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Boosting the capacity of forests and agrosilvopastoral systems in drylands to alleviate poverty and contribute to food security was the focus of an expert meeting during the second session of the Committee on Forestry's Working Group on Dryland Forests and Agrosilvopastoral Systems this week.

Drylands cover 41 percent of the world’s land area and are home to two billion people, many of whom depend on forests, other wooded lands and grasslands for their livelihoods and to meet basic needs.

However, these ecosystems face threats from drought, desertification, land-use change and climate change, with serious implications for the food security and well-being of communities.

“The Working Group is the anchor to support the South-South cooperation, knowledge sharing in improving dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral management and contributing to the UN Decade on the Ecosystem Restoration,” said Ms Mette Wilkie, Director of FAO Forestry Division, as she welcomed participants to the session.

Among solutions explored at this week’s Second Session of the Committee on Forestry's Working Group on Dryland Forests and Agrosilvopastoral Systems was the potential for grazing livestock to help maintain and restore productive forests and rangelands in dryland regions.

While forestry and livestock production have traditionally been seen as conflicting land uses, silvopastoralism, which integrates the management of trees and livestock, should be more widely promoted, the meeting highlighted. The Working Group members agreed to support the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists in 2026 by mobilizing and deploying their cross-regional expertise and promoting innovative and inter-connected sustainable agrosilvopastoral systems.

The Working Group members have a key role in identifying evidence-based regional (transboundary) priorities for transboundary dryland management and in supporting the implementation of the Sustainable Forest Management Impact Program on Dryland Sustainable Landscape (DSL-IP). Led by FAO, supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and in partnership with the World Bank, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), DSL-IP seeks to avoid, reduce, and reverse further degradation, desertification, and deforestation of land and ecosystems in drylands, through the sustainable management of production landscapes.

The Session also underlined that urban forestry and urban greening activities are key tools to address climate change and improve resilience in dryland cities.

FAO’s new Green Urban Oases Programme will work in Africa, Asia, and the Near East and North Africa to strengthen the overall resilience of ‘desert cities’, as well as to reduce the impact of urbanization on biodiversity and the surrounding natural environment, the meeting heard.

Participants agreed on four priority areas for action over the next two years to strengthen the role of the Working Group in the global agenda on sustainable management of dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral systems. To this end, the Working Group convened six technical discussion meetings during the two days of the second session and identified opportunities and activities to promote innovative and sustainable dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral systems.

These technical areas are the following: transformation of dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral production systems; innovative ways to monitor and restore drylands; improvement of forest-based livelihoods and human well-being in post-COVID recovery in drylands; and knowledge documentation and sharing for collaboration and scaling–up of sustainable management and restoration practices across dryland regions. The Working Group emphasized South–South cooperation and knowledge sharing and dissemination among different dryland regions.

Tanzania hosted the Second Session of the Committee on Forestry's Working Group on Dryland Forests and Agrosilvopastoral Systems, which was attend by about 40 member countries, four non-member countries, 13 intergovernmental organizations, and nine non-governmental organizations. In total, 104 participants attended the session over the two days.

At the end of the meeting, the Working Group elected their new steering committee, with the Chairperson from Sweden, two Vice Chairpersons from Jordan and Tanzania. It was agreed that the third session will be in 2023 and Jordan will host the session.