As drought events become more frequent and severe, the importance of proactive drought risk reduction continues to grow. Effective solutions require collaboration, knowledge exchange, and the engagement of diverse professionals working across sectors and regions.

The UNCCD Community of Learning and Practice (CLP) on Drought Management is a dynamic platform designed to bring together experts, policymakers, researchers, and practitioners to share insights, tools, and innovations that support resilient drought management.

By participating in the CLP, members gain access to:

- Practical guidance and technical resources

- Peer-to-peer learning and experience sharing

- Discussions on emerging approaches and best practices

- A global network committed to strengthening drought resilience

To broaden the impact of this important initiative,

We encourage all members to invite their networks to join the CLP.
A larger, more diverse community means stronger collaboration and deeper learning.

Let us continue working together to support drought-resilient communities and sustainable land management.

Thank you!

Ponencia El suelo un organismo vivo: Estrategias para su Conservación.

Estoy muy complacida de haber contribuido, el pasado 04 de noviembre de 2025, en la Universidad Bolivariana de Venezuela, en el contexto de la Unidad Curricular de Desertificación y Cambio Climático, brindando la ponencia El suelo un organismo vivo: Estrategias para su Conservación. Esto, apoyando al Dr. Josue Lorca, quien esta al frente a la Unidad, dando importantes debates formativos para los estudiantes, donde fomenta el pensamiento crítico que moldea futuros líderes y agentes de cambio.

Durante la jornada planté inicialmente las siguientes preguntas:
📌 Si pensamos en la salud de nuestro planeta, a menudo miramos los océanos o los bosques... Pero, ¿Cuántos de ustedes realmente consideran el suelo bajo nuestros pies como un verdadero organismo, complejo, vulnerable y, sobre todo, esencial?
📌 ¿Qué implicaciones tiene cambiar nuestra perspectiva y dejar de verlo como simple 'tierra' inerte para reconocerlo como un ser vivo del que dependemos directamente para alimentarnos y sobrevivir?

✅ El contenido de la ponencia giro en el devenir de los siguientes temas:
• El suelo un organismo vivo.
• Clasificación de los Suelos.
• La Crisis Silenciosa (Por qué la Conservación es Urgente).
• La Erosión por Eventos Extremos: Inundaciones y la Sequía.
• Evidencias científicas de la desertificación: Casos Reducción del Mar de Aral (Asia Central) y Cierre del caño Manamo (Venezuela).
• Estrategias de Conservación (Clasificación Funcional).
• Las Comunidades del Aprendizaje y Práctica de la Convención de las Naciones Unidades de Lucha contra la Desertificación @UNCCD.

✅ Como resultado:
Los estudiantes hicieron reflexiones profundas sobre el cambio de paradigma desde una perspectiva superficial y utilitaria del suelo hacia una comprensión ecológica y sistémica, es decir del Suelo como un Ecosistema Vivo.

Invitamos a ver el documental Cierre Caño Manamo https://youtube.com/watch?v=pZPkLYKwxbs

Exploring Challenges and Opportunities for Africa’s Landscapes – A Pathway to Mitigating Drought Impact
CLP Africa Webinar – November 12, 2025

We extend our sincere thanks to all those who participated in the CLP Africa webinar held on November 12, 2025, which focused on the challenges and opportunities for African landscapes in the face of increasing droughts.

This exchange provided an opportunity to share scientific analyses, field experiences, and innovative approaches to strengthening climate resilience across the continent.
Watch the webinar again
You can now watch the full recording of the session on our YouTube channel:

Download the presentations
All documents and presentation materials used during the webinar are available for download in the dedicated Drive folder:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1idsT0w8xR3-1oN3SA0i7WIrtE-IMksd…

Thank you again for your participation and commitment to a more resilient future for Africa. Let's remain mobilized for the protection and restoration of our landscapes.

Exploring Challenges and Opportunities for Africa’s Landscapes – A Pathway to Mitigating Drought Impact
CLP Africa Webinar – November 12, 2025

We extend our sincere thanks to all those who participated in the CLP Africa webinar held on November 12, 2025, which focused on the challenges and opportunities for African landscapes in the face of increasing droughts.

This exchange provided an opportunity to share scientific analyses, field experiences, and innovative approaches to strengthening climate resilience across the continent.
Watch the webinar again
You can now watch the full recording of the session on our YouTube channel:

Download the presentations
All documents and presentation materials used during the webinar are available for download in the dedicated Drive folder:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1idsT0w8xR3-1oN3SA0i7WIrtE-IMksd…

Thank you again for your participation and commitment to a more resilient future for Africa. Let's remain mobilized for the protection and restoration of our landscapes.

🌿 Coming Soon: Expert Insights! 🌿
We’re kicking off our new Interview Series with the Experts, featuring leading voices in sustainable water management.

Our first guest: Günter Langergraber, Head of the Institute of Sanitary Engineering and Water Pollution Control at BOKU University, and a recognized expert in sustainable sanitation and nature-based water treatment systems.

👉 Stay tuned and learn more about innovative wastewater solutions, cross-border cooperation, and the future of nature-based systems in the Danube Region.

Check out our Blog section for the full interview — coming soon!

This is an interesting article. Some people have the instinct that Pacific islands should have enough water due to their location (central in the ocean), but actually they also suffer from drought. This suggests that drought is indeed global and can affect all countries.

https://www.mdpi.com/2225-1154/13/9/172

Drought Monitoring to Build Climate Resilience in Pacific Island Countries
by Samuel Marcus, Andrew B. Watkins, andYuriy Kuleshov

Climate 2025, 13(9), 172; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli13090172
Submission received: 21 July 2025 / Revised: 20 August 2025 / Accepted: 22 August 2025 / Published: 26 August 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Warming and Extreme Drought)

Abstract: Drought is a complex and impactful natural hazard, with sometimes catastrophic impacts on small or subsistence agriculture and water security. In Pacific Island countries, there lacks an agreed approach for monitoring agricultural drought hazard with satellite-derived remote sensing data. This study addresses this gap through a framework for agricultural drought monitoring in the Pacific using freely available space-based observations. Applying World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) recommendations and a set of objective selection criteria, three remotely sensed drought indicators were chosen and combined using fuzzy logic to form a composite drought hazard index: the Standardised Precipitation Index, Soil Water Index, and Normalised Difference Vegetation Index. Each indicator represents a subsequential flow-on effect of drought on agriculture. The index classes geographic areas as low, medium, high, or very high levels of drought hazard. To test the drought hazard index, two case studies for drought in the western Pacific, Papua New Guinea (PNG), and Vanuatu, are assessed for the 2015–2016 El Niño-related drought. Findings showed that at the height of the drought in October 2015, 58% of PNG and 72% of Vanuatu showed very high drought hazard, compared to 6% and 40%, respectively, at the beginning of the drought. The hazard levels calculated were consistent with conditions observed and events that were reported during the emergency drought period. Application of this framework to operational drought monitoring will promote adaptive capacity and improve resilience to future droughts for Pacific communities.

Hello Everyone,

I am Debashis Roy, and I am delighted to join this vibrant community of researchers, policymakers, and practitioners working toward sustainable drought management in Asia. My research focuses on social–ecological systems (SES) modelling, particularly exploring the drought–food insecurity nexus. I am deeply interested in understanding how climate, ecosystems, and human systems interact under drought stress and how this knowledge can inform sustainable and equitable solutions.

I look forward to collaborating with fellow researchers, policymakers, and development practitioners to advance our shared goal of strengthening resilience to drought and enhancing food security across the region.

Warm regards,
Debashis Roy

Image source: The James Hutton Institute, UK

Using systematic review and bibliography analysis to explore DLDD issues, as shown in this article, is interesting and can generate insights not easily available via other methods.

https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.5617
Policy and Land Degradation Are Neglected in the Desertification, Land Degradation, and Drought Research Landscape in South Africa: Evidence From a Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis

authors: Bopaki Phogole, Mamadi Theresa Sethusa, Kowiyou Yessoufou

Abstract: Globally, issues related to desertification, land degradation, and drought (DLDD) are increasing, with a multitude of negative socioeconomic and ecological impacts reported. In particular, Africa is recognized as one of the regions that are most vulnerable to these negative impacts. In response, cross-country collaborations to mitigate and build resiliency to DLDD are promoted, with the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification playing a central role. However, the scope of the current research landscape of scientific knowledge on DLDD in South Africa is unknown or not well documented, hampering well-informed policy development and actions. Through a thorough synthesis of over 970 research outputs on DLDD from 1928 to 2024, we found that the generation of existing knowledge is mostly led by two African universities with heavy collaborations with the northern hemisphere. We also revealed a recent but steadily increasing research interest in DLDD in South Africa, with relatively more interest in drought than land degradation and desertification, while policy and land restoration are glaringly neglected. These results have pertinent policy and programmatic relevance in South Africa, as they can be used to enhance the scope and relevance of DLDD research to adequately inform the design and implementation of interventions in the local and regional contexts. Thus, the mitigation and adaptation to the impacts of DLDD would be enhanced.