“If we take care of nature, nature will take care of us. We need nature, nature does not need us. If we intrude into nature’s wild spaces and degrade the land, we can expect more zoonotic diseases to emerge; we can expect the services land provide us with – healthy food, clean air and water – to disappear…. Each of us holds the power to protect the land for each choice we make in our daily lives. And we can still choose to protect nature. By doing so, we in fact protect our future.”

On this World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, the OECS Commission reiterates its commitment to continue working with its Member States towards achieving the critical goal of land degradation neutrality (LDN) as articulated by UNCCD 195 Parties.

The principle of LDN (the area of productive land remains stable or increases within a specified landscape) is implemented through the Commission’s various programmes, actions and projects. These are also aimed at strengthening the economic, social, and environmental resilience of Member States to the impacts of drought and climate change using integrated and participatory approaches.  Some of these approaches include but are not limited to, Integrated Landscape Management (ILM), Sustainable Land Management (SLM), Integrated Watershed Management (IWM), and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).