The National Strategy and Action Plan to Combat Desertification 2019–2030 establishes Türkiye’s national policy framework for combating desertification and land degradation during the 2019–2030 period. Prepared under the coordination of the General Directorate of Combating Desertification and Erosion, the Strategy updates the previous national framework in light of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Strategic Framework for 2018–2030 and Türkiye’s national Land Degradation Neutrality targets. Its overarching purpose is to provide a coordinated and strategic basis for measures against desertification and land degradation, while supporting Türkiye’s implementation of its international obligations under the UNCCD. The Strategy accordingly seeks to ensure that activities undertaken by different competent institutions are planned and implemented in an effective, coordinated and collaborative manner. The Strategy provides for a range of actions directed at preventing and reducing land degradation and strengthening the sustainable management, rehabilitation and protection of land resources. Within this framework, it brings together planned measures addressing desertification and land degradation and establishes a common basis on which responsible public institutions and other relevant actors can implement their respective activities. The policy approach also places the national response to desertification within the broader framework of Land Degradation Neutrality and seeks to align domestic measures with the objectives of the UNCCD. In operational terms, the Strategy is therefore intended not merely as a statement of environmental policy, but as a framework for coordinating the activities of different institutions whose mandates contribute to combating desertification and land degradation. The implementation is accompanied by an institutional monitoring, evaluation and reporting framework designed to track activities carried out under the national strategy and action plan. The National Strategy and Action Plan to Combat Desertification Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting System (ÇMUSEP İDRS) provides the mechanism through which relevant activities may be regularly monitored and evaluated, building on Türkiye’s established practice of collecting and assessing information on implementation of its desertification measures. This monitoring dimension complements the Strategy’s emphasis on inter-institutional coordination and provides a basis for assessing progress in implementing the actions contemplated by the national framework through 2030.
Türkiye · 2019-01-01