Yasmeen Fouad, executive secretary of the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, recently accepted a written interview with a reporter from Xinhua News Agency and said that in recent years, China's desertification and sandification land areas have continued to "double shrink", and "China has become one of the clearest large-scale examples of the reversal of land degradation."
Fuad believes that China’s experience has strongly proved that with the joint support of long-term vision, technological innovation and strong institutions, ecological restoration and economic development can promote each other.
Fuad pointed out that the success of ecological restoration in China is inseparable from three key factors.The first is policy continuity. Take the "Three North" project as an example. This project started in 1978 and planned to 2050 is one of the largest and longest-lasting ecological restoration projects in the world.Secondly, a complete legal system has played an important role, including special desertification prevention and control laws and broader ecological governance reforms.At the same time, scientific and monitoring methods such as satellite observation and land use planning are always used throughout, providing solid support for decision-making.
She particularly emphasized that the core inspiration of China’s experience is that ecological restoration cannot be carried out independently, but must be embedded in national planning and long-term development strategies, and must be considered together with food security, water security, poverty reduction and climate resilience.In addition, ecological restoration is combined with local livelihoods to achieve the dual benefits of desertification control and wealth creation through the development of sustainable agriculture and animal husbandry.
“These experiences are of great significance to arid areas in Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East.” Fouad pointed out that these areas face similar problems such as drought, land degradation, and water shortages.China has accumulated rich practices in soil and water conservation, vegetation restoration, desertification prevention and control projects, and remote sensing monitoring, which has important reference significance.
Fuad admitted that ecological restoration still faces severe challenges on a global scale.Currently, only about US$77 billion is invested globally each year to achieve the goals related to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, leaving a funding gap of US$278 billion.In addition to financial pressure, continued drought further increases the difficulty of ecological restoration.In addition, grassland pastures are ecosystems that support the livelihoods of about 2 billion people around the world and provide nearly 70% of livestock feed. Nearly half of them have been degraded or are at risk of degradation.
Talking about the upcoming 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Mongolia, Fuad believes that the top priority is to translate the established goals, including the commitment of various countries to restore 1 billion hectares of degraded land, into matching implementation efforts and scale of action.
“Ecological restoration is one of the most pragmatic investments for economic resilience, food security and long-term stability.” Fouad said, hoping that the conference can restore people’s confidence in the future: land degradation is not irreversible, and multilateral cooperation can help transform shared visions into tangible actions.
