WOCAT, in partnership with the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists 2026 and the FAO Committee on Forestry Working Group on Dryland Forests and Agrosilvopastoral Systems (COFO WG), is holding a summer school ​session ​to explore transformative approaches to building climate resilient dryland systems. FAO/IYRP dryland summer school 12-15 Sept 2023 in Jordan. WOCAT SLM expert Rima Mekdaschi Studer will be conducting the field say. 

This paper presents a novel approach to address the challenge of achieving land degradation neutrality (LDN) in Ecuador. The methodology involves a participatory and data-driven assessment, integrating both biophysical and socio-economic dimensions of land degradation. This tool not only identifies degradation hotspots but also ensures ownership and support for Ecuador's LDN goals, offering a replicable model for other countries and regions.

In late July, a WOCAT training took place in Addis Ababa, focusing on EarthEngine in collaboration with the GIZ ProSoil project. Participants representing the Ministry of Agriculture, agricultural bureaus, and the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT learned to access satellite image catalogs and analyze time series to implement the principle of Convergence of Evidence to map Land Degradation Neutrality in Ethiopia.

2023 has started incredibly, with more than 15 global events partaken by WOCAT and 50+ partners. Moreover, the invitation to become official Organizational Members of the WOCAT Global Network is now open!

The new perspective paper highlights the importance of SLM in mitigating climate change and supporting adaptation practices, particularly in rainfed regions of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It analyses WOCAT Global SLM Database and presents current advancements in the field and outlines future directions for utilizing SLM as a climate change adaptation solution for land users in SSA.