Sugiero la lectura del siguiente artículo, sobre todo para aquellos que están trabajando en zonas desérticas: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024EF005565

Saludos

𝑨𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 19𝒕𝒉 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔: 𝑼𝑵𝑪𝑪𝑫 𝑪𝑳𝑷𝒔 𝑯𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚-𝑫𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝑰𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒐𝒊𝒍 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏

I had the honour of representing the UNCCD Community of Learning and Practice (CLPs) at the 19th World Water Congress, organized by the International Water Resources Association (IWRA) and held in Morocco from 1–5 December 2025.

On December 2nd, I presented a scientific poster entitled “Employment Intensive Investment Programme (EIIP) Strategy and Cooperatives for Water and Soil Conservation.” This innovative approach highlights how community-driven mechanisms, supported by adapted financial and cooperative models, can significantly strengthen water resource management and soil conservation efforts.
The presentation generated strong interest and sparked rich exchanges with international experts, practitioners, and development partners.

Beyond the poster session, I participated in several side events focused on:
🔹 Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)
🔹 Innovation in water policies
🔹 Smart and efficient irrigation
🔹 Nature-based solutions for water and land resilience

I also had the opportunity to visit the Moroccan Water Museum, an insightful experience that provided a deeper understanding of the country’s hydrological history, current challenges, and long-term strategies for sustainable water management.

This participation proved extremely enriching. It strengthened technical knowledge, facilitated new collaboration opportunities, and highlighted the importance of community-based innovation for protecting water and soil resources, promoting sustainable development, and advancing resilience in the context of climate change.

MENA is turning to AI and digital innovation to enhance water reuse

IWMI’s e-ReWater MENA brought together experts to assess how AI and digital innovation can drive smarter, scalable water-reuse solutions across the region.
See the link: https://www.iwmi.org/multimedia/mena-is-turning-to-ai-and-digital-innov…

From last week to date, we have welcomed 11 new members into the Africa CLP, the highest intake we have recorded in recent months. This is a positive milestone and a sign of growing engagement across our community.
We warmly welcome all new members on board and encourage you to explore the various functions of the CLP portal, participate in discussions, and make full use of the resources available.
Let us keep the momentum going and continue strengthening our collective learning and collaboration.

Thank you!

Great Green Wall in China -- I'm sharing a video titled "How China turned the desert into green forests" with an impressive story about ecosystems transformation with a large-scale master-planned forestation over vast desert lands to combat desertification in China. I've learned a bit more everytime when I read info about this "Great Green Wall" project, and hope you'll enjoy this one. I'm spreading it as part of my actions to take part in the UN World Soil Day 2025. The link goes: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/how-china-turned-the-desert-into-g…

Great Green Wall in China -- I'm sharing a video titled "How China turned the desert into green forests" with an impressive story about ecosystems transformation with a large-scale master-planned forestation over vast desert lands to combat desertification in China. I've learned a bit everytime when I read info about this "Great Green Wall" project, and hope you'll enjoy this one. I'm spreading it as part of my actions to take part in the UN World Soil Day 2025. The link goes: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/how-china-turned-the-desert-into-g…

Innovative Drought Resilience Efforts in Burkina Faso

The presentation highlights practical and adaptable approaches implemented in Burkina Faso to strengthen resilience to drought, improve water management, and support farming and pastoral communities. It showcases innovative techniques, community-led actions, and lessons learned that can inspire wider adoption in drought-prone regions.
This contribution, presented at CRIC23 as part of the side event " Farmer and pastoralist-centric solutions to managing droughts and safeguarding livelihoods" highlights collective efforts toward sustainable land management and drought management, as well as the innovations undertaken to address these challenges.
Please find below the PowerPoint document of the presentation.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1wObPP1cyUQj9ib5n-TLmB6HgZjoBYHo…

From Local Workforce to Resilient Landscapes: EIIP Strategy and Cooperatives against Desertification

This presentation explores how community-based approaches and labour-intensive methods contribute to building climate-resilient ecosystems. It highlights the role of the Employment-Intensive Investment Programme (EIIP) and the strengthening of local cooperatives as essential pillars for combating land degradation and desertification with an innovation financial tool.

Through practical field experiences, the document showcases how mobilizing local workforce, restoring degraded lands, and enhancing community ownership can generate lasting environmental, social, and economic benefits. The presentation is shared as part of the Side Event: “Money Meets Resilience: Innovative Finance Pathways for Drought Action,” contributing insights on how locally driven solutions can be supported and scaled through innovative financing mechanisms.
Please find below the PowerPoint document of the presentation.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1j6L-X-ddKRP9T_4KQoF4niAnLseI1Id…

SKYWARN actions kickoff on Skywarn Recognition Day 2025
Today, December 6, is the SKYWARN Recognition Day (SRD) in the US. While the NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS) cancelled the SRD 2025, as a registered Official Skywarn Spotter and a SciStarter participant in the SKYWARN citizen science project stationed at the Arcadia Ecohome in the foothill community of Arcadia, California, I'm taking on a weeklong voluntarily sky-watch of the San Gabriel Mountains, a desert mountain range just north of Arcadia, as part of my actions to take part in the celebrations of both the 2025 SRD on December 6, the first Saturday of December, and International Mountain Day on December 11, along with reporting and advocacy activities such as this writeup. Monitoring the sky over desert mountains in Southern California where unusual winter wildfires have occurred in recent years, such as the devastating ones in January 2025, driven by extreme drought and heat after wet years and strong Santa Ana winds, is becoming critical in the era of climate new normal with hazardous windstorms and firestorms for our attentions and actions as members of the Skywarn Weather Spotters Network and the Fire Adapted Communities Network (FAC Net).

SKYWARN actions kickoff on Skywarn Recognition Day 2025 --
Today, December 6, is the SKYWARN Recognition Day (SRD) in the US. While the NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS) cancelled the SRD 2025, as a registered Official Skywarn Spotter and a SciStarter participant in the SKYWARN citizen science project stationed at the Arcadia Ecohome in the foothill community of Arcadia, California, I'm taking on a weeklong voluntarily sky-watch of the San Gabriel Mountains, a desert mountain range just north of Arcadia, as part of my actions to take part in the celebrations of both the 2025 SRD on December 6, the first Saturday of December, and International Mountain Day on December 11, along with reporting and advocacy activities such as this writeup. Monitoring the sky over desert mountains in Southern California where unusual winter wildfires have occurred in recent years, such as the devastating ones in January 2025, driven by extreme drought and heat after wet years and strong Santa Ana winds, is becoming critical in the era of climate new normal with hazardous windstorms and firestorms for our attentions and actions as members of the Skywarn Weather Spotters Network and the Fire Adapted Communities Network (FAC Net).

Soil properties and soil biodiversity play significant roles in land degradation, especially in arid regions. Today is the UN World Soil Day (WSD) 2025 themed "Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities”. As an urban farmer and a USEPA recognized Qualify Water Efficient Landscaper (QWEL) working at the Arcadia Ecohome’s micro-agroforest, a Certified Bee Friendly Farm and a listed Climate Victory Garden, located in the arid Southern California, I’ve registered a local event with FAO to support the global celebrations of WSD. Our key actions taken today is focused on improving soil properties and biodiversity to combat land degradation with actions to add organic matters from fallen leaves, tree trimmings & food wastes to the forest floor through composting so as to enhance the soil sponge’s functions of taking and keeping moisture from cool night dews, to harbor a bio-diversified forest-floor inhabitants such as insects, earthworms & microbes who contribute to build healthy soils, to induce root growth for reducing soil erosion, and to minimize green & food wastes generated in urban areas to be hauled to remote desert landfills. The photo taken today (sorry, cannot be uploaded) shows sheet composting of fallen leaves all over the forest floor, pile composting of twigs & branches by tree roots and an in-ground composting of kitchen wastes, all for building healthy soils by nature-based solutions. I’m sharing what we do at CIEDM with our networks, especially my follow members in the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Communities of Learning and Practice, as part of our grassroots actions in social media campaign for WSD.

Soil properties and soil biodiversity play significant roles in land degradation, especially in arid regions. Today is the UN World Soil Day (WSD) 2025 themed "Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities”. As an urban farmer and a USEPA recognized Qualify Water Efficient Landscaper (QWEL) working at the Arcadia Ecohome’s micro-agroforest, a Certified Bee Friendly Farm and a listed Climate Victory Garden, located in the arid Southern California, I’ve registered a local event with FAO to support the global celebrations of WSD. Our key actions taken today is focused on improving soil properties and biodiversity to combat land degradation with actions to add organic matters from fallen leaves, tree trimmings & food wastes to the forest floor through composting so as to enhance the soil sponge’s functions of taking and keeping moisture from cool night dews, to harbor a bio-diversified forest-floor inhabitants such as insects, earthworms & microbes who contribute to build healthy soils, to induce root growth for reducing soil erosion, and to minimize green & food wastes generated in urban areas to be hauled to remote desert landfills. The photo (sorry, cannot be uploaded) taken today shows sheet composting of fallen leaves all over the forest floor, pile composting of twigs & branches by tree roots and an in-ground composting of kitchen wastes, all for building healthy soils by nature-based solutions. I’m sharing what we do at CIEDM with our networks, especially my follow members in the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Communities of Learning and Practice, as part of our grassroots actions in social media campaign for WSD.