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Home to around 25% of the world population, Drylands contain some of the most threatened and disregarded ecosystems facing pressures due to climate change-related extended droughts, regional warming and an ever-growing human population inevitably increasing risks of land degradation and desertification. Many restoration initiatives are being implemented in drylands, but [...]

Using participatory video approaches as an interactive platform to support networking, knowledge generation, and documenting and disseminating knowledge assets and lessons learned.  On the 27th and 28th of October 2020, the South-South and Triangular Cooperation Division, the Forestry Division and the Partnership and UN Collaboration of the Food and Agriculture Organization [...]

Alongside large scale restoration of 1000 ha of degraded land with selected local species planted over three years, AAD is also supporting wildlife conservation in Khoily Alpha's village nature reserve through the reintroduction of the Sahel scimitar oryx (Oryx dammah) in support of the Great Green Wall in Senegal. An [...]

Bees, trees and landscapes are interdependent. Bees depend on biodiverse habitats for forage, and at the same time bees provide important pollination services to many plants and trees, and are vital for the regeneration of healthy ecosystems. Beekeeping can enhance the pollination of wild and cultivated plants, increasing crop yields. [...]

Under the ever-increasing threat of climate change and biodiversity loss, desertification calls for a response of unprecedented urgency. Land restoration has moved to the top of the international agenda, as demonstrated by the proclamation, in March 2019, of a UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Pledges to global restoration and tree [...]

Téra, Niger - "In the last ten years we have lost a third of our crop fields because of rainwater runoff. Now, we can no longer live off our land, “says Hassane Abdoulaye from Téra, a city 190 km to the northwest of Niamey in Niger. Things started changing when community [...]

In its intervention model, the consultation and discussion framework set up by Action Against Desertification (AAD) actively encourage communities to establish a community management committee (COGES) for the restoration sites. The representative of the committee oversees and mobilizes communities for collective activities such as planting, sowing and maintaining the plots. [...]

When the deadly Cyclone Winston hit Fiji in February, 2016, it was reportedly the strongest storm ever recorded to make landfall in the Southern Hemisphere, and the coastal village of Nasavu was in the centre of its path. “It was morning and we were terrified. We had never seen such big [...]

Gargaboulé, Burkina Faso - Two years of restoration work in northern Burkina Faso show that land degradation is not yet irreversible. Rural communities work with FAO’s Action Against Desertification, putting scientific know-how into practice to tackle some of Africa’s drylands long-time woes. “We have chosen this plot,” says Sawadogo Mahammadi, standing [...]

Addis Ababa – The fight against desertification cannot be won without understanding the state of land use and land degradation, experts from Eastern Africa stressed at a technical workshop held from 27 to 31 May 2019 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Advanced monitoring tools using the latest satellite technologies are key [...]