UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration presented at the 10th International Conference on Water Resources and Arid Environments

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has presented the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration at 10th International Conference on Water Resources and Arid Environments (ICWRAE) held at the King Saud University, organized by the Prince Sultan Institute for Environmental, Water and Desert Research; the Saudi Ministry of the Environment, Water, and Agriculture; and King Saud University among other partners. The 10th conference took place from 26 to 28 December 2022.

The presentation on the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration was made within the Saudi Green Initiative (SGI) session of the conference held on Monday 26 December 2022. The session was coordinated by the National Center for Vegetation Cover (NCVC) and the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture and featured several presentations on the Saudi Green Initiative (SGI).

The presentation was made by Jeremiah Njeru, FAO Saudi Arabia Natural Resources Chief Technical Advisor and introduced Decade aims and features, structure and organization, task forces, pathways for action, and partnership framework. The linkages with SGI were highlighted and the ways the SGI contributes to the Decade elaborated.

Saudi Green Initiative and UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

The Saudi Green Initiative directly supports the aims of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. It contributes to all three core aims of the Decade: (i) Building more political will for restoration; (ii) Committing and actioning ambitious restoration programs; and (iii) Supporting implementation of the Rio Conventions and attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The SGI and UN restoration decade have mutual benefits. The Decade helps position SGI and its contribution to the global restoration efforts; provides a platform for SGI to collaborate with other global restoration initiatives; provides knowledge and lessons to SGI; strengthens SGI through access to restoration tools and resources; and increases awareness and communication on the SGI globally. The SGI supports the Decade by demonstrating national restoration leadership through ambitious projects and targets and provides lessons and experiences to other countries especially those with challenging dry environments.

Localizing the Decade in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Near East Region

The Decade on Ecosystem Restoration was launched in the region on 23rd March 2022 by UNEP office for West Asia and FAO Regional Office for Near East and North Africa, together with the establishment of its Regional Task Force and identification of Country Focal Points. The launch engaged many partners in the region including governments, local and international development organizations, academic institutions, and private sectors among others. Following the launch, a series of meetings were organized to introduce the Decade and prepare implementation plans. FAO and UNEP have taken every opportunity to lobby the government, public and private sector, civil society, and other stakeholders to actively participate in the Decade programs and activities.

To start off the regional Decade program, a series of webinars on different restoration topics have been organized throughout 2022. Currently, UNEP and FAO are calling for Restoration Actors from countries in the region and supporting their engagement with the Decade.

Resources for Local Action

The Decade on Ecosystem Restoration provides many tools and resources to support restoration action on the ground. The tools and resources are the results of the work of five core task forces including restoration science led by IUCN, financing led by the World Bank, best practices led by FAO, Monitoring led by FAO, and Youth engagement self-organized by youth organizations.

To access restoration resources and tools, visit the decade website (www.decadeonrestoration.org). The publications section provides an interactive search interface where you can search for resources by year, ecosystem type, resource type, and affiliate organizations. The website also includes a communication materials section with communication resources for media engagements. The resources include editable files that you can download and adapt for your own restoration media campaigns. For more information on the Decade in KSA, you can contact FAO KSA Decade focal point (Jeremiah Njeru) by email (Jeremiah.njeru@fao.org).

About the Sustainable Rural Agriculture Development Project (SRADP)

FAO participation in the ICWRAE was organized within the framework of the Sustainable Rural Agriculture Development Project (SRADP). SRADP is a multi-disciplinary project covering nine components strategically formulated in alignment with the National Transformation Program under the Saudi Vision 2030 and with the aim to contribute towards achieving the national development goal of sustainable rural agricultural development in the Kingdom. The project has been formulated by FAO and the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture and includes components on natural resources management including forests, rangelands, national parks, and land desertification.