TERRASAFE

INNOVATIONS FOR EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES IN
EUROPE & NORTH AFRICA TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION

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WHAT IS OUR OVERARCHING GOAL?

The overarching goal of TERRASAFE is to significantly empower local communities in southern Europe and northern Africa to confront the growing threats of desertification, particularly accelerated by climate change. This will be achieved by co-developing, co-implementing, co-assessing cost-effectiveness, co-demonstrating, co-disseminating, and co-promoting the widespread adoption of nature-based, technological, and social innovations for land degradation prevention and restoration.

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TERRASAFE on the global stage at UNCCD CoP 16

TERRASAFE on the global stage at UNCCD CoP 16

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) held its 16th Conference of the Parties (CoP 16) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 2nd to 13th December 2024. These global political discussions brought together representatives from the European Union and all...

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TERRASAFE hosts training workshop in Cyprus

TERRASAFE hosts training workshop in Cyprus

During November 2024, we brought together a group of interdisciplinary desertification experts from Cyprus, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Tunisia, and The Netherlands for a TERRASAFE EU WOCAT-QM Training Workshop at The Cyprus Institute! WOCAT-QM is an evaluation...

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Our Project

Desertification, as defined by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), is the degradation of land in drylands caused by factors such as climate variations and human activities. In Southern, Central, and Eastern Europe, about 25% of the land is highly or very highly vulnerable to degradation. This vulnerability is expected to worsen with future climate change and continued pressures from current land use practices.

Land degradation varies greatly depending on the specific contextt, so solutions to prevent and reverse it must consider local social, economic, environmental and political conditions.  In a multi-actor stakeholder approach TERRASAFE will actively involve local communities of landowners and other stakeholders in decision-making processes on viable desertification prevention and restoration measures.  This collaborative approach, supported by scientifically sound and robust tools and guidelines tailored by the local communities to their specific circumstances, will enhance desertification resilience and lead to transformative positive impacts.

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Italy
ITALY

ITALY PILOT AREA

Land abandonment and depopulation

Romania
ROMANIA

ROMANIA PILOT AREA

Vegetation decline

SPAIN
SPAIN

SPAIN PILOT AREA

Water Scarcity

TUNISIA
TUNISIA

TUNISIA PILOT AREA

Soil degradation through salinization

CYPRUS
CYPRUS

CYPRUS PILOT AREA

Soil degradation through soil organic matter decline

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Pilot Areas

TERRASAFE is working in 5 pilot areas which represent the full range of major desertification types and also cover a wide range of land cover and management systems. The principal desertification threats that the pilot areas cover are:

Italy

land abandonment and depopulation

Romania

Vegetation
decline

Spain

Water
scarcity

Cyprus

Soil degradation through soil organic matter decline

Tunisia

Soil degradation through salinization

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