Linking migration, land degradation, and land restoration: potential for sustainable livelihoods.
UNU-LRT held a workshop at the Estoril Conferences last week together with its partners in the ENABLE consortium. The theme of the workshop was Linking migration, land degradation, and land restoration: potential for sustainable livelihoods. At the workshop, two former UNU-LRT fellows, Dr Bulgamaa Densambuu from Mongolia and Mr Moustapha Ibrahim from Niger, shared experiences on restoration work in their countries. In their talks they showcased the benefits land restoration brings to local communities, such as employment, food security and business opportunities. This improves the livelihoods and living condition of local people and reduces the need to migrate.
The ENABLE workshop started with a talk on the importance of leadership skills to successfully restore landscapes. It was followed by talks on the extensive damage caused by land degradation and the multiple benefits large-scale landscape restoration brings. Local cases from Portugal and Spain were introduced, showcasing the challenges and opportunities in restoring landscapes. Then the diverse capacity needs for resilient ecosystems and societies were discussed and capacity building at UNU-LRT introduced, followed by the cases from the former UNU-LRT fellows. The presenters at the workshop were Prof. dr. Dirk van Dierendonck (Rotterdam School of Management), Dr. Simon Moolenaar (Commonland), Dr. Joris de Vente (Spanish National Research Council), Dr. Alfredo Cunha Sendim, Dr. André Vizinho, Dr. Hafdis Hanna Aegisdottir (UNU-LRT), Mr Moustapha Ibrahim (Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development in Niger) and Dr Bulgamaa Densambuu (Green Gold Project in Mongolia). You can see the agenda of the workshop in this flyer.
The Estoril Conferences took place in Estoril Portugal last week. The theme this year was Global Migration: Leaving home in a globalized world.