The 15th session of the Conference of Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), is taking place in Abidjan Côte d’Ivoire, from 9 to 20 May 2022. The theme: “Land, Life. Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity.” “We are faced with a crucial choice,” Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told participants: “We can either reap the benefits of land restoration now or continue on the disastrous path that has led us to the triple planetary crisis of climate, biodiversity and pollution”

South Africa needs to move away from siloed and passive approaches toward water management and adopt more proactive, robust and integrated approaches.

Apopular phrase in a time of crisis is “it never rains, but it pours”. This is usually a figurative expression referring to the overwhelming sense of chaos at a given time. South Africa is a country which has not been spared from economic, social and political chaos over the past few months, and the phrase has now taken on a literal meaning.

Traditional leaders assign land giving little consideration to spatial planning for long-term, sustainable settlement. People are settled in places unsuitable for human habitation. And climate change will bring added volatility and exposure.

This Land Portal data story looks at the increase of maize production in and around Thailand, and its relation to a poultry value chain as an ingredient in animal feed. 

This Land Portal data story explores the history of double dispossession in South Africa, from the colonial and apartheid era until contemporary times due to mining investments.

It’s that time of year again! March means International Women’s Day and the annual meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. It’s not surprising, after COP26 in Glasgow, that this year’s CSW66 links gender equality with climate change. The official theme is ‘achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes.’

International Women’s Day today challenges us to ‘break the bias’. This is key when it comes to the climate crisis as women are more vulnerable to climate shocks, yet less able to build resilience due to the cultural and legal biases that frustrate their agency over land and resources. Subjective data offers us ways to spot these biases and target ways of breaking them.

“It will be fun to develop land-use planning, if we do it together.” This was a comment from one of the local land managers during 30 online workshops run by PCC to introduce new Gender Guidelines for local land management in Mongolia.

Indigenous Peoples and local communities have successfully stewarded biodiversity rich landscapes for generations, helping to conserve and protect forests and other critical ecosystems while pursuing their own self determined priorities and livelihood needs. However, in the absence of legally recognized rights to their lands and forests, forest communities face an increasing array of threats from growing local and global demand for land and resources.

Kazakhstan and China must reach mutually beneficial agreements on water issues. 

by Wilder Alejandro Sanchez for Center for the National Interest

Indigenous Peoples look after their land, protect the environment and food sources, and can be a bulwark against global disease by ensuring biodiversity and proper management of forests.

But they remain under sometimes violent threat, are often treated as after-thoughts in international policy planning, and generally see their rights taking second-place to global demands, including environmental protection.

Indigenous peoples and local communities are included in the final version of the 26th session of the UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP26)’s decision text, a definite success compared to previous years. Direct financing for these groups has also been celebrated as a key success at COP26. However, how much progress was actually made, and which groups were kept on the side-lines? Many challenges still remain, and there is more to be done to include farmers’ voices in key discussions and decision-making.