Nairobi, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) issued a communiqué in Nairobi, Kenya, on Feb. 13 that seven initiatives from Africa, Latin America and South Asia have been awarded the title of "United Nations World Ecological Restoration Flagship Project" in recognition of their positive role in restoring damaged ecosystems.
The communiqué said that the initiatives, which cover multiple ecosystems that are at the threshold of complete degradation due to wildfires, drought, deforestation and pollution, will be eligible for technical and financial support from the United Nations.
The seven initiatives, including forest restoration in the Mediterranean, Indus River Valley restoration, Andean forest conservation, and mangrove belt conservation in Sri Lanka, are expected to restore ecosystems on nearly 40 million hectares of land and create about 500,000 jobs.
Inge Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said the winning initiative shows how people can live in peace with nature and put local communities at the centre of restoration efforts, while still creating new jobs.