WOCAT - World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies

17/06/2026

🎉 Today WOCAT joined 67 participants from 25 African nations in Nairobi, Kenya, in the World Desertification and Drought Day 2026 celebrations

🗺️ Hosted by the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development - RCMRD, the workshop was organized with the support of a strong partnership network including United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, WOCAT, Sahara and Sahel Observatory - OSS, , Conservation International, UN Environment Programme. The 4-day Regional Capacity Building Workshop on the UNCCD National Reporting Process focused on monitoring progress toward Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) and SDG Target 15.3.

Representing WOCAT, Ingrid Teich joined a panel discussion alongside UNCCD National Focal Points and Science and Technology Correspondents representing different regions of Africa:

👉 Libya (North Africa): Mr. Walid El Mezdawi, Science and Technology Correspondent

👉 Liberia (West Africa): Mr. Brexford Jallah, National Focal Point

👉 Namibia (Southern Africa): Ms. Natalia Nakashona, National Focal Point

👉 Uganda (East Africa): Mr. Moses Isabirye, Science and Technology Correspondent

💡 Key Takeaway from Ingrid's reflection: Conventional monitoring often oversimplifies land transitions. For instance, converting rangeland to cropland is often automatically flagged as a positive "improvement." This ignores the massive ecological, economic, and social value of healthy rangelands.

🌱 Why it matters: Rangelands support the livelihoods, cultures, and resilience of millions of pastoralist communities across Africa. Protecting them isn't just an environmental priority—it’s a social and economic necessity that requires protecting herd mobility and communal land tenure.

🔄 The Path Forward: To achieve true LDN, policymakers and investors need better, localized indicators to assess and communicate the benefits of rangeland restoration. Conventional metrics aren't enough; we need innovative thinking and inclusive governance to capture the multifunctional value of these landscapes.

"Rangelands continue to be undervalued in many policy and monitoring frameworks, despite being essential ecosystems that support food security, water regulation, and climate resilience. Much work remains to fully recognize their holistic value." — Ingrid Teich

🤝 As countries work toward global land targets, incorporating local realities and the multifunctional value of landscapes is critical. WOCAT remains committed to providing the knowledge, tools, and partnerships needed for resilient landscapes and communities worldwide.

17/06/2026

🌍 Today is 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗗𝗮𝘆 (𝟭𝟳 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲) and today we celebrate Rangelands!

Under the theme 𝗥𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀: 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲., we want to share a success story of sustainable rangeland management from Mongolia's eastern steppe.

To protect the spring sources that feed the Ulz River, semi-nomadic herders in Norovlin soum, Khentii aimag, adapted a traditional Buryat sheepfold fence into a low-impact exclosure around the most sensitive water points, where concentrated livestock pressure had caused soil compaction, erosion and water contamination.

The design is nail-free and "no-dig": metal posts are set into portable concrete bases, and notched poles made from locally sourced deadwood interlock without brackets. The result is a structure that causes minimal soil disturbance, is fully reversible, and remains modular enough to be expanded or relocated as wetland margins shift seasonally.

Within two years, project monitoring recorded measurable benefits:

💧 Approximately 20% higher spring water levels

🌱 Increased vegetation cover, with reduced erosion and evaporation

🦆 Improved habitat conditions, including more frequent sightings of migratory waterfowl

🤝 Strong community ownership, with more than 15 households contributing voluntarily and fewer disputes over water access

This example demonstrates how traditional knowledge and modern conservation principles can be combined into a locally buildable, movable and scalable solution for dryland regions.

The observance coincides with the Global Alliance for Rangelands & Pastoralists, and with Mongolia's hosting of UNCCD in Ulaanbaatar in August 2026. 🇲🇳

Further information:

🔗 Desertification and Drought Day 2026: https://www.unccd.int/events/desertification-drought-day/2026

🏛️ UNCCD COP17 (Ulaanbaatar, August 2026): https://www.unccd.int/cop17

📄 Full WOCAT technology documentation: https://wocat.net/en/database/technologies/7446/

The documentation of this practice has been facilitated by WWF Mongolia, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the Dryland Sustainable Landscapes Impact Program (DSL-IP)

Photos by: Uuganbayar Munkhbat



IUCN CDE - Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

17/06/2026

📣 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗘𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗡𝗲𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧’𝙨 𝙠𝙚𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨?

🐏 Rangelands managed by pastoralists are of global importance, but they are threatened by degradation driven by land conversion.

🌍 Many countries include rangeland restoration in their National Voluntary UN Convention to Combat Desertification Targets for Land Degradation Neutrality, but low investment still limits implementation.

🔬 Investors and policy makers need better indicators for monitoring and validation of rangeland restoration and for safeguarding pastoralists’ rights.

📦 We need to think out of the box to support pastoralist lifestyles, such as herd mobility and communal tenure, and to secure rangeland governance for large-scale rangeland restoration and resilient pastoralist livelihoods.

Find the full publication here:https://wocat.net/documents/1449/Enabling_pastoralist_management_of_rangelands_to_achieve_LDN.pdf

Congratulations to the authors to this publication Mounir Louhaichi, Jonathan Davies, Pedro Maria Herrera Calvo, Bora Masumbuko, Hanspeter Liniger, Rima Mekdaschi Studer, Nicole Harari, and Maryam Niamir-Fuller.

This scientific review has been supported by the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists Global Coordinating Group and the CGIAR Science Program on Multifunctional Landscapes supported by the CGIAR Trust Fund.

17/06/2026

🎉 Today we celebrate Desertification and Drought Day

This day invites us all to 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲, 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀. So let us:

🐫 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲 rangelands’ economic contribution to national and regional economies, their role in sustaining biodiversity and wildlife and the multiple benefits they provide, from regulating water cycles to storing carbon.

🐂 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 pastoralists, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, whose mobility, customary governance systems and ecological knowledge are essential to maintaining the health and productivity of these landscapes.

🐑 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲 rangelands by investing in sustainable land and water management, strengthening governance, improving drought preparedness and supporting community-led restoration efforts.

WOCAT calls for all that are committed to recognize, respect and restore rangelands, to:

💡 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 on rangelands restoration: https://lnkd.in/e5sXfz5Q

📙 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀: https://lnkd.in/e-UF4-zn

🤲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 with your community: https://lnkd.in/eeYzwvC3



International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

16/06/2026

1️⃣ day to learn about drought related rangelands practices before Hashtag

on June 17

👉 Read into a case study of family-based daily herding with reduced lifestock numbers in Tajikistan. Find out why the animals are grazing on the west-facing side in the morning and on the east-facing side in the evening: https://wocat.net/en/database/approaches/2657/

Documentation facilitated by the CDE - Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern

Photos by Christian Wirz



International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

15/06/2026

2️⃣ days to learn about drought related rangelands practices before on

The protection of water resources is essential for the supply of drinking water in the rural zones of Haiti.

👉 Learn about techniques to preserve water quality and facilitate water recharge in Haiti: https://wocat.net/en/database/technologies/583/



International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

The protection of water resources is essential for the supply of drinking water in the rural zones of Haiti, by enabling to preserve the water quality and facilitate the recharge of the resource. Organizing the actors related to the water resource and to the economic, environmental and communal chal...

12/06/2026

5️⃣ days to learn about drought related rangelands practices before on

👉 Explore how grazing lands are being restored through the rehabilitation of gully erosion in South Africa: https://wocat.net/en/database/technologies/3359/

Photos by J. Buckle

The documentation of this technique has been facilitated by SMC Synergy: https://www.smc-synergy.co.za/



International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

11/06/2026

6️⃣ days to learn about drought related rangelands practices before

on

💧 Water Spreading Weirs harvest and spread of runoff water and fertile soils. This contributes to soil and water conservation and enhances the productive use of dry valleys for food crops and livestock fodder production.

👉 Learn more about how Water Spreading Weirs protect agricultural fields and rangelands from degradation in Ethiopia: https://wocat.net/en/database/technologies/6715/

Photos by Gerba Leta

The documentation of this technique has been facilitated by Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT



International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

10/06/2026

7️⃣ days to learn about drought related rangelands practices before

on June 17

👉 Explore the stakeholder collaboration approach for building a landscape restoration learning site, applied in Afghanistan: https://wocat.net/en/database/approaches/7469/

Documentation facilitated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Afghanistan
Photos by Samiullah Khalil



International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists United Nations Development Programme - UNDP

09/06/2026

8️⃣ days to learn about drought related rangelands practices before on June 17

👉 Discover how off-season irrigation of fields and pastures is used in Southern Kazakhstan as a mechanism for pasture improvement under a changing climate: https://wocat.net/en/database/technologies/1121/

Documentation facilitated by the Kazakh Research Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry

International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification