Innovative grassroots organizations restoring land awarded USD395,000

July 1, 2025

A woman digs into the soil to plant a sapling.

Photo credit: UNCCD/G20 Global Land Initiative

In a decisive step to reverse land degradation, 39 land restoration projects led by grassroots organizations have been awarded USD 395,000 through the inaugural Small Grants Programme of the G20 Global Land Initiative (GLI), a flagship initiative of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

Drawn from 22 countries, the winning projects were selected for their innovation, impact and sustainability. Over 650 organizations from more than 100 countries applied for the award. The winners were selected following three rounds of review by separate UNCCD staff teams, with varied expertise in land management and restoration.

Awardees will receive between US$5,000 and US$15,000 to fund grassroots efforts that boost local economies, improve food and water security and strengthen ecosystem resilience.

The announcement was livestreamed at an event showcasing the grant winners.

The Small Grants Programme is an important tool for achieving the G20 GLI’s mission of reducing degraded land by 50 percent by 2040.

“We are aware that these big numbers, cannot be achieved by small initiatives alone. Yet, we feel, it is important that tens of thousands of small actors, engaged in land restoration around the world, be supported, promoted and recognized,” Dr. Muralee Thummarukudy, Director of the G20 Global Land Initiative, said during the award ceremony.

Special priority was given to organizations accredited to UNCCD and to projects empowering Indigenous Peoples, youth, women and the elderly.

The programme was set up in 2024 to support community-level non-profit organizations worldwide.

By directly supporting civil society and grassroot actors, these grants will generate measurable progress across global restoration priorities, such as soil fertility enhancement, forest regeneration, sustainable agriculture, agroecology and ecosystem-based adaptation.

Beyond reclaiming land, the projects are enhancing livelihoods, strengthening community climate resilience, and fostering social enterprise and eco-preneurship.

“When we do these small grants program, it is not just about the grant. It’s about the network which we create and the visibility it provides — both for those within it and those outside who can benefit from their knowledge and experience,” Thummarukudy added.

Three of the highest-scoring projects were showcased at the UNCCD Conference of the Parties held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in December 2024, to highlight their potential for scaling and replication across regions.

Winners will also be showcased at select high-level events in the future.

The G20 GLI is committed to inclusive and continuous engagement, and is exploring future collaboration opportunities for the applicants not selected in this round.

Stressing that “this is just the beginning, this will be an annual process, the next cohort is about to start,” Dr Thummarukudy invited community organizations doing land restoration to apply to join the network because both “big and small” [efforts] are important.

The second call for applications will open in 2025 with increased funding and expanded support for grassroots restoration efforts worldwide.

Innovative community-led restoration initiatives are essential for creating green jobs, especially for youth and women.. The awards provide support that can transform restoration into a catalyst for economic opportunity and sustainable environmental management.

Examples of selected 2024 grantees include:

Legacy of War Foundation (Rwanda), which will restore six hectares of degraded soil while empowering 90 women as landowners of fully organic cooperative farms. By integrating climate-smart and artisanal farming methods, the project aims to improve soil fertility and agricultural resilience in post-conflict rural communities.

Up2Green Foundation (India) is restoring mangroves and riverbanks in Tamil Nadu, India. The project is reforesting 60 hectares and planting 15,000 fruit trees, enhancing biodiversity, strengthening coastal resilience for flood prevention, and training local communities in sustainable agroforestry practices.

Sustainability and Environmental Studies Endeavor (Nepal) is working to restore ecological balance along the mythological Nagaraj Trail. By revitalizing degraded farms, wetlands and forests using nature-based solutions, the project promotes nature-inclusive agriculture and convivial conservation approaches.

About the G20 Global Land Initiative

The G20 Global Land Initiative was launched in 2020 under the Saudi G20 Presidency. Hosted by the UNCCD, its ambition is to reduce degraded land by 50 percent by 2040. By showcasing land restoration, empowering civil society, engaging the private sector and building capacity, G20 GLI is driving restoration to scale and energizing a restoration economy. The Small Grants Programme is a key component of this vision, empowering civil society to restore degraded lands and promote sustainable land management at scale.

Facts and Figures

A grant pool of US$395,000 in total will be given away
Three categories of awards for the 2024 round: US$5,000, US$10,000 and $US15,000
673 organizations from 100 countries applied for the award
Thirty-nine organizations from 22 countries were awarded
US$15,000 will go to 14 winners
US$10,000 will go to 12 winners
US$5,000 will go to 13 winners
Location of the winners: 5 per cent Europe; 15 per cent Asia and Pacific; 21 per cent Latin America and the Caribbean; 59 per cent Africa
Ecosystems benefitting from the grant: Tropical Rainforests, Agricultural Land, Freshwater Ecosystems, Wetlands, Grasslands, Urban Land, Savannas, Deserts, Alpine Ecosystems.
The 2025 round to be launched soon will have increased funding and expanded support.

About the Small Grants Programme

An initiative of the G20 Global Land Initiative
Launched in 2024 with the second round starting in 2025
Empowers civil society organizations by
1. Recognizing and Rewarding innovative community-led initiatives
2. Increasing the visibility of community-led initiatives
3. Inspiring community-led organizations to join forces to share ideas and learn together and from each other
Three rounds of review by separate UNCCD staff teams, with diverse expertise in land management and restoration, selected the winners.

About the G20 Global Land Initiative (g20land.org)

Set up in 2020 by G20 Countries, the world’s largest economies, during the Saudi Arabia Presidency
Ambition: a 50 percent reduction of degraded land by 2040
Location: hosted by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
Focus: Four activities that help to protect and conserve land and restore degraded areas
1. Showcase best practice and lessons learned
2. Build capacity across all countries and organizations
3. Empower civil society organizations
4. Engage the private sector
Priority land systems: All types of ecosystems
Uniqueness: focused on scaling land restoration and making restoration a profitable economic activity
Approach to work: collaboration and synergy with existing restoration initiatives; developing cutting-edge approaches and pathways to restore land.

For project information contact:

Joann Lee, jlee@unccd.int

For media related questions contact:

Wagaki Wischnewski, wwischnewski@unccd.int

Director's Message

The year 2024 was pivotal for the Global Land Initiative. Land degradation and restoration remained prominent on the global policy agenda throughout.

The UN Environmental Assembly, G7 Leaders’ Summit, G20 Environment and Climate Change Ministers’ meeting, and BRICS Leaders’ Summit addressed land degradation and committed to scaling up land restoration efforts.

The European Union passed a new Restoration Law mandating quantitative targets for land restoration. The UNFCCC, UNCBD and UNCCD Conferences of the Parties (COPs), held during the last quarter of the year, reinforced land restoration as a crucial solution to combat land degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change.

Building on this favorable policy momentum, the Global Land Initiative continued to develop and deliver a robust program. In collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), we completed a database on Global Restoration Commitments by countries under the UNCCD, UNCBD, UNFCCC and the Bonn Challenge.

Representing a significant increase in global commitments since 2021, the total global commitment now stands at 1.2 billion hectares, with 30 countries, including 11 G20 members, pledging to restore over 10 million hectares each.

The UNCCD, with financial support from the Global Land Initiative, published the first global restoration economy international report, titled, Investing in Land’s Future: Financial needs assessment for UNCCD. The report defines the private sector’s growing role in land restoration and its potential for creating green jobs.

The study outlines key recommendations to support the growth of the restoration economy, which has an associated market survey valued at $37 billion globally, growing at 8.2% annually and is projected to reach $70 billion by 2031. Together, these studies stressed the need for focused policy action to encourage private sector investment and engagement in the restoration economy.

Working with the International Trade Centre (ITC), the Global Land Initiative launched the first cohort of the “Global Ecopreneurs Program,” training 100 young entrepreneurs from restoration startups. These entrepreneurs received training on improving business plans and pitching to investors. We plan to scale this program regionally to reach 10,000 ecopreneurs by 2029.

Training remained a cornerstone of the Global Land Initiative, with programs on the restoration of mining areas, of urban lands, of lowland-based systems, of drylands and with biosaline agriculture. These trainings consistently attracted more applications than available slots. To accommodate this high demand and broader participation, we also conducted online webinars on these topics, in English, Arabic and French.

The first University Curriculum Course on Sustainable Agriculture for Land Restoration was launched this year. It reached over 400 university teachers, with over 100 trained on implementing the curriculum. A university module on urban land restoration is in its final stages.

Representatives from 25 countries attended the second Global Changemaker Academy for Parliamentarians held in Bonn. With the European Union Restoration Law’s passage, global best practices can now be discussed and adapted to national contexts.

The Global Land Initiative’s visibility surged with participation in the G20 Environment and Climate Change Working Group meetings in Brazil, the COPs of the UNCBD and UNCCD and 7 other international exhibitions. In December, the Initiative, in partnership with Germany’s Federal Museum of Arts and Sciences, opened the Save Land: United for Land Museum Exhibition, the first museum exhibition on land restoration, which will run until June 2025.

Online engagement grew, reaching over 35,000 newsletter subscribers and over 14,000 followers across social media platforms, and a global reach of nearly 400,000. The Global Photography Festival, which attracted 17,000 entries from 154 countries, further boosted visibility.

The Global Restoration Information Hub was launched in July 2024. It is a compilation of globally available data on land restoration from credible sources. The site provides information on global best practices, restoration commitments, best practice legislations, documentaries, restoration actors and other databases.

The Initiative issued a global call for communities and NGOs to submit their restoration projects for small grant support, receiving over 600 submissions from 100 countries. Forty-one projects from XX countries were selected for funding.

[Statement on faith, if the faith report is finalized]

The G20 Global Land Initiative Steering Committee was kept informed of developments through regular communication. It met in July and continues to provide guidance on program implementation. It received the work plan for 2025-26; an exciting period of action is ahead.

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