Ulaanbaatar, August 24 (QNA): Represented by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MECC), the State of Qatar is participating in the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), taking place in Mongolia’s capital city.
COP17 is seeing broad participation from State Parties, representatives of international and regional organizations, and stakeholders involved in combating desertification, land degradation, and drought.
Assistant Undersecretary for Protection and Natural Reserves Affairs at MECC, Dr. Ibrahim Abdul Latif Al Maslamni, chaired the State of Qatar’s delegation.
The event is addressing priority issues, most notably restoring degraded land, achieving land degradation neutrality, strengthening resilience to drought, and managing land and rangelands sustainably. It is also focusing on enhancing the role of science, data, and modern technologies in supporting the implementation of the UNCCD’s objectives.
Qatar’s participation reaffirms Doha’s commitment to the Convention’s objectives and aligns with national efforts to protect land and natural resources, combat desertification, and preserve biodiversity, in accordance with the Qatar National Vision 2030 and the Third National Development Strategy.
During the event, Qatar will highlight national efforts and initiatives in protecting and rehabilitating terrestrial ecosystems, restoring and rehabilitating ‘rawdas’ and rangelands, developing vegetation cover using native plant species, and controlling invasive plant species.
Qatar will also showcase the use of geographic information systems and modern technologies to monitor and assess land condition and vegetation cover, while stressing international cooperation, knowledge exchange, capacity building, and science- and innovation-based solutions to combat land degradation.