FAO-GEF Partnership for Land Degradation

Land degradation is an increasing threat to the environment and ecosystems worldwide. FAO estimates that 1,660 million hectares (ha) of land is currently degraded due to human impacts. Over 60 percent of this degradation is on agricultural lands, comprising cropland and pastureland. Though 95 percent of the food we eat is grown on land, we are degrading 100 million hectares of healthy and productive land each year. Agrifood systems solutions can help to significantly decrease land degradation.

FAO brings a strong track record and a high level of expertise in the Agriculture, Forest and Land Use sector to its partnership with the GEF that unlock , FAO supports countries to develop forest-based solutions to the climate emergency while promoting the rights of Indigenous Peoples, local livelihoods, non-carbon benefits, and biodiversity through the UN-REDD+ Programme; supports governments to develop National Forest Information Systems, Frameworks and Policies; and fosters forest sustainable management practices and value chains to increase the resilience of women and youth’s livelihoods while restoring forests and landscapes.

The flagship GEF-7 programme “Sustainable Forest Management Impact Programme on Dryland Sustainable Landscapes” (DSL-IP) fosters agro-ecological system and forest resilience through a comprehensive landscape approach in three geographic clusters of drylands: Miombo/Mopane of Southern Africa, the savannas of East and West Africa, and the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands of Central Asia. Under FAO leadership, the DSL-IP aims to bring 12 million hectares of drylands under sustainable land management and improve management effectiveness in 1.6 million hectares of protected areas, as well as restore 0.9 million hectares of degraded land in the drylands. These activities are predicted to result in 34.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) total greenhouse gas emission reductions.

As co-lead of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030), FAO has a pivotal role in supporting countries in monitoring and implementing scientifically sound and effective sustainable restoration practices. This is done through initiatives such as GEF-funded The Restoration Initiative (TRI) - Fostering Innovation and Integration in Support of the Bonn Challenge, which aims to restore 483,000 hectares of land, improve management of 754,000 hectares of land and mitigate 30.4 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, and the Framework for Ecosystem Restoration Monitoring (FERM), the official geospatial monitoring platform for the UN Decade.