With a focus on Land Restoration, this side event touches upon related themes of the 16^th CoP such as Resilience and Land at the Heart of SDGs.  The side event will feature two ambitious partnerships that seek to contribute to the UN Decade on Ecosystems Restoration: Landscape Partnership Asia (LPA)—Restoring Drylands and Drought Prone Areas, and the African Forest Landscape Initiative (AFR100).  LPA is a multi-stakeholder platform that implements performance-based investments in restoring Asian drylands and drought-prone areas with an initial 10 million ha target—launched at the 2022 World Forestry Summit by its founding partners and management team: the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO), Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), Global Evergreening Alliance (GEA) and IUCN. Meanwhile, AFR100 is a country-led initiative, championing over 100 million ha of restoration commitments and implementation across the African continent.

The side event will convene distinguished speakers who will discuss about (i) Asian and African experiences on landscape ecosystem restoration,  (ii) challenges and opportunities, and (iii) south-south and north-south cooperation for capacity building, policy support, resource mobilization, and joint advocacy.

By aligning with global initiatives such as  the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the G20 Global Initiative on Land, and the UNCCD CoP 16, this event aims to galvanize international support and commitment.  The outcomes of these discussions are expected to significantly contribute to shaping practical actions that reinforce the global momentum towards achieving land restoration and sustainable development goals. Focusing on the theme of ‘land restoration’, this side event will make a substantial contribution  to the CoP’s agenda on land. It will emphasize the  importance of multi-stakeholder partnerships, the strategic targeting of  actions and resources, and the mobilization of global funding support to restore and halt land degradation.

The side event will bring together senior government officials from the 16 LPA country partners in Asia, alongside senior African government officials, technical partners and supporters of LPA and AFR100 initiatives. This diverse and influential gathering will be instrumental in driving forward the COP's goals and ensuring that sustainable land management remains a global priority. 

Speakers:

• LIM Sang-seop, Minister, Korea Forest Service, Republic of South Korea
• Oyunsanaa Byambasuren, Director General, National Forest Agency of Mongolia
• Juliette Biao, Director, UN Forum on Forests Secretariat
• Muralee Thummarukudy, Director, G20 Global Initiative on Land
• Mamadou Diakhite, AFR100 Secretariat
• Park Chong Ho, Executive Director, AFoCO
• Christopher Armitage, Executive Director, Global Evergreening Alliance
• Leigh Winowiecki, Global Research Leader: Soil and Land Health, CIFOR-ICRAF
• Chetan Kumar, Global Head of Forest and Grassland Team, IUCN

Lead Organizers: ICRAF, AFoCO/LPA, AFR100