Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - The UN today awarded three new World Restoration Flagships in Brazil, the Sahel region, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The initiatives are strengthening landscape productivity by restoring degraded ecosystems in regions facing drought, desertification and climate change.
Jointly led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the awards are announced under the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) and presented during a high-level event of the 17th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17). In committing to restore almost 5 million hectares by 2030 - an area equal to nearly 7 million football fields - the three flagships awarded contribute to global commitments to restore a total of one billion hectares by 2030.
"Restoring the world's degraded land must become our priority if we want to achieve global commitments on food security, land degradation neutrality, biodiversity, food diversity, and the climate crisis," said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu. "Every hectare restored is a step towards a more sustainable future."
"The impacts of climate change, drought and desertification, as well as ongoing geopolitical tensions, are hitting global food systems hard," said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. "Investing in healthy land is one of our strongest defences against these threats. The three initiatives recognized today show that restoring ecosystems brings significant benefits for all - including food security, new jobs, and greater resilience for millions of people."
"Today, there is growing recognition that land degradation, drought and ecosystem loss are no longer just environmental concerns - they are fundamental challenges to food security, water security and economic stability," said Dr Yasmine Fouad, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). "These World Restoration Flagships show that restoration works. They demonstrate that investing in nature strengthens resilience, supports livelihoods and delivers tangible benefits for people and communities. At UNCCD COP17 in Mongolia, we will focus on scaling up land restoration and drought resilience, turning proven solutions into action at the scale the world needs."
Brazil restores the Cerrado - the world's most biodiverse savanna
Brazil's Cerrado is the world's most biodiverse tropical savannah. The Araticum Initiative "Restoring Brazil's Cerrado Savannah" brings together over 180 organizations, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, farmers, researchers, and government institutions to support restoration projects across nine Brazilian states. This is done through natural regeneration, direct seeding, restoration and agroforestry with native species.
As of June 2026, over 27,000 hectares have been placed under restoration, while seeds from more than 150 native plant species have been collected and used in restoration activities. The initiative aims to bring 2 million hectares under restoration by 2030.
Saudi Arabia's restoration of arid landscapes
Saudi Arabia's National Greening Program aims to transform degraded landscapes across rangelands, forests, deserts, urban areas and coastal ecosystems, including mangroves. With a target of restoring 2.5 million hectares and planting 215 million trees by 2030, while generating up to 187,000 jobs and improving urban air quality, it contributes to the Kingdom's national goal of restoring 40 million hectares and planting 10 billion trees by 2100.
Led by the National Center for Vegetation Cover Development and Combating Desertification, by June 2026, the programme had brought 1 million hectares of degraded land under restoration and planted 159 million trees. Restoration activities include reforestation, natural regeneration, controlled grazing, reintroduction of native wildlife species including Arabian oryx, gazelles and ibex, rainwater harvesting, and the use of treated wastewater to support restoration in water-scarce landscapes.
Sahel initiative links restoration with food security and resilience
Across the Sahel, conflict, land degradation, drought, food insecurity and climate change are placing mounting pressure on ecosystems and communities. The Sahel Integrated Resilience Initiative, implemented across Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, is restoring degraded land while strengthening livelihoods and food systems. This includes support for cross border refugees from war-torn Sudan.
The initiative, led by the World Food Programme, had already restored more than 335,000 hectares of degraded land by June 2026 and aims to restore 470,000 hectares by 2030. Combining land rehabilitation techniques, soil and water management, livelihood support and school feeding programmes, the initiative has benefitted more than 4 million people across the region.
Restoring land is restoring resilience
The three new World Restoration Flagships join a growing network of 27 restoration initiatives recognized under the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The initiatives awarded showcase the best examples of large-scale and long-term ecosystem restoration in any country or region.
