TERRASAFE
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desertificationeu.bsky.social
TERRASAFE
@desertificationeu.bsky.social
Research project empowering local communities to combat desertification across Southern Europe and North Africa. Co-funded by the EU and UKRI.
www.terrasafe.eu
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🌿 Introducing TERRASAFE

TERRASAFE is here to help communities confront #desertification

Watch our short, animated explainer to learn how we are working with landowners and local authorities across southern Europe and north Africa in our ambitious 5-year research project

▶️ youtu.be/m1Oa0NRDQTM
Combatting desertification: Introducing TERRASAFE
YouTube video by TERRASAFE EU
youtu.be
🌾 In Italy, desertification isn’t just about dry soil, it’s about empty villages.
As people leave for the cities, rural life fades and the land suffers.

To change this, TERRASAFE is testing two social innovations that reinvigorate rural communities:
November 11, 2025 at 12:39 PM
TERRASAFE has selected new and promising innovations to test across some of the most vulnerable landscapes in southern Europe and Tunisia. Together with local farmers, we are going to be learning what truly works to make land more resilient.

#desertification #soilscience
November 10, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Reposted by TERRASAFE
🌍 #CENTAUR joined the #EOTEC_DevNet Regional Meet-up on Drought Impact Monitoring!

Koen De Vos from #VITO presented CENTAUR’s approach to forecasting agricultural drought impacts, supporting anticipatory action on droughts through #HorizonEU research.

🔗 centaur-horizon.eu/news/centaur...
October 30, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Farmers in Spain are swapping almond trees for Carob, a hardy crop that thrives in drier climates and in the face of local desertification. 💧☀️

Francisco Pedrero, researcher at the Segura Centre for Soil Science and Applied Biology (CEBAS), tells us why in this video.

#HorizonEU #MissionSoil #Spain
October 27, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Reposted by TERRASAFE
🎴 Depopulation as a driver of #desertification with the loss of these people, we also lose knowledge of how to sustain vibrant agricultural landscapes.

Read these policy recommendations by @desertificationeu.bsky.social 👇
How can we reduce depopulation-driven desertification? Policy recommendations | TERRASAFE
terrasafe.eu
October 22, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Studying land productivity gives us a clearer view of desertification.

In our latest blog, Andreas Savvides & Adriana Bruggeman explain how watching productivity changes over time gives us a window into the health of ecosystems and farmland.

terrasafe.eu/2025/10/08/b...
October 18, 2025 at 10:33 AM
💧 This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry winners are responsible for incredible materials that can extract drinking water from dry desert air 🌵

A big congratulations to the scientists, Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson & Omar M. Yaghi, on their award!

More info: www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemi...
October 9, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Event: the International Conference on “Soil & Water Resources Management for Combating #Desertification in Drylands under Climate Change” (SWDCC2026) will be held in Djerba Island, Tunisia, 15-18 May 2026.

Submit your abstracts & register here: swdcc-conferences.com
October 1, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Murcia, Spain, is one of the driest regions in Europe. #Desertification leaves much farmland bare.

José Méndez & Juan Andrés are two of the farmers working with TERRASAFE researchers in the region. Here they explain what desertification means for them and other farmers in Murcia.

#HorizonEurope
September 24, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Reposted by TERRASAFE
🎴 Depopulation as a driver of #desertification with the loss of these people, we also lose knowledge of how to sustain vibrant agricultural landscapes.

Read these policy recommendations by @desertificationeu.bsky.social 👇
How can we reduce depopulation-driven desertification? Policy recommendations | TERRASAFE
terrasafe.eu
September 12, 2025 at 3:20 PM
🥗 4 food-related interventions could cut land degradation by over half.

That's according to a new analysis by TERRASAFE researcher Lindsay Stringer and colleagues.

🍉 Find out what the interventions are in TERRASAFE's latest blog: terrasafe.eu/2025/09/01/t...

#foodsystems #sustainablediet
September 8, 2025 at 7:58 AM
📖 Imagine visiting your local library and finding a whole section dedicated to desertification...

That's unlikely to happen. So, until then, we're proud to bring you the Desertification Learning Hub - your online library shelf of resources on this pressing topic: terrasafe.eu/desertificat...
September 2, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Reposted by TERRASAFE
🎴 Depopulation as a driver of #desertification with the loss of these people, we also lose knowledge of how to sustain vibrant agricultural landscapes.

Read these policy recommendations by @desertificationeu.bsky.social 👇
How can we reduce depopulation-driven desertification? Policy recommendations | TERRASAFE
terrasafe.eu
August 1, 2025 at 8:46 AM
🏃 We’re one step closer to testing innovations for combatting #desertification!

Throughout July and August, we’re meeting with community members to decide together which innovations to test on their land.

Here are some pictures of the meetings so far - in Spain, Italy and Cyprus.
July 22, 2025 at 10:05 AM
🍃 To breathe life back into land, you must first breathe life back into rural communities of southern Europe.

In our latest blog, Rosanna Salvia & Giovanni Quaranta offer 7 solutions to help break the vicious cycle between depopulation & desertification:

terrasafe.eu/2025/07/15/h...
July 16, 2025 at 11:22 AM
🎞️ Innovations for Tackling Desertification webinar: now online!

If you work in land management and/or climate resilience - our webinar will help you stay up to date with ways to prevent and reverse #desertification.

▶️ Watch the webinar now: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXie...
July 9, 2025 at 1:50 PM
"The passion and collaboration within TERRASAFE are inspiring. It's rewarding to be part of a project that values local voices and aims for real impact on the ground."

Check out EU Mission Soil's interview with @cachivers.bsky.social: lnkd.in/eQrQrDC8

We're delighted to be in their newsletter!
July 2, 2025 at 2:13 PM
How can we best measure the success of innovations tackling desertification across Europe and north Africa?

That’s one of the key questions project members explored during TERRASAFE’s 2025 plenary meeting held in May in Murcia, Spain.
June 26, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Reposted by TERRASAFE
Another key effort needed is greater engagement from stakeholders and to ensure that solutions to combat desertification are tailored to the local context.

📑 Read more in our @desertificationeu.bsky.social briefing on the rising threat of desertification ⤵️
The increasing threat of desertification to Europe - IEEP AISBL
The rising threat of desertification, likely to be exacerbated by increasing climatic and anthropogenic drivers in the future, requires immediate and comprehensive action to address it. In the EU, eff...
ieep.eu
June 17, 2025 at 6:08 AM
A huge congratulations to Lindsay Stringer for receiving an MBE!

Lindsay leads on stakeholder engagement for TERRASAFE. She was awarded the UK state accolade by King Charles III in recognition of her work on environmental development.

Read more >> terrasafe.eu/2025/06/17/t...
June 17, 2025 at 11:33 AM
We are pleased to announce Lindsay as the winner of the TERRASAFE photo competition. Congratulations!

Explore more about the TERRASAFE project here: terrasafe.eu
#photocompetition #desertification #soilhealth #missionsoil #horizoneurope #soil #soilmatters #learning #farming #drought
June 13, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Cartegena Desert: Photo competition!
We held a photo competition during our recent excursion to Cartegena, Spain, one of our pilot areas. Congratulations to Tom Timberlake, our third runner-up in the TERRASAFE photo competition.
June 11, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Cartegena Desert: Photo competition!
We held a photo competition during our recent excursion to Cartegena, Spain, one of our pilot areas. Congratulations to Martinho, our second runner-up in the TERRASAFE photo competition.
#ClimateCrisis #PhotoCompetition #Drought #Desert #HorizonEurope #TERRASAFE
June 10, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Congratulations to Marie, our first runner-up in the TERRASAFE photo competition.
Explore more about the TERRASAFE project and its innovative efforts to empower communities across Europe and North Africa in addressing the challenges of desertification: terrasafe.eu
June 9, 2025 at 12:44 PM
How do you fix a problem like #desertification?

Discover fresh solutions & approaches in our webinar: Innovations for tackling desertification

17 June 2025 | 10.00-1200 CET | FREE to register

▶️ Sign up here:
terrasafe.eu/event/innova...

And check out the line-up of great speakers below 👇
June 4, 2025 at 9:37 AM