News

Mr Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, visited Iceland on 2 – 3 July. During the visit, he learned about the activities of the UNU programmes in Iceland; including UNU-LRT. He met with Hafdis Hanna Aegisdottir the UNU-LRT Director and two UNU-LRT Fellows, Ms Olive Chemutai from Uganda and Mr Azamat Isakov from Kyrgyzstan. Ms Chemutai addressed the Secretary-General on her experience with the UNU-LRT training and how it will help her to meet the challenges at home. Her address was very well received.

Last week Dr. Jeffrey Herrick, research soil scientist from the Jornada Research Unit, USDA-ARS, New Mexico, USA, held a short course on evaluation of restoration outcome for the UNU-LRT fellows. Moreover, specialists from the Agricultural University of Iceland and the Soil Conservation Service of Iceland attended the course. Dr. Herrick’s teaching included designing and establishing monitoring and evaluation system, and gathering and managing information. Furthermore, he taught about the importance of land potential when creating restoration and management plans.