Ana Di Pangracio works for the civil society group Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales or FARN which is concerned in tasks 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 dwelling 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 can join with nature on this manner, as I can see that our work is having a big effect.
Some are moved to tears after they expertise nature for the primary time of their lives.
They inform their mates and academics concerning the expertise as effectively and so we get extra guests.
There’s an academic component to our work as we educate 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 take pleasure in exhibiting our guests my favorite fowl, the carancho, which is a really intelligent and humorous fowl which you’ll be able to see throughout Argentina, together with in city areas. It’s my solution to join with nature.
The popularity that the precise to a wholesome atmosphere is a human proper underpins all of our work.
There’s loads of land loss in Argentina, together with areas which have change into 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 provides us the chance to interact with civil society constituencies and to contemplate the interface between nationwide and international coverage on a variety of points together with land restoration and biodiversity.
In the event you consider 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 conscious that CSOs in different worldwide fora just like the UN local weather COPs shouldn’t have the identical stage of entry.
We’ve acquired 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 take pleasure in nature and for them to change into the brand new guardians of wetlands and take the message again to their friends concerning the significance of preserving ecosystems for future generations.”
