Ministerial Dialogue on the Restoration of Rangelands and the Well-being of Pastoralist Communities - UNCCD COP17

Hello, good morning. I call to order the ninth meeting of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification at its seventeenth session to hold the third ministerial dialogue on restoration of rangelands. I would like to warmly welcome all participants to this ministerial dialogue held under agenda item six. Excellencies, honorable ministers, distinguished delegates, representatives of international organizations, pastoralists, and partners, ladies and gentlemen. This dialogue is particularly timely as we remark the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists in 2026. It provides us with an important opportunity to place the restoration and sustainable management of rangelands higher on the international agenda and most importantly to translate our shared commitments into practical action. Rangelands are vital ecosystems. They support biodiversity, contribute to food and water security, store carbon and sustain the livelihoods of pastoralists and rural communities across the world. Yet they are increasingly under pressure from land degradation, desertification, drought, climate change and unsustainable land use. Restoring these landscapes is therefore not only an environmental necessity. It is essential for strengthening livelihoods, building resilience, and advancing sustainable development. For Mongolia, rangelands are at the heart of our landscape, economy, and cultural heritage. through rangelands make more than 80% of our territory, while around 65% of monitored rangelands have experienced some degree of degradation. The health of our rangelands is directly connected to the well-being of pastoralist families, food production, water availability, and the resilience of rural communities. Our experience also shows that restoration cannot succeed without the people who live on and care for these lands. Pastoralists and local communities are not simply beneficiaries of restoration. They are custodians of rangelands, holders of valuable knowledge and essential partners in developing sustainable solutions. Their traditional knowledge combined with science, innovation and modern technologies can help us manage rangelands more effectively and respond better to drought and other emerging challenges. As the president of COP17, Mongolia would like this conference to focus strongly on implementation. We need to move from recognizing the importance of rangelands to identifying concrete ways to restore them at scale. This requires stronger policies and institutions, improved knowledge and monitoring, greater access to sustainable finance, and closer cooperation among governments, international organizations, financial institutions, the private sector, researchers, and pastoralist communities. In this context, Mongolia is advancing the step action agenda, including its rangelands flagship as a platform for strengthening international cooperation and promoting practical science-based and investment-ready solutions for sustainable rangeland management and restoration. We believe this work can also contribute to our broader objectives on land degradation neutrality, biodiversity conservation, climate resilience and food security. I hope that our dialogue today will help identify concrete areas for cooperation and provide strong political momentum for action beyond COP17. By restoring ranchlands, we are not only restoring land, we are strengthening livelihoods, building resilience to drought, protecting biodiversity, improving food and water security, and preserving the heritage and the knowledge of pastoralist communities for future generations. Under the theme of COP17, restoring land, restoring hope, I look forward to a constructive and action-oriented discussion. I thank you. So I have asked His Excellency Winter Boykuso Moloots Minister of Environment and Tourism of Botswana and His Excellency Oscar Caputi, Vice Minister of the Environment of Uruguay to co-chair the ministerial dialogue on behalf on my behalf. Before I head over the meeting to the co-chairs, I would like to remind delegations that in view of the many speakers inscribed, I request speakers to limit their statements to three minutes to ensure the inclusivity of the ministerial dialogues. At previously indicated ministers and vice ministers have been given priority on the list of speakers. Time limits of the ministerial dialogues are mechanically enforced and a timer is projected on the screen to assist speakers in managing their time. I now give the floor to the co-chairs.

Thank you, Madam President, for entrusting us with this important responsibility. I have the distinct honor of co-chairing this dialogue alongside my esteemed colleague, His Excellency Oscar Caputi, Vice Minister of Environment of Uruguay. We are meeting today to address a critical theme of rangelands, restoration and the well-being of pastoral lease communities within the context of UNCCD, but which will have a broader ramifications for health and sustainability of this critical land uses. Our objective is not to read formal or lengthy position papers, but to engage in a frank exchange focused on challenges and solutions. We want to share experiences, the policy measures we have taken and the transformative visions that will decays of action to conserve, sustainably manage and restore these vast landscapes and the communities that manage them. I now wish to give the floor to the first keynote speaker, Ms. Inger Andersen, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme.

Good morning, Madam President. It is a great honor to speak here at this plenary and indeed to the two co-chairs, Minister Motlhatlhi as well as Minister Caputi. It's a great honor to be here today and we are talking about a very important topic. Excellencies, distinguished guests, First of all, of course, my deep thanks to Mongolia for hosting us so beautifully here in Mongolia. Also, my appreciation to UNCCD for all the great arrangements. Now, 2026 is the, as you will well know, the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists. And that recognition comes from an understanding of the vital importance that the ecosystems of rangelands and their people and their herds play. That recognition is long overdue. Rangelands cover 54% of the Earth's surface, something we often overlook, and it supports around 2 billion people. And they provide about 16% of our food production and 70% of the feed for domesticated animals. They sustain our food system. They help regulate our weather. They sustain our biodiversity. They secure our water. They provide cultural identity and they provide resilience. Yet the loss of rangelands and pastoral lifestyle is not being attended to properly. Conversion of lands into agricultural lands for tilling as well as degradation are shrinking grasslands, savannas, and shrublands significantly. And policies and incentives are undermining the pastoralist systems, systems that can keep the rangelands in balance. And climate change, of course, is putting further pressure, causing droughts and desertification. So we are in real danger of losing much of these rangelands along with a long and proud tradition of pastoralism that stretched back for millennia. Now we are seeing some progress. A preliminary review, for example, of the national biodiversity strategies and action plans show that at least 80 countries refer to rangelands pastoralism and related extensive grazing system as part of their action plan. And in the Sahel, more than 13 million hectares of pastoral land has been placed under sustainable management. But to ensure rangelands and pastoralism can thrive, we have to do more. So I want to highlight just three areas in which we can act. First, spread the word around well-governed pastoralism, that that is a part and a parcel of a conservation strategy. Pastoralists are not victims or vulnerable beneficiaries. Pastoralists are rights holders. They are knowledge holders. They're environmental stewards. They care for the land. They produce food in a harsh environment where rain-fed crops cannot grow, and they play a critical role in regenerating the lands. Strategic herd mobility and adaptive grazing is exactly what we need to sustain these fragile lands. So my first point is spread the word, pastoralism is part of the solution package. My second point is let's move from these fragmented policies that we have when it concerns rangeland to integrated inclusive land governance. This COP17 action agenda explicitly identifies policy alignment, integrated land use planning, and inclusive governance as priorities. But the 500 million people that practice pastoralism have no or little influence over land use decisions, that shape the health and the resilience of the land upon which they rely. And women and young people and indigenous pastoralists must be involved from policy design to implementation. Communal pastoral lands are often governed through sophisticated customary practices and institution based on reciprocity and understanding. Don't mess with that, understand it and work within it and empower. So my second point is, move from these fragmented policies, build on what exists for millennia to inclusive land governance. And my third and final point is we have to move finance towards stewardship, resilience and sustainability. Rangelands contain around one third of the Earth's terrestrial carbon reservoir. Protecting and restoring the estimated 50% of degraded rangeland is a significant climate opportunity. Payments to pastoralist communities for maintaining carbon biodiversity, water regulation, and soil health can make a real difference. Examples of payments for ecosystem services exist already across the world in many different ecosystems. And it does exist also in the pastoral societies where we have seen that kind of support in China, Mongolia, and elsewhere that shows that herd density was reduced and rangelands were restored and therefore had greater resilience and productivity. We can also support value chains, sustainable value change for livestock products, for gums and resins production, and of course for ecotourism. As an example, right here in Mongolia, around 40% of the world's raw cashmere is produced sustainably on these massive vast ranges. Rising global demand has encouraged large goat herds, however, contributing to degradation and biodiversity loss. But the sustainable Mongolian cashmere platform is now seeking to co-generate sustainable solutions. So excellencies, distinguished partners, rangelands are indeed a core national treasure. It is also a natural infrastructure. and that natural infrastructure needs to be conserved. Pastoralism is indeed a traditional lifestyle that has a role to play in environmentally sustainable futures. Let us use this COP and those that will follow and this event to thrust rangelands and pastoralism into the heart of the debate and find a real, real sustainable solutions to the challenges that rangelands face. Thank you.

I thank the executive director of the UN program for the environmental program that is. I also thank Madam Chair. I thank you for the honor of being able to co-preside this with Botswana. I now give the floor to the second primary speaker, Madam Victor, the deputy director general of the United Nations Organization for Food and Agriculture.

Madam President, co-chairs, excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues and friends, it is an honor to represent FAO here along with my friend Inger from UNEP. As we have already recognized the importance of this year 2026, I too want to say that there is a very specific reason that the issues of rangelands and pastoralists are being brought together for this distinguished year. We cannot talk about the future of rangelands without talking about the people and the communities who live on them, who manage them, and who depend upon them. For generations now, pastoralists have built livelihoods around some of the world's most variable landscapes, managing land, water, and livestock together, adapting to changing conditions and sustaining communities, cultures, and local economies. So from FAO's perspective, when we talk about restoring rangelands, we need to think beyond just restoring vegetation. Restoration is not simply about making land green again. It is about restoring the health and productive capacity of an entire system, and that system starts with the land. Healthy rangelands need diverse, nutrient-rich grasses and forage, and livestock need reliable water and good animal health. Pastoral communities need the knowledge, the services, and the flexibility to adapt as the conditions of this planet change around them. And families, families need economic opportunities and connections to markets that allow these systems to remain viable. There is a continuum to this consideration. It starts with healthy natural resources, moves to productive landscapes, brings healthy livestock, supports pastoral communities, and that leads to sustainable pastoral economies. That is the system we need to restore. So how do we get there? I will echo some of the comments I think shared by Inger. I believe that first, we build resilience into this system. Pastoralists have always managed variability. Their knowledge of land, of animals, of forage and water, including the ability to move livestock as conditions require, is in itself a form of resilience. But drought and increasingly extreme weather are placing greater pressure on these systems. Resilience also means acting before productive assets are lost. Healthier soils and better forage, water, animal health services, better information and preparedness, and the capacity to adapt when conditions change. Second, we need good governance and better land use planning. Rangelands face growing pressure from agriculture, from settlements, infrastructure, and other competing uses. Competition over land and water between pastoralists and crop producers is real. Governments need systems that provide greater security over land and resources, recognize different productive uses, manage competing demands, and give pastoral communities a meaningful voice in decisions. Third, healthy pastoral communities must have economic opportunity. Women are central to pastoral economies. We must not lose sight of the fact that 2026 has another very important distinction to it. It is the International Year of the Woman Farmer. And women too often have weaker access to land, to finance, services, and decision making. This needs to change. And young people need opportunity, skills, technology services, finance and markets if pastoralism is to offer them a viable future. Pastoralists themselves, let's not lose sight, have told us what they need. At Monday's launch of the Rangelands Flagship Initiative, we heard the global pastoralists call for action. the Ulaanbaatar Declaration 2026 that emerged from their global gathering here in Mongolia. It calls for 10 shifts across rights, land and mobility, knowledge, people, health and wellbeing, technology, markets and finance. We should listen to them and we should respond to these requests. Because public investment alone won't be enough. We need to create the conditions for responsible private investment too, in healthy livestock, in services, infrastructure, and sustainable value chains. So as I close, maybe one final thought on how we measure impact and success. and maybe think about some ways that we should measure restoration differently. It is not only a simplistic measurement of how many hectares have we restored. It is also, is the forage better? Are animals healthier? Are pastoral communities more resilient? Are women and young people benefiting? Are pressures over land and water being better managed? And are families able to build viable livelihoods from these challenging landscapes? This is the opportunity of this International Year. And I would remind you, we still have four months remaining with much great work to be done before the 2026 year comes to an end. This needs to be the legacy that we should build from this COP and from Ulaanbaatar. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Deputy Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. We will now hear statements from the floor. Delegations are reminded that interventions should be no more than three minutes. Time limits will be strictly enforced by automatic microphone cut off. A timer will be projected on the screen. To assist speakers to observe the time limit, the microphone will start blinking 30 seconds before the time limit elapses. The order of interventions has been predetermined by the speakers list to which you have inscribed. Priority will be given to ministers and vice ministers, followed by heads of delegation, and then high level representatives of observer organizations and major stakeholder groups. According to my list here, And I will call upon Namibia to start. Mongolia, rather. I will call upon Mongolia to start, followed by Namibia, Lesotho.

Okay.

Mongolia.

Monkholosun Khod, Bilcheros, Mana Idin Jesek, Hunsnigangamch, Khudovingiriting, Amjirga, Hunsnigonslok, Nudlin Soiderginsling, Undisima, Mana Os, Nostertivsering, Naygarohovik, Chukung, Bilcher, Teshkilek, Bodomchita, Kazaritsetke, Mongolchot, Adomeng.

Mongolians for many centuries have long Mongolians have the secret knowledge and traditions of ranch management through the centuries. Today there is a growing need to combine this traditional knowledge with modern science, technology, monitoring systems, and investment. Pastoralists are not merely the ultimate beneficiaries of policy. They are custodians of ranchlands ecosystems, holders of traditional knowledge, and key partners. the 65% of ranger lands being degraded. So due to the climate change and to the mobility mining activities and the competition for land use, this stresses aggravate the land degradation. So during the of 2023, Mongolia had lost 7.9 million of head of livestock. So that shows to what extent the land degradation hits hardly the income level of nomads and it also heats the social stability. So in this regard Mongolia implements the land monitoring. So and the seasonal the range land development and Mongolia made legal framework favorable for sustainable rangeland usage. So the grazing, pastureland grazing, the conservation and the collective contribution of the pastoralists is vital, plays a kind of role. So the knowledge and the production of pastoralists and the social security foundation of pastoralists are laid out in the legislation. the pastoralists, custodians of range lands, the users, knowledge carriers and decision makers. So this is a movement of pastoralists, is the long lasting practice that is adaptable to climate change. So the initiation of Mongolia 2026 has been declared as the year of pastoralists and.

Mongolia. Next is the Republic of Namibia.

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, for Namibia's range land restoration is not simply about restoring land. It is about livelihood, food security, biodiversity, and the resilience of our rural community. Rangelands covers approximately 85% of Namibia's land mass and support livestock production, wildlife conservation, and rural livelihoods. Yet, they are increasingly threatened by drought. climate change, overgrazing, water scarcity, and bush encroachment, which affects approximately 45 million hectares. Namibia's position is clear. Health, rangelands, and prosperous pastoral community must go hand in hand. We are promoting improved grazing systems, receding perennial grasses, and addressing bush encroachment, including converting encroached bush into animal feed, charcoal, and biochar. Restoration must not only rehabilitate land, it must create economic opportunities and improve livelihood. Equally important, pastoralists must not simply be regarded as beneficiaries. They are right holders, knowledge holders and custodian of this landscape and must therefore be at the center of decisions affecting their land and livelihood. Namibia therefore calls for greater and predictable finance for range land restoration, stronger investment in community-led solution, technology markets and meaningful participation of pastoral community in decision making. are not wastelands. They are productive landscapes, economic assets and foundation of millions of livelihood. It is now time to move from commitment to implementation and from promises to miserable actions on the ground. Namibia stands ready to work with all partners to achieve this. I thank you.

Thank you very much Namibia. Thank you very much. And now we give this opportunity to Lesotho.

Excellencies, honorable ministers, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, Lesotho is attending COP17 with a clear stand and land degradation. It represents environmental, economic, and food security challenges. Restoring land is therefore investing. not costing. Residents are essential in Lesotho due to the nature of the country and the livestock dependence livelihoods. Unfortunately, range lands and other ecosystems are being degraded and their productivity declining due climate vulnerability and livelihoods demands pressure. The question is no longer where whether we can afford to restore our land, but whether we can afford not to do, not to. Lesotho is committed to restoring degraded landscapes through sustainable range land management and other sustainable land management practices. Our herders and communities are not mainly beneficiaries. They are partners and custodian of the land. But government cannot do this alone. We need finance, science, technology, and partnerships to take restoration from individuals' projects to programs at scale. We seek investment in rangeland restoration and community livelihoods improvement initiatives. As we celebrate the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, We must recognize rangeland as productive landscapes, not marginal lands. Lesotho therefore invites development partners, financial institutions, researchers, and the private sector to invest with us. Invest in our land and rangelands, invest in our communities and our future. I thank you, Chair.

Thank you very much Lesotho. I now give this opportunity to Fiji.

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, I send my warmest gratitude to the government and the people of Mongolia for hosting us in this beautiful landscape. While Fiji is part of the Pacific small island development states, lacks vast continental range land, we share a deep unbreakable bond. with pastoralist nations and our survival depends on the health of our soil, the security of our water and the resilience of our land. The climate crisis does not discriminate, whether through the degraded of vast grassland or the intense erosion of tropical islands, land degradation threatens food security, traditional livelihood and biodiversity. Fiji stands in absolute solidarity with the world's pastoralist and is fully committed to achieving UNCCD's land degradation neutrality targets. We are actively targeting land degradation through nature-based solutions, and we offer these scalable practices to the global community. Firstly, we are expanding our vetiver system technology. Vetiver grass stabilizes vulnerable river banks, stops soil erosion, and rehabilitates degraded slopes naturally. Secondly, we are scaling community-led agroforestry, integrating native trees with crops to restore fertility to exhausted soils. And finally, Fiji's pioneering integrated wasteland management as a strategic approach to strengthening water security, reducing disaster risk, and safeguarding national food systems. by sustainably managing our upper catchment areas, Fiji is securing critical water resources, mitigating upstream flooding, reducing land degradation, and preventing the agricultural landscapes that guarantees food and nutrition security for rural livelihood. This integrated approach reinforces the resilience and sustainability of Fiji's natural resources while supporting long-term traditional development. Excellencies, land degradation requires a unified global response. Fiji calls for simplified access to global climate and land degradation financing, ensuring that resources directly reaches local communities, both on continental range land and small island economies. We also advocate for stronger cross-regional partnership and Fiji's ready to exchange knowledge, sharing our traditional land rehabilitation models while learning from the rich traditional ecological knowledge of pastoralist nation. Your Excellencies, drought in the Pacific do not make the same immediate headlines as category five cyclones, but they are just as deadly to our survival. Let us work together to secure a sustainable future, future of every small island development states. with a renewed commitment.

Thank you very much Fiji. And now is the time for India.

Excellencies and distinguished delegates. Rangelands are among the world's most extensive and productive ecosystems sustaining hundreds of millions of pasturists, supporting rich biodiversity and regulating water and carbon cycles. India's rangelands sustain the world's largest population of livestock and one fifth of humanity and stretch from Himalayan pastures, central Indian savannas, arid thar and Kutch to southern sholas. India's approach to rangeland and grassland Restoration rests on science, secure tenure, and community stewardship. Satellite-based desertification and land degradation atlases provide the scientific basis for mapping grasslands and planning restoration. While recognition of grazing rights and community forest resource rights over traditional commons strengthen the role of local communities in sustainable management, source tenure blusters restoration on the ground especially, when grazing rights are assured through legislation. India's tradition of community protected sacred groves, patches of land conserved by local communities for their cultural and ecological significance is found across the country. I would like to mention here the example of orans from the state of Rajasthan, which are not merely protected but are revered and worshiped by the local communities keeping in view their importance in arid region of western India. We have around 25,000 such community protected sacred groves covering around 0.6 million hectares of area across the country and many of them are protected under statutory provisions. The reintroduction of the cheetah with proposed expansion into grasslands like the Banni in Gujarat has helped restore open forest and grassland ecosystems with wider benefits for biodiversity, water security and carbon sequestration. These landscape also carry significant climate value. Deep rooted grasses store carbon in soils and when sustainability manage enhance infiltration and groundwater recharge vital across India's roughly 10 million hectares of permanent postures and grading lands successful restoration begins with postulates as custodian not merely beneficiaries their traditional knowledge combined with modern science can deliver restoration that is ecologically sound economically viable and socially inclusive India welcome dedicated accessible financing for land and restoration and stand ready for shared experience solutions through South South cooperation thank you very much.

Thank you very much India I thought you would actually tell the world that I donated nine cheetahs to you this year I now give this opportunity to Bhutan.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, let me reiterate Bhutan's strong support for the Ranchlands Flagship Initiative and the Global Coalition on Ranchlands and Pastoralists. As I said during the launch of the initiative for Bhutan, ranchlands are not simply grazing areas. They sustain the livelihood of our pastoralists, biodiversity, water, food security, and cultural heritage. For generations, our highland communities have been their custodians. So the challenge is not simply how to restore the range lands, it is how to restore the land while also sustaining the people who have cared for it for generations. Excellencies, under the enlightened leadership of His Majesty the King, Bhutan has strengthened the pastoral user right, community participation, and stewardship of our highland landscapes. We are turning this commitment into action through ranchland restoration, sustainable grazing, prescribed burning, invasive species management, and water and spring sheet management, combining science with the traditional knowledge of our herders. We are also using technology to strengthen community stewardship. Through participatory mapping, we have mapped over 380,000 acres of grazing land, bringing together geospatial technology and indigenous knowledge. But restoration alone is not enough. A range land is truly restored when only its ecosystem is healthy and its people can build a dignified livelihood from it. That is why we are investing in pastoral livelihoods through livestock insurance, wool, dairy, traditional products, and ecotourism. The registration of the highland products as geographical indication product is one example of turning indigenous knowledge into economic value. And our commitment goes beyond our borders. Bhutan is hosting the secretariat of the Himalayan Yak Herders Network with the support from ECIMOD, connecting pastoral communities initially from Bhutan, Nepal and India with the ambition to expand across the Himalayas and beyond. Excellencies, I will leave this dialogue with three simple messages from Bhutan. First, Put pastoralists at the center, not merely as beneficiaries, but as custodians, partners, and decision makers. Second, invest in both land and people. Restoration must go hand in hand with livelihoods, water, livestock, and markets. Third, turn recognition into investment and action. must be reflected in the national planning, climate, and biodiversity commitment. and backed by sustained finance. Because when we protect range lands, we are not simply protecting the range lands. We are also protecting the future of our mountain communities. Therefore, Bhutan stands ready to share our and learn from all of you. I thank you and.

Thank you very much, Bhutan. And now this is the opportunity for Tajikistan.

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, for Tajikistan, the sustainable management and restoration of rangelands is not only an environmental imperative. It's directly linked to the food security, rural livelihood, biodiversity conservation, climate resilience, and the sustainable development of mountain areas. Tajikistan is predominantly mountainous country where pastures and rangelands ecosystems constitute an essential part of rural landscapes and support the livelihoods of millions of people. Rangelands are increasingly exposed to multiple pressures including climate change, land degradation, changing precipitation patterns and extreme weather events. Our approach therefore should focus on several priorities. First, we must strengthen sustainable rangeland management. This includes restoring degraded areas, improving pastures and rotation of pastures, preventing over grazing, conserving nature vegetation and strengthening measures to protect soils and water resources. Second, climate adaptation must be integrated into rangeland management. mountain population are among those most exposed to the negative impact of climate change. Better climate information, early warning system, drought preparedness, resilient livestock practices, and improved water management can significantly strengthen their capacity to respond to the changing condition. Third, We need stronger investment and access to climate finance. Developing countries and mountain countries in particular require predictable, accessible and adequate financial resources to restore degraded landscapes and strengthen the resilience of vulnerable areas. Tajikistan has consistently emphasized the need to improve access to climate finance for mountainous landlocked countries. most vulnerable to negative climate change impact. In this regard, we welcome initiatives that connect environmental restoration with poverty reduction, food security, and biodiversity conservation. Tajikistan remains committed to advancing sustainable management of its natural resources and strengthening international cooperation in addressing climate change, land degradation, and ecosystem loss. And I thank you.

Thank you very much, Tajikistan. Now, this is the time for Madagascar.

Thank you, co-chairs, Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, ministers, distinguished delegates. For Madagascar, combating land degradation and restoration is a national social priority to preserve our natural resources for food security and for resilience of local rural communities. range lands and savannah cover some 65% of Madagascar. In the southern and western parts of our country, transhumance is a traditional practice which has the mobility of cattle of the communities and the uncontrolled nature of it does however degrade the geographical ecosystems. Given this challenge, Madagascar is implementing several initiatives. We are working to protect water, to have sustainable land management, to make sure that fires cannot occur, to combat and prevent this, and to protect the pastoral ecosystems. The celebration of the International Year of Rangelands at the national level is very important as well, focusing on sustainable systems, and the resilience of local communities. Our ambitions can be seen in our guide plan strategy, which really places focus on rangelands and pasturelands restoration, access to water, and mobilizing responsible investment. The herders and local communities need to be fully recognized as essential partners in land restoration. Pursuant to our national commitments, Madagascar aims to achieve land degradation neutrality by 2030 to restore the productivity of pasture lands and rangelands, to improve vegetation coverage and to store carbon. Madagascar underscores that rangelands degradation increases poverty and environmental vulnerability is a priority for us to combat, in particular, given the need to combat drought and recurrent droughts. We intend to maintain the subsistence of our populations to ensure they can have their livelihoods and that we have land degradation neutrality by 2030, as I said. This is vital for us and we need to have support and investment, financial support so we can restore our degraded ecosystems and bolster the resilience of our communities given the impact of drought. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Madagascar. Now I give this time to Bangladesh.

Excellencies, distinguished Delegates, on behalf of the government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, I would like to express our sincere appreciation to the government of Mongolia for hosting COP17 and to the Secretariat for convening this important dialogue on rangeland restoration and the well-being of pastoralists and grazing dependent communities. Bangladesh is not a traditional rangeland country. As a densely populated river delta country, livestock grazing takes place mainly on post-harvest croplands, fallow and chow lands, wetlands, roadsides, and community lands. Livestock remains an important pillar of rural livelihoods, contributing nearly 2% of our national GDP and supporting billions of people. However, grazing spaces are under increasing pressure from competing land use. In our coastal areas, grazing lands have declined substantially. This is increasing vulnerability among rural communities. Bangladesh believes that inclusive governance, economic resilience, and environmental sustainability must go hand in hand. Bangladesh is strengthening livestock value chains and market access for smallholder households, including Women-led households, we are opportunities. We see the opportunities to promote value addition, sustainable livestock production, and innovative financing so that communities benefit economically from responsible land stewardship. Our flood plain and wetland grazing systems provide multiple ecosystem services, including soil fertility, water regulation, biodiversity conservation, and carbon benefits. These functions should be recognized in national land use planning and monitoring frameworks, rather than viewing livestock production and ecosystem conservation as competing priorities. Bangladesh also brings valuable experience in community-based natural resource management, particularly from how where co-management has contributed to improve biodiversity and natural resource conservation. Our experience demonstrate that community-based approaches require sustained financing, strong institutions, and long-term commitment beyond individual project cycles. We encourage this dialogue to deliver concrete, adequate, financed and accountable action. I thank you.

Thank you very much, Bangladesh. Now we go to Cameroon.

Madam Secretary, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm taking the floor today here in Ulaanbaatar. to reassert the position of my country, Cameroon, on a question of such great importance, that is pastoralism. Mongolia, better than any other country, given its history and its culture, reminds us, as has been asserted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that pastoralism is not vestige of the past, it is a solution for the future. And this International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralism, it's quite clear that pastoral mobility is a solution which is nature-based, developed by nomadic pastoralists to adapt to the effects of droughts, extreme droughts, and unpredictable ones. It is more than a way of life, much more than that. It contributes actively to regeneration in a natural manner of our rangelands and pastures. Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, under the initiative of His Excellency Paul Biya, the head of state, our country has pioneering initiatives such as the international campaign Mobility Matters launched in Cameroon this year, 2026. to support the activities of civil society organizations of pastoral herders, Mobousskouda. The launch of this initiative laid the basis of a vast platform at the sub-regional level, bringing together Central African countries, Chad, Central African Republic and Cameroon, and Western African countries, Niger, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso. Mobility is a reality which crosses borders, and it requires a regional response which is an agreed and one adopted in solidarity. Madam Executive Secretary, without mobility, pastoralism will disappear and with it the peoples and their rich and original identities. It is a question of human rights. My country reaffirms that pastoralists are genuine custodians of our lands. We should demonstrate solidarity to save this way of life, this humanity's cultural heritage in Africa, Asia, and elsewhere. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Cameroon. I now wish to hand over to my co-chair, His Excellency Oscar Caputi, to continue facilitating this dialogue.

Thank you, co-chair. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Uganda.

Uganda is honored to join the dialogue on restoring rangeland. and livestock keeping communities referred as pastoralists. Rangeland cover more than half of our planet and a backbone of food security, rural livelihood, and ecological stability. Yet nearly half are degraded, threatening food system biodiversity and resilience. In Uganda, rangeland are vital for millions of people, especially in the cattle corridor. They provide livestock products, minerals, gas, biodiversity. Their degradation is not only an environmental issue, it is a challenge to our community and humanity itself. Uganda calls for inclusive governance that ensures land rights, attracts investment, and raises living standards. Economic resilience through diverse livelihood, strong value chain, and steady market access. Environmental gains with healthier soils, reliable water, more carbon storage and better adoption. Controlled, regulated climate-smart rice farming. Uganda believes in the partnerships are key for success. We must close the gap between community needs and available capacity by scaling up technology to improve range and management, investment, strengthen local communities, knowledge access to empower communities transformation to become more resilient. Tools like payment for ecosystem services and sustainable supply chain can transform range and economies while protecting ecosystems. recognize the importance of multinational support for developing countries. Uganda welcomes the role of global mechanism under the UNCCD and other partners in building capacity, mobilizing resources, and aligning ranger and restoration with national development plans. Uganda commits to advancing sustainable ranger and management as a driver to land degradation neutrality and the goal of national development plan. We stand steady to work with parties and partners to restore land, restore hope, and secure the future of our communities. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Uganda, and I give the floor to my co-chair. Pardon me, says the speaker. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegate of Senegal.

Senegal.

Senegal, please, the floor is yours.

Madam President of COP, Madam Executive Secretary of the UNCCD, Excellencies, distinguished ministers, distinguished delegates, dear partners, ladies and gentlemen, the issue before us today brings us back to a fundamental truth. We cannot sustainably restore land without securing the rights and livelihoods of those who depend on it and manage it. Across the Sahel, pastoralist communities are not at the margin of our territories. They are at the heart of them. From the furlough in northern Senegal to the agro-pastoral landscape of Casamance in the south, rangeland are the backbone of Senegal's livestock economy. the home of centuries old pastoral culture and a major reservoir of ecosystem services for our country. Today, more than 700 agricultural households in Senegal are engaged in livestock activities representing 87.1% of agricultural households. Behind these figures are families, women, young people, and entire rural economy whose resilience depends on healthy and productive rangeland. We therefore need to change our perspective. Rangeland are not marginal land, they are assets. When properly governed, restored, and sustainably managed, they produce food, sustain rural economy, store carbon, protect biodiversity, and contribute to peace and stability in our territories. Senegal has made a clear political choice. In 2023, we adopted our pastoral code, recognizing livestock mobility and establishing the foundations for securing rangeland and facilitating cross borders transhumance. But legislation alone is not enough. We must now secure grazing corridor and water points, recognize communities' right, map pastoral area and strengthen pastoral unit as effective platform for local governance. In the Senegal has already practical experience with pastoral units. They are living laboratories of pastoral governance. Our ambition now is to transform this experience into a demonstrable, sustainable, and replicable model. And this is why Senegal has not come to Ulaanbaatar with an outstretched hand. We have come with a proposition. We are launching the pilot sustainable rangeland investment facility structured around four pillars, land tenure security, and land restoration. Our objective is to demonstrate that investment in rangeland is economically viable, environmentally effective, and socially equitable. Thank.

You.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Senegal, and I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Zimbabwe.

Excellencies, distinguished delegates and pastoralist leaders, allow me to extend warm greetings from the government of Zimbabwe to the government of Mongolia, our gracious host, and to all gathered here for this crucial dialogue. It is my honor to reaffirm Zimbabwe's strong support for the prioritization of rangelands and pastoralists in this International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists. Across sub-Saharan Africa, range lands are vital ecosystems where pastoralism, agriculture, and dryland forest coexist. In Zimbabwe, they cover over 60% of our land area, serving as the backbone of national livestock production while supporting biodiversity and rural livelihoods. Our Miombo and mopane woodlands, alongside Soil and grasses are indispensable assets for resilience against drought, carbon sequestration and food security. Yet these landscapes face mounting pressure from climate change, erratic rainfall and overgrazing. Ranchland restoration is central to achieving land degradation neutrality. Zimbabwe is committed to restoring 6.4 million hectares of degraded land, working with ministries, NGOs, and the private sector to prevent overgrazing, rebuild soils, and strengthen climate resilience. We believe sustainable financing must blend public and donor funds with private investment to grow strong value chains for range land products and ensure reliable restoration. Our participation in GEF7 Drylands Sustainable Landscapes Impact Programme has already transformed lives, particularly rural women and vulnerable groups. by strengthening on timber forest products value chains, supporting seed banks, and promoting integrated grazing and wetland recovery. As chair of the FAO Committee on Forest Working Group on Dryland Forest and Agro-Pastoral System, Zimbabwe is proud to link forest conservation with sustainable pastoral management. To scale up restoration, We call on member states to adopt policies that unite agriculture, forestry, and environment, recognize systems and protect customary land rights. By embracing the landscape and ecosystem approach, we can ensure that trees, soils, grass, and livestock are managed as one unified system. Zimbabwe remains committed to advancing sustainable range land management realizing its contribution to biodiversity, climate adaptation.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Zimbabwe, and I give the floor now to the distinguished delegation of Eswatini.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, distinguished President of COP, Excellencies, esteemed delegates, ladies and gentlemen. Eswatini stands with the global community today, recognizing that rangelands are not merely vast stretches of open terrain, but they are the silent engines of our national economy and the bedrock of our food security. For Eswatini, our rangelands cover over two thirds of our land area. They are a primary source of nutrition for our national cattle herd, a pillar of our cultural heritage, and a vital carbon sink. However, like so many nations present here, we are facing the encroaching reality of climate change. We are seeing unpredictable rainfall, prolonged droughts, and increasing land degradation that threatens to erode our livelihoods. We are here to share our experience of sustainable land management and to transition from.

So I wish we should be.

Wisdom with modern science to restore soil health, improve water retention and enhance biodiversity. However, we recognize that the scale of the challenge requires more than national resolve. It requires global solidarity. During this COP 17, therefore, Eswatini calls for three specific actions. We must prioritize the mobilization of technical and financial resources directed specifically at dryland restoration. These ecosystems are often overlooked in global climate finance, and that must change. Two, we urge for stronger cooperation on knowledge exchange. The desertification and degradation patterns we see here in the steppes of Mongolia, for instance, or elsewhere in the globe, share haunting similarities with the pressures on our surveillance. Let us learn from each other's successes and challenges. We must ensure that our policies are inclusive. True sustainability cannot be achieved in boardrooms alone. It must be implemented on the ground by the herders, the farmers, and the local communities who steward these lands every day. Their participation is not optional. It is a prerequisite to our success. Distinguished delegates, the lands we discuss here are the heritage of our future generations. We have the technology, we have the knowledge, and now let us find the collective political will to do something. Let us leave Ulaanbaatar not just with agreements on paper, but with a renewed commitment to restoring the health of our rangelands, ensuring they remain productive, resilient, and life-sustaining for all and for posterity. I thank you very much.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Eswatini. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Chad.

Thank you to the President of COP17, Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, heads of delegation, distinguished guests, custodians of our lands, our knowledge, and our traditions. Chad is in the front line faced with climate change. And restoring land, restoring hope is not only a slogan for us, it's an urgent need. And we believe that there's no sustainable future for our peoples without living lands which are productive and resilient. Desertification, land degradation, water scarcity, repeated droughts, all make our pasture land, ranch lands more fragile and endanger our production systems and our communities. And they accentuate competition around natural resources and can fuel tension. In Chad, the land is much more than just land and an environment. It is vital for our subsistence, our existence, essential for dignity, stability and peace. Given these challenges, Chad has a major trump card that is the resilience of our populations given their ancestral knowledge and a remarkable capacity to adapt pastoralism is a clear expression of this mobility of our herders is not a weakness it is an intelligent response to changes in a climate adaptation to it intelligent way to use our land securing transhumance routes and corridors, strengthening pastoral water sources, preventing conflicts, is investing in our communities and sustainable land management. We need to put women and young people at the heart of action. Women are actors for land restoration. Young people hold solutions for us which are innovative and give us hope for green jobs. Under the impetus given by our head of state, Mohamed Idris Debe Itno, we have been active in the Great Green Wall, restoring degraded land and planting 10 million trees. International solidarity is vital with accessible financing, which is direct and predictable, which can really get down to our communities and our land level to effectively restore lands. Restoring land is preserving pasturelands, securing water, supporting families, preventing conflict, and giving communities stewardship and ownership of their futures. Your Excellency, ladies and gentlemen, from the Sahel to Chad, the steps to Mongolia, this COP17 needs to move to action and Chad is ready to do this. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Chad. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Mali.

Thank you, President of COP17, your excellences, ladies and gentlemen. Mali is a country of the Sahel with a strong pastoral tradition. Rangelands are not only natural areas and lands, they're a source of production, a source of life. They're essential for herders, for food security, and for our communities. The degradation of these lands, recurring droughts, and the increasing pressure on water and pastureland endangers the very means of existence of these populations and can accentuate tension around natural resources. Our conviction is simple. restoring range lands is investing in the environment, in the rural economy, in resilience and in peace. In Mali, this has been translated into action in the context of the project to restore degraded land. 21 land management plans have been adopted for pastoral lands covering more than 248,000 hectares and 10 others are being prepared. We've also associated land restoration, pastoral land restoration, water point restoration, sustainable resource development and management, and developing productive activities as part of these plans. Our experience has shown us that we need to involve the pastoral communities themselves in our plans, otherwise they will not be successful. We need to recognise their role in land management to strengthen their participation in managing resources and to secure their access to pasture land and water. We need to maintain organized and sustainable pastoral mobility. In a Sahelian context, when this is well managed, this mobility is a factor of adaptation and can contribute to reducing conflicts on the use of resources and promote peaceful coexistence. We must invest more in value added chains for pastoral lands, in the infrastructure, in access to markets and in and provide financing in particular for women and young people. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, Mali is prepared to increase cooperation with our African and international partners to accelerate this dynamic trend in strict respect of our sovereignty. In this spirit, we call for partnerships which respect national priorities, which strengthen the capacity of our local communities and allow investment to effectively reach the pastoral lands themselves. Our ambition is to promote an approach through which rangelands restoration involves land tenure, water mobility, pastoral economies, and prevention of conflicts, and all of these aspects are mutually reinforcing. Each restored hectare of land is in response to environmental challenges and economic opportunity and a factor of resilience and peace.

I thank the distinguished delegation from Mali, and I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, land is the foundation of economies, culture, lives and identities, and for small island developing states, our histories and indigenous heritage. For Saint Kitts and Nevis, islands with a combined land area of just 104 square miles, our challenge is how we use land wisely, fairly and sustainably. as we navigate competing demands for housing, agriculture, tourism, infrastructure, and conservation, while simultaneously confronting climate change, sea level rise, coastal erosion, biodiversity loss, all of which intensify the pressures on our limited natural resources. Our national blueprint for transformative sustainability, our sustainable island state agenda, positions sustainable settlements as a key pillar of progress within the government's agenda. Our protected area program, we have officially declared four key sites across the federation as protected areas, totaling roughly 17% of our land area. With the OECS, via its EU funded integrated landscape management project, we are working to design and optimize landscapes that allow us to better manage our natural resources. Through our partnership with the FAO and with funding from Jeff, we are working to reduce land degradation across the federation. Through the Ministry of Sustainable Development, we have granted over 130 multi-generational families with titles for land informally occupied. We are working to improve land access and moreover to modernize our systems and seamlessly transform the relationship between people, land, especially in this digital age. In this work, every acre matters. Our coastlines, watershed, and of course our forests are all critical elements of a sensitive ecosystem. As leaders and policymakers, our decisions resound. They impact not only the land, but in equal measure, the people who inhabit land and the livelihoods that depend on it. development. This is where Saint Kitts and Nevis is placing its focus. Evidenced by our industries, our legislative direction, and our governance. We understand acutely that limited land does not mean limited ambition. We are working toward a future made richer through development that is deliberate with growth that does not come at the.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. And I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Kenya.

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Kenya is pleased to participate in this important dialogue on the restoration of rangelands and the well-being of pastoralists. Kenya's rangelands are at the heart of our economy and support pastoralists, underpin livestock production, biodiversity conservation, food security, and the livelihoods of our communities. However, rangelands are under increasing pressure, including recurrent droughts, climate change, invasive species, encroachment, declining vegetation, land conversation and fragmentation. For Kenya, restoring rangelands is about protecting livelihoods, strengthening food security, conserving biodiversity, reducing resource conflict, and building resilience to climate and economic shocks. It is clear that you cannot restore rangelands without restoring the resilience and dignity of the communities that depend on them. Kenya has put in place the relevant policies to support rangeland restoration and the 15 billion tree growing program guided by the National Landscape and Ecosystem Restoration Strategy 2023 to 2032 emphasizes restoring ecological function and ground cover towards achieving 30% tree cover by 2032. It recognizes the restoration of rangelands as one of its 11 intervention areas. The Livestock Policy 2020, the Range Management and Pastoralism Strategy, the National Forest Policy 2023, and the Community Land Act 2016 all reinforce the link between restoration, pastoral livelihoods, and protection of customary tenure arrangements. Kenya proposes four priorities on rangeland restoration. First, we must put communities at the center of restoration. Kenya is enhancing participatory rangeland management through inclusive rangeland management committees that help develop and implement negotiated grazing plans. Second, we must make rangeland restoration investable. Kenya supports range land initiatives that combine ecological recovery with stronger livestock value chains and other sustainable livelihood opportunities. Third, we must move from crisis response to drought resilience. We need strong early warning and early action systems, climate information services, water security investment, livestock mobility, and sustainable grazing systems that enable communities to prepare before drought becomes a humanitarian crisis. As we mark the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, Kenya calls for this momentum to translate into lasting policy and financial commitment.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Kenya. And I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Pakistan.

Much.

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, Pakistan is fundamentally a rangeland country. Rangelands cover approximately 48 million hectares. around 60% of Pakistan's geographical area and provide more than 60% of the feed requirements of our livestock sector. Livestock contributes more than 11% to our national GDP and supports around 35 million people, making healthy rangelands central not only to environmental sustainability, but also to rural livelihoods and the national economy. excellencies for Pakistan the degradation of rangelands is therefore simultaneously a land food water livelihood and climate resilience challenge Pakistan's report to UNCCD identifies around six million hectares of land under drought exposing over 64 million people to drought conditions This demonstrates why rangeland restoration and drought resilience must be addressed together. Pakistan is therefore advancing an integrated approach based on sustainable land management, ecosystem restoration, improved grazing practices, drought resilient livestock systems, rangeland monitoring and early warning. Our land degradation neutrality commitments specifically include restoring 2.5 million hectares of degraded rangelands by 2030. Excellencies, we also recognize that pastoralists are not merely beneficiaries of restoration. They are custodians and partners in managing these landscapes. Their traditional knowledge, mobility and adaptive practices are valuable assets for building climate resilient rangelands. Excellencies, Pakistan calls for three areas of stronger international action. First, recognize sustainable pastoralism as a climate resilient land use system and reflect this in national land use policies. Second, strengthen technology and science for rangeland mapping, carrying capacity assessment, remote sensing, drought monitoring, and early system, enabling management decisions to be based on evidence. Third, mobilize predictable, accessible and grant-based finance for rangeland restoration, including water and fodder management, climate resilient livestock systems and nature-based solutions. Excellencies, our message is very simple. When we restore rangelands, we restore livelihoods. When we strengthen pastoralists, we strengthen resilience. And when we invest in healthy landscapes, we invest in food, water and climate security. Thank you, Excellencies.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Pakistan. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Japan.

Thank you, Mr. Co-Chair, and all of you. Desertification is a matter of serious concern even for Japan, despite its humid climate. This is because Japan is closely linked to the arid or dry regions of inland East Asia through the phenomenon of Asian dust storms, which affect much of East Asia every spring. For many years, Japan has been providing technical cooperation in Mongolia to combat desertification, in particular, Chippen has supported the restoration and conservation of forests of in Mongolian language, in close partnership with Mongolian government and local pastoralist communities. Through this, we have learned that local communities play a vital role in restoring restoring and sustainable managing land. Building on these experiences, JAPAN will continue to work with all of parties and partners towards the success of this conference. In addition, JAPAN has promoted the Satoyama Initiative in partnership with the United Nations University. Satoyama is a term that refers to the traditional Japanese landscape that has been maintained and shaped over generations through human activities such as a concept of harmonious coexistence between people and nature through the sustainable use of natural resources. We believe that this concept reflects values shared by both Japan and Mongolia. The Satoyama Initiative seeks to conserve and sustainably use landscapes that have been maintained over generations through human activities such as agriculture, forestry, and other traditional livelihoods. We believe that this approach can also contribute to sustainable rangeland management by pastoralist communities. On another point, efforts, I'm sorry, In closing, I hope that productive discussions continue throughout the remaining days of this conference and COP17 delivers meaningful outcomes for all parties. Thank you very much.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Japan. I now give the floor to my co-chair.

Thank you very much for that. I now want to give this floor to Teki.

Saygim, saygim, saygim, saygim, saygim.

Distinguished Chair, distinguished participants, I would like to begin by expressing my sincere appreciation to the government of Mongolia for hosting this important conference of the parties and extend my respectful greetings to you all. Land cannot be regarded merely as a natural resource. It is the foundation of life, production, culture and human well-being. In the face of climate change, drought and growing pressure on natural resources, protecting our land and water also means safeguarding our food security, livelihoods, and future generations. Turkey believes that sustainable land management can only be succeeded through people, through a people-centered approach. Farmers, pastoralists, and other land users are not merely the beneficiaries of our policies. They are the true stewards of the land. With this understanding, through our crop production planning system introduced in 2025, we have placed water at the heart of our agricultural production planning. We plan the production of strategic crops according to the climatic conditions, water availability and national needs, while promoting less water intensive crops in basins facing groundwater constraints. We also support crop rotation, the use of organic and organic mineral fertilizers, and good agricultural practices to protect soil fertility and water resources. Disengaged participants, range lands are an integral part of this approach. They are not only a vital source of feed for our livestock, but also strategic ecosystems for conserving biodiversity, storing carbon, reducing erosion and sustaining rural livelihoods. For this reason, we have placed particular emphasis on the protection and improvement of rangelands in our updated land degradation neutrality targets and our national strategy and action plan to combat desertification. Across Turkey, we're implementing rangeland employment and management projects. Under our Bringing Our Rangelands Back to Life project, we focus on propagating species that are resilient to drought and erosion. At the same time, we are bringing together smart range land management, range land management, plant grazing and rehabilitation and digital monitoring. And we will also welcome you in COP 31 in Antalya, Turkey this year. And with this, I would like to greet you all and thank you very much for your attention.

Most profusely, Turkey, and I would like to allow Comoros.

President, ladies and gentlemen delegates, it's an honor to take the floor on behalf of the Union of Comoros here in Ulaanbaatar on a topic which resonates most deeply with our island identity, restoring land, restoring hope. For an island state as ours, land is not only a simple geological resource, it is our anchor, it is our source of food, it is our sole shield against the assaults from the ocean. However, degradation of our land and soil accentuated by deforestation and erosion is depriving us of our water courses, of their vitality. fragilizing our income generating activities such as growing vanilla and clothes and is jeopardizing the future of our children today Comoros is not here to ask for help and to talk about our distress we're here to share a message of action and hope in the Comoros land restoration is an absolute priority inscribed at the heart of our we have understood that healing the soil is to secure life on this soil. Thanks to the mobilization of our local communities and supportive partners such as UNIP, we have managed to transform our commitments into reality. 1.4 million trees planted between 2017 and 2022. communities have reforested massively to restore degraded land zones, to stabilize the soil and to recharge our groundwater. Restoration of catchment areas of watersheds, our roadmap provides for the rehabilitation urgently of 6,000 hectares of watersheds and the construction of 50 micro dams to guarantee access to drinking water. Our objective, our goal, 8,000 hectares is us accelerating land reforestation, restoring 1,000 hectares of mangroves to protect our coral reefs. Each tree planted in Comoros is a barrier against erosion, it's a natural filter for water, and a step further towards food sovereignty. The economy of restoration is profitable. We see that each dollar invested in degraded land brings seven dollars back. But we need to make sure that we have simplified access for sustainable management of our land, led by communities and women.

Thank you very much, Comoros. Mauritania, the stage is yours.

In the name of God, and may the peace and blessings be upon our prophet. Mr. Cheb, your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania welcomes the convening of this dialogue on restoring rangeland that represent a natural economic and social wealth for our peoples, especially for pastoral communities. In Mauritania, the livestock is not only a traditional activity but rather a pillar for our economy, food security and livelihoods. And it contributes 10.3% of our GDP. And our livestock wealth has 29 million animals and a large part of our population rely on this sector. These figures demonstrate the strategic importance of rangeland as a natural basis for animal production. Therefore, restoring rangeland is a direct investment in the rural economy, food security, and community resilience. But rangelands continue to face pressures as a result of droughts, climate change, and land degradation. And also there is pressure on water resources. Therefore, Mauritania believes that we should focus on three basic priorities. First, promoting inclusive governance of rangeland by engaging pastoral communities and cooperation between governments and technical bodies as well as pastoral organizations in order to ensure resolution of conflicts over land and water. We also need to accelerate investment in the land restoration and promote drought resilience through vegetation, improving management of rangeland and also strengthening early warning systems, monitoring and adaptation to climate change. Third, accelerate investments in value chains. Restoring rangelands should be coupled with improvement of production and the manufacture of processed meat. And therefore, we call for facilitating access by pastoral communities to climate and environmental finance and develop innovative mechanisms for finance, including payments against environmental services and value chains. We reiterate our commitment to promoting regional and international cooperation for sustainable pastoralism that is also resilient. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mauritania. And now we are giving this opportunity to Nigeria. Is Nigeria there?

His distinguished delegates, the Federal Republic of Nigeria comes thus. Rangelands support the livelihoods of an estimated 500 million people worldwide, yet remain among the most undervalued ecosystems. This day centers the perspectives of indigenous peoples, local communities, pastoralists, women and youth, alongside the gender caucus and indigenous peoples and local communities caucus. Rangelands and pastoral systems are central to Nigeria's land use and food security. Indigenous peoples and local communities must be decision makers, not only beneficiaries. We welcome the ministerial dialogue and the restoration of rangelands and support the well-being and land rights of pastoralist commission communities as a matter of both environmental and social justice. Women are central to land stewardship in Nigeria. We therefore support the gender caucus work to secure land tenure and decision making rights for women in restoration programs. Youth engagement through platforms such as the youth forum is essential to sustaining restoration efforts. Over the coming decades, Nigeria supports mechanisms that translate youth participation into real policy influence. Nigeria is advancing a national livestock transformation plan built around the rehabilitation of its gazetted grazing reserves, moving away from open grazing towards settled, well-managed livestock production. The federal government has identified 470 gazetted grazing reserves. nationwide as part of this shift intended for the rehabilitation and resettlement of pastoralists and aimed at improving livestock productivity, disease control, and animal management, with pastoralists being encouraged toward a more sedentary livelihood. This is paired with the rehabilitation of grazing reserves, expansion of further cultivation, improved range land management and the promotion of settled livestock production systems to reduce environmental degradation while improving productivity. In Plateau State, central Nigeria, for example, government is working to transform the state into a livestock production research and peace building hub through investment in ranching, feed lot development.

Thank you very much, Federal Republic of Nigeria. Now it's time for Costa Rica.

Muchas gracias, Senor Presidente, Excelencias.

Thank you, Your Excellency, delegations, distinguished delegations. Costa Rica appreciates this dialogue on the restoration of rangelands and on the well-being of the rangeland communities or the pastoralist communities. Our country is different from those countries with extensive rangeland grazing. or nomad cultures on a large scale. But the matter still affects us directly. Part of our rural landscape is tied to livestock, grasslands, water, and the well-being of productive communities. For Costa Rica, restoring these landscapes means to produce better but without degrading. For more than 15 years ago, we began the national strategy for low-carbon livestock. We have practices aimed at a more efficient livestock sector, but that is compatible with conservation. Agro pastoral range land systems, forestry coverage, the grassland and range management, protection of water systems and soil recovery can increase productivity, resiliency and ecosystems. ecosystem services. The restoration cannot be separated from people, local communities, indigenous people, women, and the youth should participate in decisions. They should benefit from them. Land tenure security, inclusive governance, and local knowledge are all preconditions for investments that are legitimate and lasting. Costa Rica believes also that we must improve our national information on degradation and land restoration. We work through our Ministry of Agriculture and civil society and organizations such as Costa Rican Body for Soil Science to meet our land degradation neutrality targets. We must have indicators that reflect the realities of each country and that allow for us to measure results and guide investment or target investment. Financing is crucial. but it must reach those who implement solutions. We call for strengthening of multilateral mechanisms, including the Jeff, with sufficient accessible resources for the productive restoration of land, technical assistance, data generation, and capacity building. Restoring rangelands does not just mean choosing between production and nature, but rather it means building productive rangelands that preserve soil and water and sustain biodiversity and that offer better opportunities for all of these individuals, including the guardians and custodians of these environments. I thank you kindly.

Thank you very much for that intervention. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Burkina Faso.

Ladies and gentlemen, Burkina Faso on behalf of its government wishes to express our gratitude to the organizers of the ministerial dialogue on rangelands and pastoralists. Livestock herding has a central place in the economy and social life of Burkina Faso. It is the second source of export income after cotton for our country and contributes more than 18% of the GDP. Rangelands themselves provide more than 70% of the meat and milk consumed in our country. For Burkina Faso, restoring land is restoring hope for herders, Pastoralists and communities who derive their livelihood from our ever more fragile rangelands. Pastoral corridors need to be better managed to avoid conflicts and to respect the rights of use of natural resources. Without rangelands which are restored and secured, we cannot have more livestock, food security, sustainable peace in our rural areas. This is why the government, in the context of a strategy on pastoralism, water and fisheries, 2026 to 2028, has committed itself to restoring more than 200,000 of pastoral areas with investment in pastoral land, in vaccination programs, and the promotion of fodder areas as well. To highlight the contribution of livestock production in food security of our country, the government has implemented the following initiatives. 75 million litres of milk transformed. And we've invested in infrastructure to stock dairy products. And we've also set up seven slaughterhouses, which are modern ones and which have freezing units as well. Investment is vital, so we create new development instruments, the creation of new structures such as the Gana Bay Society for agri-pastoral products and materials. And we reassert our commitment to the common African position and call upon increased mobilization of the international community through recognizing rangelands and pastures as strategic ecosystems. and increased access to finance. Ladies and gentlemen, we need to make sure that we can accompany our herders in the task. They are custodians of our lands. So we call for this ministerial dialogue to be a decisive step towards us restoring rangelands and pastoral lands and to make sure that we have financing which is up to the scale of the task ahead. Thank you.

Thank you very much, distinguished representative of Burkina Faso. And now we give this opportunity to.

Kyrgyzstan.

Distinguished Chair, distinguished colleagues and partners, on behalf of the Kyrgyz Republic, I'm delighted to greet all participants here in this ministerial dialogue. Mountain ecosystems are not a secondary concern in the global agenda to combat desertification. They are particularly critically of particular critical importance and are particularly vulnerable. More than 93% of the territory of Kyrgyzstan is mountainous. Pastureland is half of our territory and historically it is a major source of subsistence of hundreds of thousands of families dependent upon it. Today, land degradation, soil erosion, and frequent droughts are a direct threat to food security, ecological stability in the Central Asian region. Climate change exacerbates these risks. According to data, the WMO, our region is warming more than twice as fast as the global average. And restoring rangeland is not only vital for our environment, it is a priority for our societies. And We need to make sure that restoring range land goes hand in hand with strengthening resilience of local communities. This work is long-term in nature and it is a priority of the Kyrgyz Republic. We have systematically promoted the mountain agenda globally since 2002, when in Bishkek we held the first successful mountain summit. As of 2023, we've actively been implementing the five-year program to promote the development of mountain regions, which was proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations upon Kyrgyzstan's initiative. And we're focusing on all the issues related to mountain regions. And it's important to consider these issues in all key climate processes. An important step forward was the roadmap Baku-Belam with 1.3. trillion US dollars for financing. We will be holding the second global mountain summit, Bishkek plus 25 in Bishkek from 21st to 23rd of October 2027. We will propose that this summit be the starting point for a new long-term cycle, a global decade for mountain regions. Moreover, Kyrgyzstan As before, the initiative to set up a global center for mountain regions in Bishkek, we're firmly convinced that the mountain agenda deserve specific, constant attention from the United Nations environmental conventions, just as biodiversity and water have their own specific priority spheres. We call upon development partners, the parties to the convention, international organizations to have a substantive dialogue together.

Thank you very much, Mr. President. much, Kyrgyzstan. Now I hand over to my co-chair to continue facilitating the dialogue.

Thank you, co-chair. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Iceland.

Iceland thanks Mongolia and the COP presidency for convening this important dialogue. Rangelands are living landscapes, food systems, biodiversity, cultural heritage and the foundation of pastoralist livelihood. Their restoration and sustainable land management must be measured not only in hectares, but in healthier ecosystems, stronger communities and greater resilience. pastoralist well-being a central measure of success Iceland brings more than a century of practical experience in restoring degraded land our history shows the scale of degradation and the possibility of recovery it has also taught us a simple lesson restoration is not a short-term project it's a long-term National commitment successes depend on capable institutions, continuity in policy, stable financing, sunshine, and the active participation of farmers, land users, local authorities, and communities. This lesson applies directly to rangelands. Pastoralist rangeland communities are not merely beneficiaries. They are stewards and knowledge holders. Plans must be developed with them and respond locally Identified needs, science and monitoring are essential, but they are strongest when combined with local knowledge and participatory approaches. Monitoring should guide learning and adaptation, not only report results. Implementation must remain at the center of UNCCD agenda. Global targets matter only when countries and communities have the institutions, knowledge and resources to act. Restoration must span assessment, planning, implementation, monitoring, learning and adaptation with institutions able to sustain it across political and funding cycles. Coherent policies across land use, food system, biodiversity and climate are also important to create enabling conditions. Iceland supports stronger and more practical cooperation among the three Rio conventions, UNCCD, CBD and UNFCCC. Land degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change are closely interconnected. At country level, we should look for practical opportunities to align relevant objectives, data, monitoring them across land degradation, biodiversity and climate processes. Cooperation should should respect the convention's distinct mandates while reducing duplication and making better use of limited capacity and finance. Through the Grow Land Restoration Training Program.

Thank you, Iceland. I now give the floor to the delegation of the Russian Federation.

Mr. President, distinguished Chair, range lands are vital for economic and social reasons. Their sustainable use is directly linked to soil and water management. Preventing degradation of land is vital throughout all of our territory. The Russian Federation supports practical measures to monitor constantly range lands. and to prevent any forms of degradation, to ensure the productivity, to use modern technology and to improve scientific knowledge. It's particularly important to look at modern means of monitoring land use in the interest of the population. And this is constant monitoring of soil as well. This is vital. Natural conditions, land use and legal regulations are all very different throughout our planet, so we need to make sure that any instruments are identified at national level. International initiatives should serve to exchange experience and to prepare projects, but they should not impede changing national legislation, identifying budgetary priorities and implementing national projects. The voluntary nature of any tools adopted within any conventions. And we must make sure that global standards and certification schemes can be used in a voluntary manner. They should not provide any impediments to access to financing. The Russian Federation is prepared to support open and equal cooperation on rangelands, including monitoring. We're prepared to develop environmentally, economically viable projects for sustainable land use. and rational land use. All new initiatives should be decided upon within the mandate of the convention with existing resources and not set up parallel institutions. International cooperation needs to focus on genuine improvement and restoration of land. Thank you.

Thank you to the Russian Federation. We now give the floor to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

In the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful. Madam President, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, It is a great honor for the Islamic Republic of Iran to address the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties in a land that itself symbolizes the culture of nomadism and traditional rangeland stewardship. Rangelands are the hidden yet vital pillars of food security, climate resilience, and land sustainability. With more than half of its territory classified as rangeland and hosting one of the largest nomadic population in the world, Iran knows well that the health of rangelands is the health of society, and the degradation of rangelands is the degradation of livelihoods, culture, and national security. Distinguished participants, in recent years, the Islamic Republic of Iran has undertaken a series of national measures to protect, restore and sustainably manage rangelands. These include strengthening the role of local communities and nomads in customary and participatory management. Second, implementing programs to restore vegetation cover and enhance soil carbon. Three, linking rangeland management with the objectives of land degradation neutrality, LDN. Yet, these efforts alone are not sufficient without international cooperation and synergy. Therefore, Iran warmly welcomes the Global Rangeland Initiative, RFI, and declares its readiness to actively participate in this initiative. We believe RFI can serve as a global platform for knowledge exchange, investment mobilization, and empowerment of rangeland communities. Ladies and gentlemen, Let the year 2026, designated as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, become a turning point for restoring the true value of these landscapes and the people who have safeguarded them for centuries. In conclusion, the Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms its commitment to constructive cooperation, experience sharing, and active participation in the programs of the Convention. We stand ready to work with all countries and international institutions to protect these shared assets. Thank you very much indeed.

I thank the distinguished delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and I now give the floor to the Dominican Republic.

His Excellency, President of the COP, Co-Chairs, Ministers, Vice Ministers, Representatives, Ladies and Gentlemen, the Dominican Republic thanks the Secretariat for this document ICCD COP 17/10 we hailed the progress made in the implementation of 21 of COP 16 on grasslands and pastoralists in this international year of pastoralists and rangelands we recognize that ecosystems are an essential component of our territory and our lands they play an essential role in food security in the means of living living conditions of rural areas, land restoration, waters and soils. We have systems, extensive grasslands, as do other regions of the world. However, great range lands represent 26% of our national territory. They play a crucial role in our economic development, social development, environmental development. Proper custody allows custodianship allows us to protect these resources, including building resilience of rural communities facing land degradation and drought. In this context, the Dominican Republic has been able to generate national spaces and venues for dialogue with the commemoration of the year on the fight against desertification and drought. We have held a multi-sectoral dialogue on rangelands with public sector, private sector, academia, civil society, and producers. This allowed for exchange of knowledge, we were able to identify common challenges and build a shared vision of sustainable management, conservation and restoration of rangelands. as a contribution to sustainability and development. These ecosystems should be addressed with a comprehensive approach for sustainable management of land and water, productive practices that are sustainable, that maintain soil and land health, as well as the range land health, strengthening productivity. and economies of rural communities. We also recognize that the solutions should be based on science, local knowledge, and the effective participation of communities, including women, the youth, producers, and others that are directly working with the land. We also believe that it is necessary to strengthen the mobilization of resources and to develop restoration projects. These must have access to financing. We must promote mechanisms that recognize the ecosystem services that promote rangelands. For the Dominican Republic, this dialogue is an opportunity to strengthen the contribution of rangelands to our neutrality, our land degradation neutrality goals, as well as biodiversity goals, adaptation, food security, and resiliency facing drought. We reaffirm our commitment to continue to work together with all parties and partners.

The interpreter notes that the feed was cut.

Thank you to the Dominican Republic. And now I'll give the floor to the distinguished delegation of China.

Thank you, Chair. Rangelands degradation endangers the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. During COP17, the promotion and restoration of rangelands and capacity building of pastoralists have been identified as of key importance. During this meeting, we have been delighted to hear wide-ranging discussions, in-depth discussions with all stakeholders to see if there are ways to restore these rangelands. As we are a major country as concerns rangelands, we place great importance in investing in rangelands and we would like to share three approaches with you firstly rangelands must be placed at the heart of the national priorities and we must have additional value placed on the social and cultural importance of rangelands to restore them in the context of the global protection initiatives. Secondly, we should promote technological innovation for rangeland restoration so that we can apply monitoring systems so that we can monitor prairie ecosystems, share experience and combine traditional knowledge and modern technology, environmental restoration, and developing new means of assistance for the population. Thirdly, it's vital that we implement subsidies and compensation as we seek to protect rangelands. These subsidies must be accorded to herders so that they are encouraged and are supported in implementing and abiding by any prohibitions on land use and as a respect pastoral rest periods to ensure balance, reduce pressure on rangelands. We see some 12 million households of herders and very happy to take part in all initiatives to develop an annual International Day for Rangelands and Pastoralists. to build on this current international year. We are in favor of all initiatives of this kind and we work very closely with UNCCD and the FAO as I have done for the Silk Road project.

Thank you, China. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Equatorial Guinea.

With the leave of the Executive Secretariat, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, we deeply appreciate the Government and the people of Mongolia for their warm hospitality and all the attention given our delegation. We also appreciate the Executive Secretariat. Today, we are meeting to recall that the soil that we walk on is not merely a statistic, it is identity, it is legacy, it is the fiber that sustains our societies. Equatorial Guinea reaffirms its commitment to the Convention of the United Nations on combating desertification and drought. Thanks to the government's policy, which is with great dignity brought forth by the head of state, His Excellency Obiang Nguema Oban Sogo. The national plan of action for combating deforestation and degradation of lands is in line with the 10-year strategy of the convention. We have defined the national goals for land degradation neutrality and our policies and forestry conservation. and development policies. Over recent years, we have made meaningful progress in the protection of our land. We have created a ministerial department tasked with land management. We have also implemented comprehensive policies to slow and stop erosion and to preserve our biodiversity. However, we know that policies do not transform reality without people. we continue to face important challenges. These include seasonal degradation of land and seasonal drought that have an impact on the yield of agricultural production, food security, and migration to the cities from the rural areas, the rural exodus. These become commonplace. This is because women and youth are considering life in the rural area to as presenting a lack of opportunities and not living up to their hopes. We want to offer new horizons to our youth. We cannot allow for our youth to see the rural areas as a symbol of getting stuck. Which then pushes them to the rural exodus. We must transform the restoration of the environment and climate and agriculture into dignified green jobs and nodes for technological innovation and environmental entrepreneurship. Land is not the past, it is the best opportunity for a sustainable future and prosperity for the next generations. Excellencies, we should underscore the slogan of this COP17, restoring land, restoring hope. This shows us that migration should never be the last option facing land degradation. The feat has been accomplished.

Thank you to Equatorial Guinea. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan has the floor.

Good day, ladies and gentlemen.

Allow me to express the Due to our sincere gratitude to the government of Mongolia and the secretariat of the UNCCD for the organization of this high-level dialogue. The topic of today, Land and People Day, is of particular importance to Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is the largest Central Asian state, the ninth in the world by surface area. Our land coverage is 272.5 million hectares. Our territory is equivalent to the whole of Western Europe. So for Kazakhstan, land is not only a natural resource, it is a source of national wealth. It is the basis of our food security and well-being of our people. And rangelands are of particular importance. We have more than 183 million hectares of rangeland, and we are in the top five in the world in this. In 2017, Kazakhstan had already adopted a special law on rangelands, and today we have a five-year plan to manage rangelands. And this enshrines the principle of public pastoral land, public rangelands, where the land cannot be privatized and it is available for all of our population. And there's a practical... link between land and people. The land has to be used in the best interest of the people. In July 2026, Kazakhstan took the next systematic step forward. The first time in history as an independent state, we adopted a separate law on soil preservation. This aims to not only deal with degradation of our soil, of our land, but also to prevent it in the future and to carry out monitoring of soil fertility and to restore the land based on contemporary data. In Kazakhstan, we have digitalized our mapping. We have 53.5 million hectares which are now digitalized and 2.7 million of these hectares have been identified as degraded land which require urgent restoration. And today, We are moving forward with this using one single information system for land management. Agricultural lands cover some 200 million hectares, and almost all of this is digitalized today. We're now going to move on to use artificial intelligence, satellite monitoring to analyze the quality of land and have early warning of any degradation. Up is with simple, the scale of our territory means that we need to have a certain scale of responsibility for it. Our responsibility is not only one that stops at our state borders. It extends to the whole of Central Asia and globally. It's why Kazakhstan will invest fully in all of the projects under the UNCCD.

Thank you.

Thank you. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Spain.

excellencies, delegations, and civil society representatives. First off, I should like to thank Mongolia and the Secretariat for the organization of this high-level dialogue. And this especially at a time when rangelands are taking on particular international importance. The decision adopted at the COP16 marked a turning point. as it recognized for the first time the essential contribution of pastoralists and rangelands when it comes to tackling these global challenges. We now have a new opportunity at this COP17. here in Mongolia. Mongolia is a nation that incarnates the ancestral relationship between the pastoralist people and the preservation of rangelands. For this reason, we believe that the slogan, restoring lands, restoring hope, perfectly sums up the challenge that we face. There will not be restored lands without healthy rangelands. It would be hard to hold on to hope for communities in the rural areas without the protection of these ecosystems. Spain fully lives up to this responsibility. We are one of the most vulnerable European countries to desertification. At the same time, we have exceptional rangelands. the forestry range land systems and transhumance landscapes, this is the fruit of a balanced interaction between people and nature. For this reason, we are driving public policies that seek to support the restoration of our rangelands and their sustainable management. This is through our national strategy for the fight against desertification, our national Spanish strategy for 2050 and the Spanish forestry plan. Through these, we strengthen efforts for agroforestry, rangelands and systems such as that which we call the deesa. We also support bioeconomy, extensive livestock and environmental restoration. This includes project for restoring the natural livestock transhumance corridors, valuing the products that arise therefrom. We are also moving forward with the development of a national network of these transhumance corridors for livestock, which is an essential green infrastructure for connecting the environment, biodiversity and transhumance. In Spain, transhumance, which is a practice that has shaped our landscapes, it has contributed for centuries to maintaining our rangelands. It was recognized in 2023 as an intangible cultural legacy. And this is thanks to work by the Ministry of Culture and Civil Society. The National Year for Pastoralists and COP17 is a unique opportunity to put pastoralism and the restoration of rangelands at the center of the international agenda. Much obliged.

Thank you, Spain. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Mexico.

Thank you to the co-chairs. Natural rangelands cover approximately 6% of Mexican territory. They're productive environmental, hydrological, social and cultural systems. They sustain rural economies in life, and this includes those tied to livestock. Likewise, They host biodiversity, they protect land, they participate in the water cycle, they store carbon, and they contribute to drought resilience and climate change resilience. The degradation thereof is then an environmental, productive, economic, and social challenge. The conservation, the sustainable management, and restoration of rangelands is explicitly mentioned in public policies and the Mexican budget. This is reflected in a national program for environmental restoration, 2025, 2030. This incorporates the productive restoration factor as a focus and promotes agroforestry, rangelands, and related systems. Mexico has concrete experience in productive restoration with these systems. It shows that recovering these lands that have been degraded can strengthen productivity environmental functions and community resiliency. There is no single formula for addressing this. They must be tailor-made to the priorities, circumstances, national capacities and productive systems and land tenure systems of each country. In the restoration process, it is key that we involve those who live in these lands, use them, and manage them. In Mexico, there are nearly 17,000 agrarian nodes administering more than half of the national forestry surface. Given their diversity, we have seen that it is necessary to address the matter of collective property, community property, land tenure security, and full participation and effective participation of producers, including indigenous communities, local communities, women, and the youth. The government deploys programs to support small and medium-sized entrepreneurs with financing, technical assistance, climate information, technology infrastructure, and market access. The recent private resource contribute to this logic. They complement, they do not substitute public financing and international cooperation funds. This allows for a fair distribution of costs, risks and benefits for Mexico. Restoring the range lands in a sustainable manner involves protecting health of the land and strengthening the lives of those who depend on the land. I thank you kindly.

Thank you, Mexico. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Sudan.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Ladies and gentlemen, rangelands are an essential part in supporting food security and livelihoods. I'll repeat, Mr. Chair, Executive Secretary of the UNCCD, ladies and gentlemen, the Sudan has vast and diversified natural resources. These are one of the main sources of a livelihood for many people in the Sudan. They contribute in increasing the GDP and the national income overall. Rangelands and livestock constitute around 60% of the contribution of the agricultural sector and between 20 and 24% of Sudan's GDP. Um, rangelands constitute around 68.6 million hectares that are distributed on the various regions of the country and they provide nutrition for over 150 million animals. The Sudan has a diversified pastoral environment which is suitable for all species of its fauna. Despite its importance in livelihood and the significance socially and environmentally speaking, it has been suffering from a number of challenges, either natural, for example, climate change, drought and desertification, or man-made as some improper unsustainable management practices. The pastoral systems used in the Sudan vary between settled mobile or semi mobile systems that depend on the season they move in search of grass and water and as a result of this movement there could be some problems and conflicts as a result the local and indigenous communities are the ones that practice rangeland activities and who contribute in preserving rangelands and in the improvement of the local economy and natural income. We have to recognize pastoralism as a system that has been inherited since ancient times and to recognize the rights of the pastorals and local knowledge.

Thank you. I will now give the floor to my co-chair.

Thank you very much, co-chair. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Iraq.

Thank you, President. Ladies and gentlemen, rangelands, Pasture lands are an essential resource for us for food security and provide a means of subsistence for our populations, but they are exposed to great pressure given the scarcity of water and climate change in particular. We support sustainable rangelands. Restoring this land is a way to combat desertification and to combat land degradation and drought. Restoring rangelands does not only mean restoring lands, it requires comprehensive management of the land and water resources whilst preventing degradation. It involves supporting local communities, involving them and benefiting from their knowledge so that we can preserve our natural resources. We are working on monitoring, on data collection, to have scientific data to monitor rangelands and take informed decisions, whilst identifying the most exposed land to drought and degradation so that we can build capacities to combat drought and desertification. We encourage an exchange of expertise and good practice between different states. We support international initiatives to provide more financing to invest in managing rangelands. We'd like to take advantage of the dynamic trend we're seeing with this year as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists to have the annual year. This would really benefit our communities. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Iraq. And now this is the opportunity for Burundi.

Excellences ladies and gentlemen the public Burundi welcomes this opportunity to take the floor on such a major issue for our country and for our rural communities that is restoration and improving the well-being of pastoralist communities. In Burundi, rangelands are an essential part of our rural production systems. They contribute to feeding cattle, food security, generate revenue and keep means of subsistence going for rural populations. They also play an important role in soil conservation, water management and carbon sequestration, as well as preserving biodiversity. However, these lands are confronted with increasing degradation from soil erosion, the lack of vegetation, overgrazing, land pressure, climate changes, and the recurrent and more frequent periods of drought. This degradation directly impacts the productivity of livestock and makes the living conditions of pastoral communities more fragile. Given this, Burundi is restoring land and range land, and this has become a national priority. of our commitments under the UNCCD. We intend to promote an integrated approach based on the sustainable management of land, restoration of degraded ecosystems, and adaptation to climate change. This approach should, in particular, lead to restoration of degraded rangeland, improved management of pastureland, the development of agro-pastoral systems which are resilient, capacity building for pastoral communities, prevention and management of conflicts linked to natural resources and strengthening information systems for land monitoring. We will pay particular attention to securing the means of existence for pastoral communities and securing their livelihoods. Restoring land should not only be considered as an ecological intervention, it should be considered as contributing to generating income, to food security, to animal health, to improving water access and improving access to basic social services. In this perspective, we call for increased mobilization of financial resources, technical and technological resources for vulnerable countries. International financing mechanisms should facilitate access of local communities and national institutions to the necessary resources to implement restoration projects on a large scale. reasserts its commitment to restore its degraded land, to strengthen the resilience of pastoral communities and agro-pastoral communities, and to promote sustainable management which is inclusive of our natural resources. We are convinced that investing in land restoration...

Profound thanks to Burundi. We now give this chance to Egypt.

In the name of God, the Merciful, Ladies and gentlemen, land restoration, restoration of rangelands and pastoral areas is not only part of combating desertification, it is vital for us, for our national economies, for our national communities. The local community becomes more vulnerable to climate change and drought if land is not being restored. So land restoration needs to take place taking account of the resilience of local communities and their income generation activities. We should involve pastoralists and herders in all of our programs. And we need to integrate them and their knowledge and traditional knowledge as well as using new technologies to ensure sustainable land management of our rangelands in our arid areas in particular, we need to make sure that we can drop land that we can restore degraded land and carry out capacity building activities for local communities to make them drought resilient. We have been working with our African partners to strengthen African dialogue to combat desertification. We launched an alliance of rangelands and pastoralists. This is vital for local communities to be mobilized and organized, and we very much hope that we'll be able to replicate this at different levels internationally. to make sure that pastoralists are partners throughout the whole of this process and that we can base ourselves on traditional knowledge. We need to make sure that we support such initiatives so we can rediscover the role of the human being of the custodians of our land in this process. Securing finance is absolutely vital for different sectors Early warning is very important. We must invest in early warning. We are going to host the 18th version of our conference so that we can focus on regions and pastoralists and move from words to deeds to make sure that we move to implementation and action to restore our lands. and build the capacity of pastoralists. So they're not simple beneficiaries, but they are stakeholders and recognized actors to improve our resilience. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Egypt, now we give this time to the European Union.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, 2026 is the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists and International Year of the Woman Farmer. This reminds us that healthy rangelands are essential for biodiversity, climate resilience, food security, and the livelihoods, knowledge, and culture heritage of pastoralist communities. The European Union considers rangeland restoration a strategic investment in both people and planet. Through our global gateway strategy, the EU is supporting partner countries to strengthen sustainable land governance, restore degraded ecosystems and promote resilient rural livelihoods. Together with our 27 EU Member States, we collaborate with development financing institutions, local authorities and communities to scale up inclusive, locally-led solutions. Pastoralists and rangeland users are not only vulnerable to climate change, they are also essential partners in adaptation. Their knowledge, mobility systems and stewardship practices are indispensable for sustainable land management. We must therefore strengthen tenure security, support participatory governance, with a whole of government and whole of society approach and invest in adaptation measures that are responsive to local realities. Restoration efforts will only succeed if we are equitable. Our recently adopted gender equality strategy 2026-2030 puts forward concrete actions to embed gender equality into every aspect of life. The strategy also reaffirms our commitment to prioritizing gender equality in our external action. In the spirit of the International Year of Women Farmers, we call for policies and investments that secure women's Women's land then you expand their access to finance, education, climate services and decent work and ensure the full equal and meaningful participation in decision making. We are proud that through the EU women negotiation project. Women delegates to the UNCCD are empowered to take their rightful place at the negotiating table and shape the policies that affect their lives and lands. The European Union stands ready to work with all partners to advance integrated action under UNCCD so that restored rangelands can deliver resilience, equality and dignity for current and future generations. Thank you.

Thank you very much, EU. And now this is the time for France.

Thank you, Chair, dear friends. I'm delighted to address this topic of rangelands with you because for us, it really brings together tradition and innovation and represents a key pillar of our economy. It's a pillar of the rural economy. 38% of our agricultural service area, some two million hectares are concerned for us. We have specific labels for our meat, for our milk and dairy products and wool, which are labels of excellence. Often it exists in areas where there's not many economic opportunities. It helps us to stop the rural exodus and it means that we've avoided 30% of our rural economy disappearing by 2030. And also ranches are vital for a transmission of traditional knowledge. It's vital for us to keep our grasslands as well and it also prevents forest fires it preserves water retains water and helps us to fight to what people might think helps us to store carbon France is involved in different projects involving international cooperation for pastoralists. We're very proud to assist Mongolia in terms of food security and to support diversification of income for nomadic herders. For example, Nomads for Life shows clearly that the only viable solution to ensure the maintenance of biodiversity is to diversify production and to ensure there's different animal products which are promoted. This has ensured better management of rangelands projects and the great green wall in the Sahel has allowed us as well to look at value added chains which are sustainable for pastoralists. Pastoralism is a system of social links as well and we must not lose sight of that. Communities are dependent on it.

This.

Can ease tensions around use, prevent conflicts, and so a project that we have in the Sahel is particularly innovative. All of these examples show clearly that we need to continue to defend an integrated approach to pastoralism for effective environmental policies which integrate the economy and social dimensions. Thank you.

I think the distinguished representative of France And I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Nepal.

Respected Chair, Excellencies and distinguished delegates, rangelands cover nearly 12% of Nepal total land area. They span from subtropical grassland of the right to alpine meadows of the high Himalayan. These land and biodiversity hotspot headwater of our major rivers and important carbon sinks. For centuries, ingenious pastoral communities such as Sherpa, Bote, Gurung have practiced transhumance, moving livestock to alpine pasture in summer and down to valley in winter. This is not only the economical activity, but also a rich cultural heritage and the valuable example of living harmony with nature. Pastoralism provides livelihood, products, milk, wool and dairy products and supports the collection of valuable medicinal herbs. Despite their importance, Nepal's Himalayan regions and rangelands are increasingly degraded by invasive species and changing climate conditions. The expansion of woody vegetation, forest fire and increasing human wildlife conflict are further affecting traditional grazing area and livestock profession in indigenous community. Valuable medicine plants are also being disappeared. These changes together with access, the restriction and changing livelihood are the weakness traditional sheep and yak herding practices. Younger generations are increasingly moving to urban areas or abroad, resulting in loss of traditional knowledge and shrinking the pastoral community. To secure the sustainability of our land, Nepal needs action on three points, inclusive policies, economic incentive and climate adaptation. We need policy reform that recognize the pastoralism, traditional right and provides the opportunity for sustainable private sector investment. At the same time, restoration of degraded lands and continuation of the traditional practice requires adequate financial resources and technology. A sustainable climate finance is therefore essential, along with greater investment from the private sector. Nepal remains committed to restoring its rangeland, protecting biodiversity, and strengthening the resilience of the pastoral community while producing their traditional royalties and livelihoods. I thank you.

Thank you very much, Nepal. Now it is the time for Vietnam. Vietnam.

Excellency President, Excellency Ministers, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Vietnam delegation, I would like to express our sincere thanks to the Government of Mongolia and the UNCCD Secretariat for hosting this dialogue on the Land and Peoples Day during COP17, 2026. Forest land and grassland serve as a critical carbon sink and the foundation of the global food security. However, land degradation and climate change are threatening this ecosystem and pastoral livelihoods. Restoring rangeland is vital for human well-being, cultural heritage, and leaving no one behind. In Vietnam, alongside our tropical forest, we manage diverse upland grassland, dry coastal zones, and traditional agro-pastoral models. We have taken active measures First, integrated farming and rational grazing. We promote a green forestry pastoral model on sloping lands with drought tolerant forest crops to prevent soil erosion and improve the land health. Second, security customary land tenure. We allocate lands and forest management rights directly to the local communities, ensuring the ethnic minorities have secure legal tenure over communal lands. Third, inclusive livelihood value chains through the payments for forest environmental services, non-timber forest products, and ecotourism, we have the upland pastoral households increase the sustainable incomes. To support the rangeland restoration globally, Vietnam highlights three priorities. First, integrate the rangeland health into the national action plans and LDN targets, blending science with indigenous knowledge. Second, unlock targeted international finance for community-led restoration and water storage in drylands. Third, strengthen South-South cooperation in livestock improvement and rangeland management. Vietnam stands ready to collaborate with the UNCCD and all parties to achieve resilient rangeland and thriving communities. Thank you very much for your kind attention.

Thank you very much, Vietnam. And now I give this time to Qatar.

President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, today's dialogue is of key importance in 2026, which is the International Year for Rangelands and Pastoralists. demonstrating that it is vital to take care of our rangelands, which are a key to biodiversity and key for us in land restoration and increase drought resilience. And it is vital that we restore rangelands for the communities that depend upon them. These people who live on the land and are vital partners in this restoration. In Qatar, arid and semi-arid land is a challenge for us, and we've adopted an approach which protects the ecosystems. And to do so, we've adopted different action programs for 76 locations from 2019 to 2026. We used seeds to plant vegetation in the context of a rehabilitation and protection program in different natural sites and we're going to carry on with this up until 2030 through an active program of land restoration. supporting the Middle East, the Green Middle East Initiative, and for this we've already planted four million trees. We are monitoring our land use and land degradation and restored land so that we can support the planning activities so that land use is sustainably managed. As we restore land, we can extend our rangelands, and this is part of our national strategy to combat desertification. 2027 to 2030, so we can restore more than 30% of our degraded land, strengthening the sustainable land management in our country, which will make us more resilient as well in the future. We call for further cooperation and exchange of best practice and knowledge between our countries so that we can combat desertification and drought. The success of rangeland restoration is vital.

Thank you. Thank you very much, Qatar. We have heard the last speaker for this meeting. The remaining speakers will be heard this afternoon at 3:00 p.m. in this very same hall. But before adjourning the meeting, allow me to deliver a statement in my national capacity. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, since COP16 in Riyadh, Botswana has made significant progress in rangeland restoration. Guided by the COP16 decision, we have completed our national restoration strategy, which identifies 25 million hectares of land available for restoration. Already, under 5 million hectares have been restored through projects supported by the Green Climate Fund, the Global Environment Facility, the International Climate Initiative, and other partners. Our delegation to COP17 reflects inclusivity and commitment. It includes pastoralists, and community leaders, most of them women, alongside youth and women farmers. Their participation ensures that custodians of rangelands are central to shaping restoration strategies and that they derive tangible benefits from stewardship. We acknowledge the support of the UNCCD global mechanism and development partners such as FAO and UNDP, whose assistance has strengthened our national capacity. welcome the Global Environment Facility's growing ambitions for rangelands and note with encouragement the pledges made by financial partners at this COP17. This commitment show that the international community is ready to scale up investment in restoration and resilience. Rangelands flagship has demonstrated that rangelands are landscapes of opportunity. The private sector global forum confirmed that restoration is both a responsibility and a sound investment. Ongoing negotiations on range lands have been smooth and aligned with many parties. The emerging decision is firmly oriented towards implementation and results. Excellencies, this dialogue has reaffirmed that range lands are the backbone of pastoralist livelihoods, biodiversity and resilience. that restoration is an ecological necessity and a social and economic imperative. By scaling up restoration, strengthening partnerships and embedding stewardships into our national programs, we can deliver resilience, food security and prosperity for pastoralist communities and future generations. Restored rangelands anchor food security, empower pastoralists and safeguard the future of our nations. Botswana sees range land restoration not as an option, but as a foundation of resilience, prosperity, and hope for the generations to come. I thank you, colleagues. And I now give the floor back to my co-chair.

Gracias. Thank you to my co-chair. Distinguished ministers, distinguished delegates, colleagues, Uruguay is pleased to see the progress with the adoption of the decisions on rangelands and pastoralists at COP16, and we're pleased to be here at this COP17 in Mongolia, and we hope that this brings progress in these areas to which we can commit. In this dialogue, we have identified a series of shared elements such as the restoration being part of productive landscapes. We must strengthen the sustainable management of rangelands. Pastoralists must not merely not be the mere beneficiaries of the plans, they must be involved in making the plans, they must have financing to support the restoration and sustainable long-term rangeland management projects. We want to underscore the ideas that guide us in Uruguay to bring about a better alignment of policies and planning frameworks that prevent degradation and that bring conservation. and that avoid the fragmentation of rangelands. Restoration and sustainable management of the rangelands are key for the development of synergies between and among the Rio Conventions. The commitments that Uruguay has taken on in its national biodiversity strategy, its contribution is clear and our voluntary will to move towards land degradation neutrality includes reduction in the amount of conversion of rangelands and its restoration, the restoration of rangelands and the preservation thereof, is marked by productive lands. We seek to bring restoration processes through the incorporation of practices for sustainable production. We see restoration as an improvement in the biodiversity in rangelands and productive capacity. Technical assistance and incentives are essential for livestock and agriculture to take on sustainable production models. These increase production and improve the quality of life of those that make livestock and agriculture their primary means of sustenance. To make decisions, evidence-based decisions, we work in the design of indicators that allow for us to have measures to support livestock, considering that biodiversity and ecosystemic systems are born in mind when we make evidence-based decisions. To increase the scope of these policies and to maintain them over time, there is no one single financing mechanism. We need to combine international financing, sovereign local domestic financing private funds tax incentives and public funds as well as private funds financing restoration should not be understood to be a cost rather financing restoration is an investment in sustaining production promoting sustainable development and contributing to societies that are more fair and more resilient I thank you kindly I now give the floor to my co-chair.

The meeting is adjourned until 3:00 this afternoon. Thank you, co-chair. So please be advised that the 11th plenary meeting on gender caucus will take place this afternoon at 3:00 p.m. in the main committee room. More information on the programme for COP17 and related meetings is available on the conference website and on the UNCCD app. Meeting is adjourned.