13 September 2018

PSI Conference: Landscape restoration & migration in Africa

This is a public event organised by NLandscape and the Clingendael Institute. For further information and registration click here.

For the African continent, the ability to manage trade-offs at a landscape scale has huge potential to influence the future of migration and conflict, as well as the future of land resources, food security, and biodiversity. Integrated land management can act as an accelerator for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and can be considered an essential element of a sustainable strategy to address the root causes of irregular migration. A Marshall Plan for sub-Saharan Africa and the Sahel should, therefore, include the potential of landscape restoration approaches to achieve multiple wins while taking into account its long-term effects and short- and medium-term risks.

This meeting will discuss a new report by the Planetary Security Initiative that aims to assess, by setting out a stakeholder mapping, to what extent landscape restoration initiatives (potentially) address migration and security objectives in Africa. The issue of land degradation and restoration is receiving increasing attention from policymakers with regard to addressing the root causes of migration. Landscape restoration initiatives in Africa have political momentum, with African political leaders endorsing restoration initiatives such as the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100) and the Great Green Wall Initiative. Africa is particularly vulnerable to land degradation, with desertification affecting around 45 percent of Africa’s land area.

Programme:

14:30  Coffee/tea
15:00  Short introduction on the report by Louise van Schaik, Head Clingendael Sustainability Centre
15:15  Response by Nathalie Lintvelt, Head of Unit Migration and Development, MFA
15:25  Response by Barbara Bendandi, Coordinator Tripple S Initiative, UNCCD
15:35  Roundtable discussion with Chris Baker, Programme Head Water Resources, Wetlands International
16:50  Closure followed by drinks

The event will be moderated by André Brasser of NLandscape Platform.

At: The Clingendael Institute, Clingendael 7, 2597 VH The Hague