Director of natural resources Ministry of Agriculture Integrating LDN targets in The national action programme and creating leverages with Climate Change Agenda in Lebanon Dr. Chadi Mohanna Director of natural resources Ministry of Agriculture Lebanon

NAP-LDN NAP Project Funded by GEF- UNEP Executed by AFDC and MoA LDN Funded by GM/UNCCD and UNDP Mainstreamed into NAP

Aims Updating Updating the NAP and aligning it to the 10-Years Strategy of the UNCCD Setting Setting national targets towards Land Degradation Neutrality

Specific Objectives Updating Assessing Selecting Proposing Developing Updating the NAP Updating Assessing changes in land cover/ land use, productivity and soil organic carbon stocks through geoprocessing tools Assessing Selecting national voluntary targets for land degradation neutrality at various administrative levels across the country Selecting Developing an exposure to land degradation map and an implementation tool Developing Proposing land investment guidelines Proposing

New NAP/LDN At the time of the first NAP, very few projects were developed and implemented Now many projects are dealing with SLM While LDN addresses directly SDG 15.3, implementing the national targets and their related measures will contribute to the implementation of other SDG

Current Situation According to data from the 2015 Global FRA: Forests cover 13.2% “Other Wooded Lands” (OWL) cover 10.2% 23.4% of the Lebanese land area covered by forests, woodlands and schrubs. Other lands with trees, including fruit trees, olive yards, highly degraded forest lands that do not fall under “Forests” or “OWL” cover 11% of the total land area. These figures make Lebanon one of the most forested countries in the Middle East. Current Situation

LAND DEGRADATION AGGRAVATED BY CLIMATE CHANGE Fire Pests and Diseases Fragmentation/Urban Crawl/Quarries/ Roads/ Pollution/ Changes in Land-Uses Rangeland mismanagement Forest/Other wooded-lands mismanagement Unsustainable agricultural practices

ASSESSMENT AND MAPPING The aim of the work is to assist in setting national targets towards Land Degradation Neutrality. The specific objectives are: 1. Assessment of baseline trends in landcover/land-use, land productivity, and soil organic carbon stocks using geo-processing tools 2. Mapping exposure to land degradation 3. Setting national voluntary targets for land degradation neutrality

Losses in landcover/land-use (2000-2010)

Loss of SOC per landcover type

LDN - TARGET SETTING PROGRAMME UNCCD - GM

EXAMPLES OF EXISTING INITIATIVES LAND-COVER TARGET MEASURES EXAMPLES OF EXISTING INITIATIVES SDG ADDRESSED FORESTS Restore forest landscapes through reforestation of at least 10,000 ha - 40 MT Program Goal 13: Climate Action Goal 15: Life on Land    Implement Sustainable Forest Management measures to maintain healthy forests on public and private forests SALMA Project (FAO-GEF) SM of the Qaroun lake (UNDP-GEF) Goal 2: Zero Hunger Goal 15: Life on Land

EXAMPLES OF EXISTING INITIATIVES SDG ADDRESSED LAND-COVER TARGET MEASURES EXAMPLES OF EXISTING INITIATIVES SDG ADDRESSED  FORESTS Develop and manage Urban and Peri-Urban forests and parks  MOA Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities   Goal 13: Climate Action Goal 15: Life on Land Protect life on earth and conserve biological diversity through Protected Areas, National Parks and other systems Protected Areas, Natural reserves … Reduce the risk of forest fires through Sustainable Forest Management, especially around villages and towns Forest Fires Strategy SALMA Project (FAO-GEF)

  LAND-COVER TARGET MEASURES EXAMPLES OF EXISTING INITIATIVES SDG ADDRESSED GRASSLANDS Restore rangelands/grasslands landscapes on at least 1,000 ha through seeding of local species AGRICAL (IFAD) Goal 13: Climate Action Goal 15: Life on Land Restore rangelands/grasslands landscapes through Sustainable Management FRLM (FAO) Promote sustainable grazing and animal production (local breeds of goats and sheep) Grazing regulations Goal 2: Zero Hunger

  LAND-COVER TARGET MEASURES EXAMPLES OF EXISTING INITIATIVES SDG ADDRESSED AGRICULTURE Restore Agricultural Lands on at least 7,000 ha Green Plan Canal 800 (irrigating 26,000ha of lands) Goal 2: Zero Hunger  Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production  Goal 13: Climate Action  Goal 15: Life on Land Promote Sustainable Agricultural Practices, on at least 80,000 ha  Climate Smart Agriculture and Conservation Agriculture Promote sustainable traditional agricultural production through the implementation of Fair Trade Towns and other similar initiatives Fair Trade Towns  Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production  Goal 13: Climate Action

  LAND-COVER TARGET MEASURES EXAMPLES OF EXISTING INITIATIVES SDG ADDRESSED  AGRICULTURE Improve agricultural production through increasing the water availability in the uplands Green Plan Goal 2: Zero Hunger Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production Goal 13: Climate Action Goal 15: Life on Land Reduce the agricultural pollution of water streams through sustainable agricultural practices  Sustainable Management of the Qaroun lake (UNDP-GEF) Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

  LAND-COVER TARGET MEASURES EXAMPLES OF EXISTING INITIATIVES SDG ADDRESSED OTHER LANDS Reduce erosion, land- slides and floods through SLM measures on bare lands, degraded lands and watersheds FLRM Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities Goal 13: Climate Action Goal 15: Life on Land Reduce the risk of disturbance of marine ecosystems from land based pollution through SLM practices Goal 14: Life Below Water

Institutional Measures Implement Land Classification systems and Cadastral Zoning in order to reduce the conversion of natural and agricultural systems into other land-uses Implement Mainstream Land Degradation Neutrality into sectorial policies and strategies (NAP) Mainstream Develop financial incentives for the implementation of sustainable land management practices, in line with mitigation and adaptation strategies on climate change and conservation of biological diversity Develop Develop partnerships with local, national and international organization for the promotion of sustainable land management practices and land degradation neutrality

PARTNERSHIP Working with Several Partners: FAO, UNDP, UNCCD, UNEP, IFAD, ICARDA, ACSAD, NGOs

Forest and Landscape Restoration identified as one of the main tools to achieve LDN targets Need to identify private initiatives, sustainable practices, income generating, diversified, replicable… Need Develop transformative projects that could be funded Develop LDN AND FLRM (FAO)

Sustainable Land Management in the Qaraoun Catchment, Lebanon (UNDP/GEF) Objectives: Alleviation of land degradation Maintenance of ecosystem services Improvement in livelihoods

URBAN and PERI-URBAN FORESTS and TREES Several projects are addressing the forestry sector Urban and peri-urban forests and trees play a major role in the livelihood systems They could play a major role in the prevention of disasters They could also increase the risk of certain disasters (mismanagement increases risk of forest fires)

Thank you for your attention