Land is life. Across Southeast Asia, from fertile fields to towering forests, healthy ecosystems underpin our region’s prosperity.
Yet land degradation and deforestation have also eroded these foundations, threatening our food security, clean water, and the stability of communities.
This is why the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030) is so important. It calls on governments, businesses, and citizens to revive the world’s degraded landscapes.
As a UNCCD Land Hero, I have seen firsthand how this global vision can take root at the local level.
At Masungi Georeserve in the Philippines, we have spent years working with communities to restore threatened watersheds. What was once barren and stripped bare has slowly become a haven again for wildlife—a living testament to the power of community-led rewilding.
But we’ve also realized that it’s not simply about planting trees. It’s about safeguarding the land itself, the very ground on which our ecosystems stand.
When we care for the land and soil—through responsible land use and smart agriculture—we can restore ecosystems cheaper and faster. Healthy soils capture carbon, regulate water, and nurture diverse life. This approach also tackles the difficult problems right below our feet, connecting ecosystem health to peace and governance.
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) reminds us that nearly half of the world’s productive land is degraded. For Southeast Asia, this silent crisis is already manifesting in floods, droughts, and food insecurity. But there is hope: Ecosystem restoration can turn this tide.
Restoring degraded land can generate up to $1.5 trillion in economic benefits globally every year, according to UN estimates. Closer to home, reforestation and nature-based solutions offer countries in our region a triple win: protecting biodiversity and natural resources, building climate resilience and disaster risk reduction, and creating green jobs and inclusive growth.
