Mongolia-led project to tackle land degradation, as UNCCD COP17 approaches

Led by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as the GEF Implementing Agency, and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change of Mongolia as the GEF Executing Agency, the UNCCD Mongolia COP17 Legacy Project will receive USD 3.2 million in GEF funding alongside USD 8 million in co-financing.

“Rangelands and grasslands sustain the livelihoods, cultures and resilience of millions of people, yet they remain underrepresented in global environmental governance and investment. By increasing structured investment and connecting the knowledge and experience of people on the ground with policy and institutional frameworks, the Mongolia COP17 Legacy Project can deliver lasting benefits for people, nature and climate. IUCN is committed to working with policymakers, communities and practitioners to address land degradation and advance sustainable rangeland management during the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists and beyond,’ said Chetan Kumar, Head of the Forest and Grassland Team at IUCN.

The Mongolia COP17 Legacy Project aims to kick-start transformative action to address land degradation at national and global scales, by building a global coalition and investment pipeline for long-term sustainable rangeland management. The project will benefit at least 5,000 people, for example supporting civil society organisation, Indigenous Peoples and local community, youth and pastoralist representatives to attend COP17, as well as facilitating regional and global dialogues and South-South learning visits.

Rangelands and pasturelands cover approximately 54 per cent of the world's land surface and support the livelihoods of over 500 million people working in livestock herding and crop cultivation globally. 

However, up to half of all rangeland areas show signs of declining productivity, with degradation accelerating under the combined pressures of climate change, overgrazing, extractive industries, infrastructure expansion, and insecure land tenure. Despite these issues, rangelands receive a disproportionately small share of global land restoration and climate finance.

The project has four components, to address land degradation:

1. Engaging governments, civil society, pastoralist organisations, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and scientists as partners in the COP17 Presidency;
2. Catalysing investment in rangeland restoration;
3. Strengthening global knowledge, outreach and coordination using an open knowledge platform and guidelines; and 
4. Structured South-South cooperation to ensure the amount of healthy, productive land remains stable or increases (known as land degradation neutrality) and on rangeland management across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

As a result of this project, land degradation policies and institutional frameworks will be strengthened across Mongolia and partner dryland countries, integrating traditional pastoralist knowledge and improving South-South knowledge exchange. The project also aims to secure increased investment commitments for sustainable rangeland management.

The project puts into action the theme of COP17, “Restoring Land, Restoring Hope”, as highlighted at a joint briefing by the Embassy of Mongolia in the United States, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change of Mongolia, and IUCN, at the Embassy of Mongolia in Washington, DC. This work builds on the partnership between IUCN and the Government of Mongolia, which was formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2025.

This project is part of nearly US$23 million funding that GEF has approved for projects implemented by IUCN across Asia, Africa and the Pacific.

Learn more about IUCN’s work on drylands: Drylands and land degradation | IUCN