Photograph: ©FAO

Ankara – The annual reporting system training on Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) organized within the scope of the National Strategy and Action Plan To Combat Desertification, took place this year in partnership with FAO and the General Directorate for Combating Desertification and Erosion (ÇEM), under the LDN Upper Sakarya Basin project.

Sara Marjani Zadeh, FAO Land and Water Officer, opened the training session by explaining that “within the context of Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), Turkey aims to maintain and increase the amount of healthy and productive land resources in line with national development priorities. Turkey has actively been combating land degradation for many years as one of the leading countries in international initiatives related to LDN approaches”.

Zadeh then explained the purpose of the event: “As you know, the defined actions and indicators in the National Strategy and Action Plan for Combating Desertification (CMUSEP) incorporate an LDN approach. ÇEM has developed a web-based Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (IDR) system to effectively collect and report on the regular activities of all institutions and organizations involved in CMUSEP. The IDR system is used actively in both reporting and LDN-related capacity building. In this context, it is designed to carry out capacity-building activities with the participation of decision-makers, technical personnel, non-governmental organizations and all stakeholders, including the private sector. Today, we are very happy to present training on this system together with the General Directorate for Combating Desertification and Erosion (ÇEM).”

Derya Polat, Head of Department at the General Directorate for Combating Desertification and Erosion, elaborated on the mission and main objectives of ÇEM, highlighting efforts to combat desertification; avoid, reduce or reverse land degradation and minimize the effects of drought; develop innovative methods and encourage participation at all levels. In this context, she explained, “we would like to thank all institutions who have contributed to this process with regular reporting and data entries. I believe that this meeting, as every year, will be very useful for reporting within the scope of the national strategy and action plan.”

The event continued with a presentation on project activities made by Sibel Nihal Tekin, National Coordinator of the LDN Upper Sakarya Basin Project, who explained how the project contributes to the National Action Plan. During the training session, international project consultant Ingrid Teich delivered detailed presentations on the LDN approach and LDN monitoring, and provided information on the Decision Support System developed within the scope of LDN Upper Sakarya Basin Project and how it can be used to report on LDN.

In the second half of the training session, ÇEM experts Nur Aslihan Karaman and Zehra Kavakli Karatas provided more detailed information about CMUSEP and the reporting framework, and explained how to enter data into the IDR system. The training session ended with a question and answer session.