils? Check out the ISRIC Spring School 2020: World Soils and their Assessment Course.

To stop soil erosion, promote the adoption of Sustainable Land Management practices around the globe! Become part of the WOCAT Network, share your good practices on the Global WOCAT SLM Database and get in touch with other SLM practicioners.

This week, a Knowledge Symposium will take place in Rabat, Morocco, organized by the WOCAT Consortium Partner ICARDA and other institutions like CIHEAM-Bari, Procasur, Virginia Tech, IAV Hassan II, supported by the Project’s Partner Institutions and sponsored by IFAD. In the Symposium, WOCAT will discuss with countries the establishment a SLM Community of Practice. For more information contact the WOCAT Secretariat wocat@cde.unibe.ch

Join the InteractiveSession on ‘Sustainable Rangeland Management in a Changing Environment: AnIntroduction to Good Practices’ and the AsaseFestSession ‘Pastoralism: participatory rangeland mapping’. These sessions will share and discuss practices and key information coming out of the new TerrAfrica/WOCAT 'Sustainable rangeland management in Sub-Saharan Africa - Guidelines to good practice' publication. 

Join WOCAT at the UNCCD COP14 from 2-13 September, New Delhi, India in one of the 7 side events, the presentation "A global overview on sand and dust storms" or the additional "Carbon Benefits Project (CBP)/WOCAT Training: Estimating theimpact of Land Management Projects on climate change mitigation"

Last week in Bonn, WOCAT renewed its partnership with the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) to jointly boost the uptake of SLM around the world through strengthened global partnership. The agreement was signed by the Deputy Executive Secretary of UNCCD, Mr. Pradeep Monga, and WOCAT Director, Mr. Hanspeter Liniger, on behalf of the WOCAT Consortium.

High-level Launch of the Sustainable Development and Sustainable Land Management Curriculum with the Under Secretary of State Cambodia, Vice-Rector of the Royal University of Agriculture (RUA) Cambodia, and the Swiss Development Cooperation in Phnom Penh. The launch is followed by a one-week training of RUA lecturers on the content of the curriculum, focusing on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) approaches.

A training on the use of the CBP/WOCAT linked online toolset for calculating carbon stocks and GHG emission associated with land projects, establishing resulting socioeconomic benefits and exploring SLM options for implementation was provided to GEF project managers, UNEP and GEF program officers, and GEF focal points, by Colorado State University and WOCAT Consortium Partner CIAT at UN Environment in Nairobi, Kenya.

On 29-30 October 2019, the Global Landscapes Forum was convened in Accra, Ghana, with a focus on restoring the degraded ecosystems on the world’s largest continent. More than 500 participants joined. The session ‘Sustainable RangelandManagement in a Changing Environment: An Introduction to Good Practices’ and the AsaseFest Session ‘Pastoralism: participatory rangeland mapping’ put the often forgotten rangelands and pastoralism in the spot light of the GLF/Restoration map with great success.

The inception workshop of the GEF-funded Project ‘Tools for Land Degradation Neutrality’ together with Conservation International - Global Environment Facility (CI-GEF), Conservation International - Moore Center for Science (CI-MSC), University of Bern/WOCAT, University of Colorado (Land PKS), and University of California - Santa Barbara, took place on 30-31 October 2019, at the Arizona State University Washington Center. The project will support countries in monitoring and reporting of the SDG15 on LDN.