Amid compounding threats of war, climate, and economic crisis, heads of state and representatives from over 190 countries gathered last week in Sharm El Sheikh, the Egyptian City of Peace, for the COP27 meeting, to push for faster and more ambitious climate action. During the meeting, the side event "Regional Actions to Address Land Degradation, Strengthen Climate Change Resilience and Food Security", jointly organized by PRIMA (Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area), UfM (Union for the Mediterranean), FAO (Food Agriculture Organization), and CIHEAM (International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies), added to the momentum to raise awareness, discuss funding opportunities, and monitoring of regional actions to address sustainable land and water management (SLWM). The main outcome of the side event was that reducing land degradation risks while increasing food security, improving livelihoods, and increasing natural and climate resilience, requires immediate action, investments, and wide stakeholder involvement.

 

During the Conference, PRIMA funded projects outlined how deploying innovative solutions and SLM in Mediterranean demo areas can help prevent desertification and restore drylands. Prof. Pandi Zdruli of CIHEAM Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari, Italy, showcased the PRIMA funded project REACT4MED ("Inclusive Outscaling of Agro-ecosystem Restoration ACTions of the Mediterranean, https://react4med.eu ). Researchers from The Cyprus Institute participate in the project by cooperating with communities in the Troodos Mountains on sustainable mountain agriculture.

 

The PRIMA REACT4MED Project, is funded by the PRIMA Programme (Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area), a European Union Programme supported by Horizon 2020, focused on building research and innovation capacities, and devising innovative solutions addressing critical problems in the fields of water management and agro-alimentary systems in the Mediterranean. The PRIMA REACT4MED consists of 11 partners (Universities, research institutes, and an SME) from countries cooperating with PRIMA (Greece, Italy, Germany, Cyprus, Israel, Spain, Morocco, Turkey, and Egypt). The Project is coordinated by the Hellenic Mediterranean University of Crete.

 

The "Regional Actions to Address Land Degradation, Strengthen Climate Change Resilience and Food Security" side-event was broadcasted online and is available on YouTube. For more information about the Project, please contact Christos Zoumides (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or the REACT4MED project office (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).