WOCAT Symposium and 18th Network Meeting, 13-18 June 2017, Cali, Colombia
The World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies programme (WOCAT) celebrated its 25th anniversary at CIAT in Cali, Colombia from 13-18 June. WOCAT is a global network of Sustainable Landscape Management (SLM) specialists, supporting innovation and decision-making processes in SLM by sharing and enhancing knowledge. ISRIC has actively contributed to the programme since its inception in 1992.
Fifty two participants from 24 countries attended the meeting which consisted of a 1 day Symposium, followed by the '18th WOCAT Network'meeting during which various national and regional institutions reported on their progress and experiences with the WOCAT tools and methods. During the last two days the Steering Committee (SC) met with the WOCAT secretariat and the 8 Consortium partners. The SC meeting focused on organisational and administrative matters of WOCAT, such as jointly developing SLM-related projects, role of the Secretariat (at CDE in Bern) and of the Consortium Partners, funding issues, and a communication strategy.
One important activity of WOCAT is the development of tools and methods that can contribute to assessing, monitoring and reporting of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) target of the UNCCD. Therefore, the focus of the Symposium and Network meeting was largely on presenting experiences showing how WOCAT contributes to the various SDG’s
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A one day field trip to the Hacienda El Congo, a large-scale farm some 60 km south of Cali, jointly run by several families, showed some successful SLM implementation and the practical application of WOCAT tools and methods.