Opening Ceremony: Contributing to Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) Target Setting by Demonstrating the LDN Approach in the Upper Sakarya Basin for Scaling up at National Level

The opening ceremony will be organized by FAO and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry under "Contributing to Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) Target Setting by Demonstrating the LDN Approach in the Upper Sakarya Basin for Scaling up at National Level" project which is financed by the GEF.

The project seeks to develop a model for land degradation neutrality (LDN) target-setting, planning and implementation in the Upper Sakarya Basin, which will eventually be scaled up to national level in line with Agenda 2030 and SDG Target 15.3.

Sustainable Land Management and Sustainable Forest Management practices lead the way to balance degradation at local level and increase ecosystem services, thus providing general resilience to the communities and the environment.

The Goals of the project are as follows:

• Capacity is built in communities and government institutions to address land degradation (cooperation & synergy)
• Global benefits are generated from improved: land cover, soil carbon stock and land productivity
• Livelihoods for local communities, climate resilience and biodiversity are increased