WOCAT

The sixteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the UNCCD will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 2-13 December 2024. The UNCCD is the world’s foremost platform for governments, businesses and civil society to come together and to discuss present-day challenges and chart a sustainable future for land. This year's COP will coincide with the Convention's 30th anniversary. WOCAT and partners will be present and will be announcing their contributions to sessions and side events soon. Stay tuned!

Sharing a common vision over rangelands, FAO and several key partner such as CIFOR-ICRAF, WOCAT, IUCN, SLU, ARC, and IYRP, proudly announce the launch of the 2nd Drylands Summer School. The Summer School is funded by the UNCCD's G20 GLI and will take place at the CIFOR-ICRAF Campus in Nairobi, Kenya, from 12-15 September 2024. It targets experts, planners and policy makers who have expertise or operational responsibilities in management of drylands production systems. The focus of this second edition is on monitoring drylands and agrosilvopastoral systems towards climate change and sustainability. The deadline for receiving application forms is 5 July, 2024.

The report "Carbon Farming in Kazakhstan: Unlocking an Opportunity" to which WOCAT collaborated, has been published.
The report provides a comprehensive overview of the opportunities and challenges related to carbon farming and trading in Kazakhstan and, more broadly, on Central Asian drylands.

From 29 July to 2 August, researchers from CDE-WOCAT joined over 100 environmental experts from 10 African countries at the Second FAO GEF-7 Dryland Sustainable Landscapes Impact Program (DSL-IP) Southern Africa Stakeholders Workshop in Blantyre, Malawi. Their discussions, group work, and presentations focused, among other things, on SLM practices and Integrated Land Use Planning (ILUP) to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN). An inspiring field day highlighted the benefits of intercropping pigeon peas and maize, showcasing effective SLM measures for the region.

A WOCAT team from CDE and ICARDA, in collaboration with FAO Saudi Arabia, and the National Center for Vegetation Cover Development and Combating Desertification NCVC, organized a joint workshop to enhance and strengthen key stakeholders’ knowledge on SLM in Saudi Arabia. The workshop aimed to establish a common understanding of SLM, to develop participants’ capabilities and to identify challenges in the field of SLM. Further, it initiated the documentation of good SLM practices using the Global WOCAT SLM Database, supporting the development and implementation of a national SLM platform and framework for Saudi Arabia.

The WOCAT Newsletter January - June 2024 is out! As we reflect on the first half of this year, we are excited to share the latest news, updates, and publications from WOCAT and its partners. This issue highlights our digital expansion to LinkedIn and showcases a variety of upcoming events, workshops, and innovative projects designed to foster knowledge exchange and capacity building.