Land Restoration, Afforestation & Desertification Program Management Training Course

Course Overview

Learning Objectives

• Explain the drivers and processes of land degradation and desertification in arid environments, including erosion, salinization and overgrazing.
• Distinguish restoration, rehabilitation, reclamation, afforestation and reforestation within Land Degradation Neutrality.
• Relate restoration programs to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and national and regional greening initiatives.
• Assess degradation with land cover, land productivity and soil organic carbon indicators, remote sensing and field diagnosis.
• Prioritize restoration sites by degradation severity, recovery potential, water availability, cost and social value.
• Select native species and seed sources suited to drought, heat and salinity, and plan nursery production.
• Design water-efficient establishment using water harvesting, drip irrigation, mulching and planned weaning from irrigation.
• Plan rangeland rehabilitation and sand dune stabilization through grazing management and biological and mechanical fixation.
• Build community and partner programs that share benefits and secure long-term protection of restored land.
• Specify contractor requirements, quality controls and aftercare duties that protect survival after planting.
• Design credible monitoring of survival, vegetation cover, biodiversity and carbon.
• Prepare a restoration program delivery plan with phasing, budget, risks, indicators and reporting lines.

Who Should Attend

Learning Outcomes

• Explain how degradation and desertification develop on a specific site and what reverses them.
• Use restoration terminology precisely when setting program objectives and reporting results.
• Link a restoration program to Land Degradation Neutrality and national greening initiatives.
• Diagnose a degraded site using satellite data, field evidence and soil indicators.
• Rank candidate sites and justify the restoration approach chosen for each.
• Prepare a native species palette and nursery plan matched to site conditions.
• Calculate a water budget for establishment and plan the transition away from irrigation.
• Propose grazing management and sand stabilization measures for degraded rangeland.
• Design partnership and community arrangements that sustain care of restored land.
• Draft contract clauses that tie payment to survival and aftercare performance.
• Set up survival, vegetation cover, biodiversity and carbon monitoring with credible methods.
• Produce a restoration program delivery plan ready for management approval.

Course Outline