28 November, 2022, Sede Boqer campus, lsrael

The 8th International Conference of Drylands, Deserts and Desertification, DDD was held in the Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in lsrael from November 27 to December 1, 2022.

The conference aimed to be a global effort towards ecosystem restoration. Currently drylands cover over 47% of all terrestrial areas and are home to over 2 billion people. Climate change, land degradation, and
desertification present an unprecedented threat to terrestrial areas in general and specifically to drylands,
with far-reaching environmental, social, and economic consequences.

Despite the importance of dryland ecosystems, current knowledge and research efforts are still limited.
During the DDD conference, round-table discussions were organized between the representatives of 9
institutes from 5 different Countries that devote their research to drylands.

During the round-table discussions, the Global Network of Dryland Research Institutes (GNDRI) identified that desertification is a major contributor to climate change, biodiversity loss, poverty, and food insecurity.

GNDRI, as a network of institutions, recognized the critical contributions that can come from cross-institutional knowledge exchange, the promotion of international, multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research, on drylands, and the transfer of knowledge to civil society, policy-makers and practitioners.

GNDRI is therefore committed to the creation of an active and inclusive “Drylands Network”.

Here you can read the full text of: GNDRI Declaration 2022-11-28