The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has launched the Silk Road Caravan, a transcontinental initiative aimed at protecting rangelands and promoting sustainable land management across Eurasia. The project will travel from Türkiye to Mongolia ahead of the UNCCD COP17 summit in August 2026.
The initiative, initiated under the framework of the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists 2026, seeks to draw global attention to the growing risks facing steppe, desert and dryland ecosystems, which are increasingly threatened by degradation, water scarcity and climate pressure.
The
Silk Road Caravan is focused on strengthening cooperation across Eurasian countries, bringing together communities, experts and researchers from China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, and Uzbekistan. The route spans the vast Eurasian steppes – the world’s largest continuous grazing ecosystem – stretching more than 8,000 kilometres from the Black Sea region to Northeast Asia.
The initiative builds on momentum created during the UNCCD COP16 conference in Riyadh, where participating countries adopted the organisation’s first dedicated decision on rangeland protection and sustainable pastoral development. The new journey is intended to transform those political commitments into practical international cooperation.
Throughout the expedition, filmmakers, scientists and local communities will collect stories and field research highlighting how traditional grazing systems contribute to food security, biodiversity preservation and climate resilience. Participants will explore environmental practices, traditional knowledge and modern scientific approaches to sustainable land management.
Experts involved in the programme stress that rangelands remain among the planet’s most undervalued ecosystems despite supporting nearly two billion people worldwide and playing a crucial role in water retention, soil fertility and carbon storage. Large areas of these landscapes are already experiencing degradation, threatening both rural economies and ecological stability.
“Rangelands cover more than half of the Earth’s land surface and support billions of people, yet in some regions are disappearing faster than rainforests. The Silk Road Caravan brings these landscapes and their stewards to the forefront of global attention, as we move from UNCCD COP16 in Riyadh to COP17 in Ulaanbaatar with a shared responsibility to restore land, build drought resilience and secure our common future,” stated Yasmine Fouad, UNCCD Executive Secretary.
The Caravan is also expected to strengthen cooperation among Eurasian countries on environmental governance, drought resilience and sustainable agriculture. Analysts believe the project could encourage future joint scientific initiatives, cross-border ecological monitoring systems and coordinated investment in land restoration technologies.
Its final stage will take place during COP17 in Mongolia, where the findings, experiences and proposals gathered throughout the journey are expected to contribute to new international frameworks on sustainable rangeland management and climate adaptation.
Earlier, BRICS countries
announced the launch of the BRICS Partnership for Land Restoration under the framework of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The initiative was discussed during the second meeting of the BRICS Working Group on Agriculture in Brazil, and is aimed at supporting soil conservation, restoring degraded ecosystems and promoting sustainable agricultural development through joint investment, scientific cooperation and the exchange of technologies adapted to the needs of Global South countries. The BRICS Partnership for Land Restoration estableshment was also enshrined in the
Joint Declaration of the BRICS countries.