The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development covers 17 goals, the 15th of which is “Life on Land,” namely: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

Under this major goal, there are 12 targets, the 15.3 of which is “By 2030, combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world.”

●Current Situation

The World

Global spotlight on women’s land rights, advancing gender equality and land restoration goals

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was set up in 1994 in response to the global challenges of desertification, land degradation and drought. The convention works with its 197 parties to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality by 2030, a global target enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals.

Up to 40% of land worldwide is currently degraded, with dire consequences for our climate, biodiversity and livelihoods. Droughts are up 29% since 2000, driven by climate change and land degradation.

Women, especially those from poor and marginalized communities, are disproportionately affected, due to various factors including their limited access to and control of land. In all parts of the world, they face significant barriers in securing land rights, limiting their ability to thrive and prosper.

Source: unccd.int

China

There have been 14 sandstorms this year, and technological sand control projects urgently need international cooperation

In May 2023, strong winds, sandstorms and blizzards in Mongolia caused at least 21 people missing in eastern Mongolia. Systematic dust weather with a wide range and high concentrati on occurred in the border area of Inner Mongolia, China. It gradually affected northern China from west to east. “Sand walls” were even rolled up by strong wind, which had an impact on people’s production and life.

According to statistics on average throughout the year, the cumulative number of sand and dust processes in China from January to May is 11.9 times, and it has reached 14 times this year. The impact of sand transport from abroad is prominent. The research team of Huang Jianping, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and professor of Lanzhou University, recently published a paper introducing that Mongolia and the Taklimakan Desert are the main sources of dust that causes the dust weather in northern China in 2023. Among them, the average contribution of Mongolia to the dust in northern China is about 42%, reaching 63%-75% at the highest; and the contribution rate of dust from Kazakhstan has reached 27%.

Wu Bo, director of the Institute of Desertification Studies of the Chinese Academy of Forestry, believes that the sandstorms originating from the Gobi Desert in southern Mongolia have the most prominent impact on China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and also have an important impact on North China, Northeast China, and East China. As the upper reaches of China, the desertification areas in southern Mongolia have similar natural conditions to some places in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. International cooperation should be strengthened to jointly carry out desertification control work, provide technical support for the vegetation restoration of overseas sand and dust sources, and reduce the harm of sandstorms.

Source: cb.com.cn

●Cases

The World

Chronic land degradation: UN offers stark warnings and practical remedies in Global Land Outlook 2 report

The way land resources—soil, water and biodiversity—are currently mismanaged and misused threatens the health and continued survival of many species on Earth, including our own, warns a stark new report from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).  It also points decision makers to hundreds of practical ways to effect local, national and regional land and ecosystem restoration. 

UNCCD’s evidence-based flagship Global Land Outlook 2 (GLO2) report, five years in development with 21 partner organizations, and with over 1,000 references, is the most comprehensive consolidation of information on the topic ever assembled. It offers an overview of unprecedented breadth and projects the planetary consequences of three scenarios through 2050: business as usual, restoration of 50 million square km of land, and restoration measures augmented by the conservation of natural areas important for specific ecosystem functions.

Source: unccd.int

Spain launches a new strategy against desertification

Desertification in the world’s top olive oil-producing country is being fueled by the ongoing drought and poor land management practices.

The Spanish government has announced a new comprehensive multi-year action plan to combat desertification, a phenomenon that is affecting two-thirds of the country.

Desertification is considered an ever-increasing threat to soil fertility and biodiversity in many regions, including some of Spain’s most relevant olive-growing areas.

Until 2030, national and local authorities, researchers, non-government organizations, farmers and other stakeholders will participate in the national strategy for the battle against desertification (ENLD). It aims to increase biodiversity and ecological resilience in the country’s driest areas while promoting actions to restore degraded soil.

Source: oliveoiltimes.com

China

Saihanba, the green barrier of Beijing, and a desert-turned oasis

Saihanba which means “beautiful high Mountain” in Mongolian, was once a back garden of the royal family. During the Liao and Jin dynasties, Saihanba was an oasis, known as the “thousand-mile pine forest.” The forest was dense, and there were many birds and beasts. With abundant water and grass, and pleasant fragrance of flowers, the area presented a peaceful atmosphere.

In the 1950s, the annual average number of dusty days in Beijing was 56.2 days. At this time, Saihanba showed a desolate scene of “flying birds had no habitat trees, and yellow sand covered the sky.” The vegetation was gone, the yellow sand filled the air, and the wind blew up the sand, rushing towards the city of Beijing more than 100 kilometers away.

For more than half a century, three generations of Saihanba people have built a green barrier on the desolate and remote Saibei Plateau with their indomitable fighting spirit and never-say-die commitment. They have created a miracle in the real word, turning a wasteland into an immense forest, and a sandy land into an oasis. It is a green monument in the history of forestry construction.

Today, Saihanba’s forest ecosystem provides more than 12 billion yuan in ecological service value every year. It benefits Beijing and Tianjin, as well as the local area. It is known as the “Emerald of North China.”

Source: news.cn

The first successful case of “water and soil co-remediation” restoration in Shenzhen

The Hongshengming polluted plot is located in the Shapu Industrial Zone, Songgang Subdistrict, Bao’an District, Shenzhen, covering an area of 17,000 square meters. In 2018, the demolition of the buildings and facilities on this land was completed. The land was reclaimed in 2019 to be used as a commercial land. It was planned to be transferred to Shenzhen CRRC Rail Vehicle Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “CRRC”) to build a company base.

CRRC organized and carried out detailed soil pollution investigations and risk assessments on the plot in February and August 2021 respectively. The investigation concluded that there were unacceptable human health risks in the plot, and 18,692 cubic meters of earthwork and 252 cubic meters of groundwater needed to be restored.

In October 2021, CRRC officially launched the “water and soil co-remediation” restoration treatment, and entrusted Beijing Construction Engineering Environmental Restoration Co., Ltd. to implement it. With a total investment of 32.5 million yuan, the project innovatively introduced social capital to participate in ecological construction. It greatly shortened the time for the coordinated treatment of soil and groundwater pollution. Compared with the traditional remediation model, the timeliness was increased by two to three times, providing a reference for the city’s work on “water and soilco-remediation.”

Source: Bao’an Daily

●Background

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiated by the United Nations

On January 1, 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including 169 targets, of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at an historic UN Summit — officially came into force. Countries will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while ensuring that no one is left behind.