[Risgchairs] IYRP Coalition urges countries to justly recognize rangelands and pastoralists

[Maryam Niamir-Fuller]

Dear IYRP RISG Coordinators and Chairs

The IYRP Working Group on Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), has been
working for the last year to provide sound guidance on the potential role
of pastoralism to fight land degradation and achieve the LDN targets set by
the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and Drought (UNCCD).

The main outcomes of this work is: “Global action for sustainable
rangelands & pastoralism to achieve LDN”, which is presented in two key
documents uploaded into our IYRP website that the group proudly want to
share with you:
• A 4-pages Policy Brief, to be downloaded either on high resolution 11 MB
<https://iyrp.info/sites/iyrp.org/files/IYRP_LDN_Policy_Brief%20high-res.pdf>
or low resolution 2 MB
<https://iyrp.info/sites/iyrp.org/files/IYRP_LDN_Policy_Brief%20low-res.pdf>
• A Working Paper collecting sound evidence behind the policy
recommendations, to be downloaded either on high resolution 8 MB
<https://iyrp.info/sites/iyrp.org/files/IYRP%20LDN%20Working%20Paper%20March%202024%20high%20res.pdf>
or  low resolution 2 MB
<https://www.iyrp.info/sites/iyrp.org/files/IYRP%20LDN%20Science%20Review_March2024r.pdf>

Your position as RISG chair allows you to contribute to the dissemination
and wide recognition of both documents, so we are kindly asking for your
help.
There are different ways to contribute to this task:

1. We have sent the information formally to the UNCCD Focal Points of those
countries that have supported or voted for IYRP2026 during the UN General
Assembly and FAO processes. These are official representatives of
governments to the UNCCD, as well as accredited Civil Society
Organizations. This email was sent through the IYRP gmail account signed by
IYRP Co-chair Igshaan Samuels on 6th May 2024 (see attached letters). The
name tag of that gmail account is "IYRP for a Sustainable Future".

*We would like your help for the following:*
*1. making sure that the email reached the intended audience*
a. Please check the attached list that contains the names and contacts of
all the UNCCD Focal Points that Igshaan has emailed to. If you think
corrections need to be made, please let Maryam Niamir-Fuller know and we
will resend the email. Please do NOT share this list widely , only with
those who need to know.

b. Please also check the following website from which the data on the UNCCD
Focal Points was extracted :
https://www.unccd.int/our-work/country-profiles/countries-per-annex-of-the-convention.
This is because not all of the CSO and Independent Experts were exported
into our list (there are simply too many in some cases). You might
recognize some and wish to forward Igshaan’s LDN letter to them. Please
note that the contacts are listed by region of the UNCCD not of our RISGs.

c. Please follow up within a week or so with the UNCCD Focal Points
individually to ensure that they have received our email because sometimes
it ends up in their spam folder. We also know that about 60 emails have
bounced back undelivered. It would be a good way for you to get to know
them if you do not already.

2. *Please consider inviting the CSO organizations in your region to be
part of your RISG,* if they are not already.

3. *Please also disseminate both papers among the RISG member*s and
encourage them to keep sharing them among their networks

4. *Collaborate in the translation of the Policy Brief to as many languages
relevant to your region as possible*. The Spanish version is uploaded into
the LDN Working Group's folder in the IYRP website. and the French, Russian
and Arabic versions are in preparation.

5. *Contribute to the social media dissemination*, sharing and amplifying
the messages released by the IYRP communication team on this. We aim to do
a major messaging campaign in early June to coincide with the 17th June
World Day on Desertification and Drought.

6. *Get back to the LDN WG with feedback* about where you disseminated the
documents and any technical comments received.

And of course, any other initiative that this work suggests you will be
more than welcome. Please, help us to deliver those critical messages.
All the best,

Maryam Niamir-Fuller on behalf of
The IYRP LDN Working Group

*...*...*...*
Dr. Maryam Niamir-Fuller

*Support the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists
2026  https://www.iyrp.info <https://www.iyrp.info>*
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