UNCCD's Land for Life Award
The Land for Life Award of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is designed to reward impactful holistic approaches and practices that address the ecological and the social aspects of sustainable land management as a means of achieving land degradation neutrality.
The Award is given to most diverse changemakers engaged in land restoration and conservation through exemplary and innovative initiatives. Beyond creating a positive impact on land, past winners have been recognized for their positive influence on individual lives, communities and society at large.
2021 is all about healthy hand, healthy lives
The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has revealed and exacerbated social inequalities together with health and economic threats. It has also confirmed that sustainable development is impossible without proper governance of nature’s resources as a foundation for resilient socio-economic progress.
“Healthy Land, Healthy Lives” emphasizes the vital connection between all living creatures and nature. Healthy ecosystems provide food, water and medicine. They absorb carbon, mitigate climate change and drought, prevent desertification, floods and landslides. With humans dependent on nature, sustainable land management can directly contribute to achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): end poverty (SDG1), zero hunger (SDG2), good health and well-being (SDG3), clean water and sanitation (SDG6), responsible consumption (SDG12), climate action (SDG13), as well as life on land (SDG15) to improve food security, protect healthy environment and secure livelihoods. The UNCCD vision is to create a new social contract for nature to protect healthy land and the people.
This year’s theme invites recommended candidates to reflect on land as part of the solution, during and after the COVID-19 crisis for a green and sustainable recovery. Potential candidates are called to share their stories and actions of combating land degradation and desertification or mitigating the effects of. Recommended candidates will be asked to highlight how their social, economic and ecological spheres of life affect each other. They will highlight how their actions improve our relationship with nature and promote well-being of their communities.
Nominated projects can be at various implementation stage and form, including start-ups, youth-led businesses or well-established organizations, as long as they can clearly include social activities that lead to the sustainable restoration and preservation of ecosystems before, during and after the pandemic.
Read more here about the selection criteria, the prize as well as about the submission process.