Ambitious $104 million program targets land degradation in Africa and Central Asian countries

APO Group
Published on 09 Jun 2021 in The Guardian

The global launch of a $104 million initiative signals an ambitious effort by a range of partners to safeguard drylands in the context of climate change, fragile ecosystems, biodiversity loss, and deforestation in 11 African and Central Asian countries.

Funded by the Global Environment Facility and led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Sustainable Forest Management Impact Program on Dryland Sustainable Landscapes helps pave the way for initiatives linked to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The Program will be implemented in partnership with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the World Bank, and the World Wildlife Fund.

The Program, launched last week at the Global Landscapes Forum’s virtual event, Restoring Africa’s Drylands, will involve work across three critical dryland biomes – the Miombo and Mopane ecosystems of Southern Africa, the savannas of East and West Africa, and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands of Central Asia – to avoid, reduce, and reverse land degradation through sustainable land and forest management.