17 June 2014: The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has announced two winners of the 2014 Land for Life Award: the Conservation Organisation for Afghan Mountains Areas (COAM), Afghanistan, and Green Asia Network (GAN), Republic of Korea. Each winner will receive US$35,000.

Monique Barbut, Executive Secretary, UNCCD, described the winners as “people, mostly fantastic civil society leaders, who promote grassroots action and keep the land healthy and productive.”

Afghanistan’s degraded rangelands are at risk of desertification, according to the UNCCD. COAM Afghanistan has helped to change these conditions through a variety of youth and women-driven interventions, including the use of clean cook stoves, which has reduced pressure on vulnerable arid rangelands by 50%. COAM has also introduced bio-briquettes, gravity-fed irrigation systems, solar water heating, tree planting and watershed management planning in over 3000 households in two districts.

GAN has worked in Mongolia, a country currently being affected by desertification, to train local pastoralists in sustainable agriculture and forestry practices, with the aim of improving their livelihoods and restoring the ecosystem. GAN also operates eco-tours that give participants a close look at the impacts of climate change and engage them in forestry project initiatives. GAN uses a model focused on work in environment, economy and society and intends to expand its work to Myanmar and other dryland areas.

UNCCD awarded a special mention to the village of Adi-Shimhabty, Eritrea. The community was experiencing deforestation, overgrazing, removal of natural vegetation and other challenges, including climate change impacts. To address these challenges, the community has closed part of their land to agricultural and livelihood activities and conducts tree seedling planting, land leveling and terracing. Through these efforts, the community has converted virtually barren land to 95% recovered vegetation, according to UNCCD.

UNCCD announced the winners at the global observance event for World Day to Combat Desertification, which took place at World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC, US.

The Land for Life award programme is a collaborative initiative between the UNCCD and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), China, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Korea Forest Service, the Qatar National Food Security Programme, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Elion Resources Group. [UNCCD Press Release] [Land for Life Website] [IISD RS Story on World Day to Combat Desertification]