The United Nations University - Land Restoration Training Programme is a new post-gratuate training programme on Sustainable Land Management and Restoration of Degraded Land. The programme is funded by the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs as a part of the government’s development co-operation efforts. The Government of Iceland has committed itself to contribute to development co-operation, including in the field of land restoration, as signatory to various international conventions on land management, including the United Nations Convention on Combating Desertification. The programme is implemented by the Agricultural University of Iceland and the Soil Conservation Service in Iceland in collaboration with national and international partners.
The UNU-LRT programme is rooted in the United Nations
Convention on Combating Desertification (UN-CCD) but also strongly relates to at least two other UN conventions; the Convention on Biodiversity(UN-CBD) and the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN-FCCC).
The UNU-LRT programme contributes to the United Nations Millennium Developmental Goals (MDG), especially the 7th MDG (Ensuring environmental sustainability), but also to the 1st MDG (Eradicate
extreme poverty and hunger) and the 3rd MDG (Promote gender equality and enpower women).
Mission:
The mission of UNU-LRT is to fight land degradation and restore degraded land by strengthening institutional capacity, and motivating individuals in developing countries to deal with these issues. Moreover, the mission is to facilitate strong network among leading organisations, and to apply science in local work; leading to sustainable land use.
UNU-LRT’s main concern is land degradation, soil erosion, unsustainable land use and desertification. Efforts to fight these problems are often hampered by lack of knowledge, capacity and social motivation in the affected areas. Necessary actions are thus poorly implemented. The programme assists people from developing countries to break down these barriers and make their efforts effective.
