June 17 marks the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, a date established by the United Nations to raise awareness about soil degradation and water scarcity, as well as to promote effective and sustainable solutions to these challenges. This year’s slogan “Restore the land, create opportunities” shines a spotlight on the enormous potential of soil restoration as a driver of jobs, food security, climate resilience and sustainable development.
It is estimated that more than 40% of the world’s land surface isdegraded, affecting about half of the world’s population. The loss of fertile soil leads to decreased agricultural productivity, increased risks associated with droughtand flooding , and loss of biodiversity, as well as significant social and economic impacts such as forced migration or abandonment of rural areas.
According to data from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), an area equivalent to four football fields is degraded every second, which makes it urgent to redouble restoration efforts to achieve the global goal of recovering 1,500 million hectares of land by 2030. To this end, COP16 held at the end of 2024 in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) has been an international milestone to promote sustainable soil management and coordinated action against drought, also coinciding with the 30th anniversary of this convention.
COMMITMENT TO ACTION AGAINST DESERTIFICATION
In this context, the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) supports different initiatives to promote action against desertification.
In this context, the call for grants for research projects that promote the application of scientific knowledge in the planning and management of biodiversity, launched by the Biodiversity Foundation within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (RTRP), is supporting initiatives that contribute to improving the response to desertification and land degradation.
One of these projects is the Atlas of Desertification in Spain (ATLAS), coordinated by the University of Alicante. Its objective is to develop a national atlas that will serve as a technical and scientific basis to implement the National Strategy to Combat Desertification and move towards Land Degradation Neutrality (NDT). To this end, the project contemplates the collection and analysis of climate, biophysical and socioeconomic data, as well as the preparation of current maps and future scenarios of desertification based on climate change and human pressure on the territory.
The DESFUTUR project, led by the University of Cordoba, is also noteworthy. This initiative works to study the spatiotemporal dynamics of three key drivers of desertification – forest decay, fires and biological invasions – along an aridity gradient in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula (Almeria, Granada and Murcia). The project seeks to identify breaking points in affected forest ecosystems and generate useful knowledge to design management strategies that curb desertification and its impacts.
For its part, the ARIDESP project, coordinated by the Aula Dei Experimental Station of the CSIC, aims to improve knowledge about climate aridity in Spain and its future evolution. Among its main actions is the development of an interactive consultation platform and an operating system for real-time monitoring. This tool will contribute to desertification risk management and will be useful in areas such as agriculture, ecology or water management.
The Biodiversity Foundation also promotes projects focused on adaptation to climate change within the framework of its 2023 call to contribute to the implementation of the National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change 2021-2030.
One of these projects is REFORADAPT, coordinated by the Consorci Centre de Ciència i Tecnología Forestal de Catalunya (CTFC). This initiative has compiled and synthesized the knowledge generated in Spain on restoration and adaptation of forest ecosystems, evaluating the factors that determine the success or failure of these actions. The project has developed success indicators, analysed past initiatives using participatory methods and developed recommendations to optimise future actions against desertification and climate change.
For its part, the HERMINE project, led by the Canarian Association of Forestry Education Fénix, focuses on identifying and developing Nature-Based Solutions to improve soil productivity and combat desertification in the eastern Canary Islands and Gran Canaria. Through the compilation of traditional practices such as “gavias” and “nateros”, this initiative promotes the conservation of particularly vulnerable spaces, involving citizens and local agents in the definition of new lines of intervention.
In addition, in collaboration with the Sub-Directorate General for Forest Policy and the Fight against Desertification (MITECO) and Casa África, the Foundation launched an outreach campaign on desertification and drought in 2024. Within the framework of this initiative, various informative and informative materials have been prepared and different technical conferences have been held to debate and reflect on this topic.
With these spaces for reflection and collaboration, the Biodiversity Foundation reaffirms its commitment to the National Strategy to Combat Desertification and the promotion of projects that promote more sustainable and equitable land management, in line with the objectives of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030).
