UNDP-GEF and Sustainable Land Management (UNDP)
By UNDP-GEF Ecosystems and Biodiversity team
Working with the GEF, UNDP designs and implements projects in the Integrated Ecosystem Management (IEM) and Land Degradation (LD) focal areas to remove threats to ecosystem functions, drivers of land degradation, and barriers to SLM through an integrated landscape approach. These projects aim to deliver:
The projects in the UNDP-GEF portfolio are collectively implementing 29 SLM measures, which cover over 1.68 million hectares (ha) and fall into four categories: Agronomic, Management, Structural and Vegetative. Nearly 250,000 land users—who are applying technology introduced by these projects—have been impacted.
A current UNDP-supported, GEF-financed project in Nicaragua mitigates the causes and negative effects of land degradation, and as a result strengthens the integrity, stability, functions, and services of the ecosystem upon which local residents depend for their livelihoods. Land degradation in Nicaragua’s drylands affects 80 percent of the nation’s population and limits the potential to develop sustainable livelihoods in the poorest areas of Nicaragua. Severe land degradation has reduced production to almost half of traditional levels with declining productivity in sight. Erosion of topsoil, loss of fertility, and deforestation contribute to global warming, biodiversity loss, and reduce the infiltration of fresh water while altering the structure and integrity of local ecosystems. Inappropriate land use and damaging agriculture and grazing practices exacerbate these phenomena. The national and local efforts of the Nicaraguan government to reverse the trend through political and institutional actions have not translated into on-the-ground action due to persistent political, technical, and financial barriers that impede the effectiveness of the baseline efforts to improve the environment and livelihoods of the residents of the drylands. This project works to complement national and local efforts by: (1) mainstreaming SLM into policies; (2) developing local and national capacities; (3) harmonizing SLM into poverty reduction programmes; and (4) developing the sustainable financing necessary to promote long-term SLM and assure the environmental services needed to reduce poverty. The successful execution of project activities has led to:
Finally, at the global level, the project has generated global environmental benefits through reforestation efforts, which have restored the dry forest of the target reserve and contributed to global climate change mitigation. This work resulted in an increase in the population level of key plant species and the re-introduction of other species that had previously disappeared from the reserve. The state of the forest is expected to continue to improve due to the project’s efforts to reduce the human pressure on the ecosystem by supporting environmentally sound livelihoods that include ecotourism and honey production. Sources
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UNDP assists countries to maintain land-based ecosystem integrity through the promotion of Sustainable Land Management (SLM). SLM requires an integrated approach to natural resources management that takes into account the factors influencing decisions about land use at the local, national, and regional levels. UNDP’s strategy is to mainstream sustainable land management into economic sector activities, and to ensure production processes maintain biodiversity and ecosystem services that sustain human welfare.
At municipal level, the project has advanced the mainstreaming of SLM considerations into local and national policy frameworks. The institutionalization of the project within MARENA has led to the possibility of the creation of a National SLM Program, which would allow the project to be promoted at the national level as a tool to implement the climate change adaptation strategy, and would allow the replication of SLM in the project area.