Ana Di Pangracio works for the civil society group Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales or FARN which is concerned in initiatives to revive degraded land in Argentina.
She spoke to UN Information in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the place she was attending a UN convention (COP16) targeted on desertification, drought and land restoration.
UN Information/Daniel Dickinson
Ana Di Pangracio attends the COP16 desertification convention in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“We work within the Matanza Riachuelo basin which is a polluted space on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, which is house to round 4.5 million individuals, a lot of whom live in socio-environmental weak conditions or different tough circumstances.
Restoration actions embody planting native flora and eradicating non-native invasive species throughout some 4.5 hectares, in addition to constructing viewpoints and interpretative trails and cleansing up unlawful rubbish disposal.
A part of our work is bringing individuals, particularly younger individuals, to expertise this restored pure wetland.
Many stay shut by in very city, built-up areas and will come from difficult or violent environments however have by no means seen this land or had not even recognized of its existence.
Feelings and tears
Some are moved to tears after they expertise nature for the primary time of their lives.
We consolation them and inform them it’s OK to be emotional; I’m actually happy that they’re able to join with nature on this means, as I can see that our work is having a huge impact.
Some are moved to tears after they expertise nature for the primary time of their lives.
They inform their pals and lecturers concerning the expertise as properly and so we get extra guests.
There’s an academic ingredient to our work as we train the youngsters concerning the significance of defending wetlands but additionally the adjoining grasslands and native forest.
I’m a birdwatching lawyer, and though I’m no skilled, I get pleasure from displaying our guests my favorite chook, the carancho, which is a really intelligent and humorous chook which you’ll be able to see throughout Argentina, together with in city areas. It’s my technique to join with nature.
The popularity that the suitable to a wholesome atmosphere is a human proper underpins all of our work.
There’s a variety of land loss in Argentina, together with areas which have turn out to be degraded by drought. In 2020, we skilled a three-year-long drought, the worst in over 60 years. This had critical social and environmental impacts.
UN desertification convention
It’s vital to return to this convention of the UN Conference on Combatting Desertification (UNCCD) because it offers us the chance to interact with civil society constituencies and to think about the interface between nationwide and international coverage on a variety of points together with land restoration and biodiversity.
In case you imagine in multilateralism, you will need to be right here and civil society organizations (CSOs) could make a distinction.
It was the strain from CSOs which led to the inclusion of human rights and gender-focused components within the Biodiversity Conference and its lately adopted World Biodiversity Framework.
Within the UNCCD, the problem of land tenure, mirrored in COP choices, was additionally promoted by CSOs.
The UNCCD course of, and this COP16 isn’t any exception, does facilitate inclusivity, as CSOs are in a position to entry the plenary conferences and ship statements so we’re being listened to.
We’re aware that CSOs in different worldwide fora just like the UN local weather COPs shouldn’t have the identical degree of entry.
We’ve got obtained a grant from the G20 World Land Initiative and are presenting our work on the assembly in Riyadh. This assist will allow us to hold on our work within the Matanza Riachuelo basin.
I’m excited to provide extra younger individuals the chance to get pleasure from nature and for them to turn out to be the brand new guardians of wetlands and take the message again to their friends concerning the significance of preserving ecosystems for future generations.”
