The WOCAT Symposium and WOCAT Network Meeting 2019 that was hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture of Ethiopia and jointly co-organized with CIAT Ethiopia, WLRC and WOCAT, was a success thanks to all participants, contributors and co-organizers. At the WOCAT Symposium participants shared their knowledge and discussed about up- and out-scaling SLM and achieving LDN. The following day participants visited the Jema watershed north of Addis Ababa to experience successful SLM implementation. At the WOCAT Network Meeting invited WOCAT experts jointly reflected on the achievements and experiences in applying WOCAT in different countries, institutions and projects, and on how the future of WOCAT should look like. More information will be shared soon here on the WOCAT website.

The World Day to Combat Desertification (WDCD) is observed every year on 17 June to promote public awareness of international efforts to combat desertification. Many countries, groups and individuals celebrate and observe WDCD by organizing a variety of outreach activities and awareness raising events.

The meeting was hosted by the General Directorate of the Combatting Desertification and Erosion of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Turkey. This third and final global meeting gave the opportunity to share and discuss experiences and results amongst the 15 participating countries.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the popular perception of rangelands and their management is that these vast areas have major problems without solutions: the common narrative focuses on overgrazing, herds of undernourished livestock, erosion and desertification, drought, famine, and conflict. However, evidence compiled and analysed in this book show that such a view of rangelands – as being unproductive and mismanaged systems – does not reflect reality. It needs reconsideration and revision. The overall goal of the guidelines is to demonstrate – through a unique set of convincing case studies and their analysis as well as the development of guiding principles – the value and potential of investment in rangelands.

The mapping database by WOCAT is now offline. All datasets documented in the old WOCAT dabase, the instructions for mapping and a selecetion of maps can be found in the media library.

The WOCAT program is currently undergoing an external evaluation with the objective to assess the effectiveness and achieved impacts of WOCAT. For this, a survey is sent to various WOCAT partners and users. We hope that many of you can participate in the survey and provide their views and feedback on WOCAT.

The E-learning course on “Sustainable Land Management and Land Restoration" developed by FAO in collaboration with CIHEAM, The Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) Initiative, University of Leeds and WOCAT, is now available online.