The Partnership’s ambition is to restore an initial 10 million hectares of drylands across Asia.

On 13 July 2021, Landscape Partnership Asia held the first webinar in a series on how people are addressing dryland degradation in Asia. The series is part of the Asian Drylands Knowledge Hub, which brings together diverse individuals and groups to exchange lessons from successful restoration in Central, South, East and Southeast Asia. 

Landscape Partnership Asia is the largest multi-sectoral initiative for restoring Asian drylands. Five guest speakers discussed the challenges and opportunities.

Delia Catacutan of the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) introduced the Partnership Asia on behalf of the founding partners: Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO), CIFOR-ICRAF and the Global EverGreening Alliance.

Catacutan noted the neglect that drylands have suffered over many decades and the opportunities for intervening in these critical ecosystems with the aegis of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and related campaigns. She highlighted the Partnership’s ambition of bringing 10 million hectares of Asian drylands and drought-prone areas under integrated management by 2030.

‘This will be achieved by deploying performance-based investments through networks of “engagement landscapes”,’ she said. ‘Long-term outcomes are linked to the Land Degradation Neutrality Targets of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and the Sustainable Development Goals.’

She described how government, implementing, technical and funding partners can join the Landscape Partnership Asia and contribute to the ambition.

Yowhan Son of Korea University shared his experiences of land restoration in Central Asia through projects with the Korea Forest Service. He emphasized Central Asia’s historical importance and its mountainous terrain before describing the opportunities for landscape restoration in the region.

‘Since 2013, the Government of the Republic of Korea has been working with forestry partners in Central Asia,’ he said. ‘The first completed project was in the Aral Sea, which had undergone a severe desiccation process. In the project, we planted over 3.75 million seedlings across 10,800 hectares of dry Aral Sea bed while conducting training and research and development.’

He added that there was continuing cooperation in forestry with Korea Forest Service in Tajikistan, which involves establishing saxaul (Haloxylon ammodendron) and pistachio plantations, capacity building and research and development.

For future direction, Son noted opportunities to enhance the productivity of drylands as well as socio-economic dimensions that must be considered, such as income generation and local participation.

Tashi Wangdi of Bhutan’s National Soil Services Centre of the Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Forests updated the audience on the status of dryland degradation in South Asia. He began with the geographic and socio-economic background of the region, stressing the vulnerability of the regional population to climate change owing to the prominence of agriculture.

He described the primary types of dryland degradation and their drivers across the seven countries in South Asia. When discussing the impacts of dryland degradation, Wangdi noted the challenges of estimating such impacts but despite ongoing challenges commended the array of international and domestic partners in the region that sought to avoid and reduce land degradation.

‘These partnerships have produced many success stories,’ he said, ‘which are captured in journal articles, policy reports and various other knowledge products.’

In conclusion, Wangdi argued for concerted action at all levels as the way forward to combat dryland degradation.

Han Thi Ngan of the Viet Nam Administration of Forestry of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shared an overview of land degradation and restoration in Viet Nam. She began by describing the natural and anthropogenic drivers of land degradation, emphasizing the many different types in Viet Nam owing to the country’s diverse geographical features.

She also provided the degradation status of five regions: Northwest, Central, Central Highlands, Cuu Long River Basin and Red River Basin.

‘While these regions have similarities in being adversely affected by land degradation,’ she said, ‘they are underpinned by different mechanisms, showing the importance of targeted restoration approaches.’

From experience, she found forest protection and development as the most effective solutions for land degradation. She highlighted agroforestry and mangrove establishment as among the most successful restoration models.

Oyunsanaa Byambasuren of the Department of Environment and Forest Engineering, National University of Mongolia focused on the challenges and opportunities in Mongolia. He noted that over 77% of Mongolia’s land area was under threat of desertification and degradation, jeopardizing the productivity of the agricultural sector, specifically, livestock.

He mentioned that there were a number of laws and policies aiming to combat desertification and degradation in Mongolia, including the Sustainable Development Concept 2030 and Green Development Policy. For its contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals, Byambasuren presented Mongolia’s goal of foresting 9% of the country by 2030. This objective will be met through three stages alongside the direction of the State Forest Policy.

Byambasuren also highlighted the degradation drivers in the different landscapes across Mongolia and the potential solutions.

‘Transboundary fires in recent years between Russia and Mongolia, for example, require collaboration between governments and others to reduce or eradicate wildfires,’ he said.

He also shared successful cases of restoration and afforestation activities through international partnerships.

Sally Armitage of the Global EverGreening Alliance moderated the event and Aidai Zhumasheva of AFoCO provided language translation in Russian.

During the event, active and extensive exchanges between speakers and audience members occurred through the live chatbox and in the moderated discussion. These can be viewed in the recording.