Shanghai Daily: "3 Organizations Share UNCCD Award for Land Conservation"

DOHA, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) — Three civil society organizations shared on Tuesday in Doha of Qatar the awards of “Land for Life,” which was initiated by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), as officials and experts around the world also gather here for the annual global climate talks.

“Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (SOIL) from Haiti, Conservation Efforts for Community Development (CECOD) from Uganda, and the Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion (TEMA) took home international recognition and the financial awards,” according to a press release from the organizers.

The three organizations were recognized for their innovative, inspiring and transformative work to increase the natural health of soils and restore its productivity, the press release said.

“We will use this award to develop an integrated agricultural livelihood learning center that will have a full-scale composting operation, fruit tree nursery and solar-powered drip irrigation demonstration farm,” said Leah Nevada, who received the award on behalf of SOIL.

Fahad Bin Mohammed Al-Attiya, Chairman of Qatar Nation Food Security Program and one of the awards’ sponsors, said the achievements made by the organizations support global food security, an issue of great interest to Qatar, which imports 90 percent of its food and aims to be food secure by 2024.

The “Land for Life” award was established in 2011 at the tenth session of the UNCCD in Korea, and this year’s contest attracted 109 applications from across the world.

The UNCCD, established in 1994, is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment, development and the promotion of healthy soils.

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