On April 28-29, ELD's Scientific Advisor and Working Group member Richard Thomas led the two-day training for the GRÓ Land Restoration Training Programme at the Agricultural University of Iceland for the 4th time. It is a UNESCO-affiliated initiative designed to strengthen institutional capacity in developing countries affected by severe land degradation.
Amongst others, Richard Thomas introduced the concepts behind the valuation of ecosystem services, the ELD 6+1 methodology and cost-benefit analysis.
The 21 fellows in the course hail from Benin, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Uganda, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan. They used examples from their own environments to explore the valuation of ecosystem services, the usage of cost-benefit analysis and, as a new introduction to the course, undertook an exercise in identifying strategies for financing land restoration activities from public, philanthropic and private sectors.
The ELD teaching in Iceland is part of a long standing collaboration between the ELD Initiative and GRÓ-LRT. Hence, ELD thanks GRO-LRT‘s Director, Dr. Sjöfn Vilhelmsdóttir and Project manager, Gunnhildur Guðbrandsdóttir for the excellent arrangements and we look forward to continuing collaboration.
Richard Thomas has a long affiliation with ELD, currently being a member of the ELD Working Group as well as ELD's Scientific Advisor.
Learn more about GRÓ-LRT.