Svandís Svavarsdóttir umhverfisráðherra flutti eftirfarandi ávarp við útskrift Landgræðsluskólans 29. september 2011.

United Nations Land Restoration Training Programme
Graduation ceremony, 29. September 2011

Opening address by the Minister for the Environment, Svandís Svavarsdóttir

Dear program chairman, rector and program director,
Distinguished fellows,
Ladies and gentlemen:

It is a privilege for me to address this graduation ceremony of the United Nations Land Restoration Training program.

And it is an additional privilege when there is such an excellent group of capable fellows that have completed the program and are receiving their credentials here today.

Dear guests:

The subject of the Land Restoration Training Programme is of fundamental importance. We humans derive most of our subsistence and well being from the different attributes of land and inevitably, there is an emerging pressure on land based resources.

Sustainable land management has, however, proven to be a major challenge to most countries. Different processes of land degradation have been the outcome in many parts of the world - having severe impact on ecosystems and the services they provide – and are by that a seminal factor impacting people's livelihoods and well-being. It is not overstated to say, that land degradation is one of the key challenges facing mankind in order to achieve sustainable development.

Iceland has seen all aspects of land degradataion. On this volcanic northerly island with cold and windy climate, the 1100 years of human settlement took its toll on the terrestrial ecosystems - as society has derived most of its subsistence from land based activities during that period. In the beginning of the 20^th century, human induced land degradation was recorded on most of the Icelandic lands and almost all of its forests and woodlands were lost.

Over the past century, attempts have been made to gradually revert those processes - and efforts to address, halt and later revert land degradation and soil erosion. This journey - from the early work of the soil conservation pioneers around the year 1900 to the current achievement of making land reclamation a major national commitment with a widespread participation from all levels of society – is a remarkable story.

Although land governance is inevitable a country-specific and case-dependent issue, the story of combating land degradation in Iceland is of great relevance to much wider audience. Land degradation is currently such a threat in a range of countries - not least those developing or undertaking economic transitions.

The collaboration with the Land Restoration Training Programme does not aim for the provision of “silver bullets” towards universal solutions to land degradation issues. Nor do such “silver bullets” exist anyway.

The formal collaboration between Iceland and the United Nations University – by offering a capacity building programme within the field of land restoration - is seen as an instrument to share experiences of combating land degradation, and to advance sustainable land management. This successful program is now completing its fifth year and has already resulted in notable exchange and collaboration with institutions and experts from regions in Africa and Asia.

Our collective aim with this programme is therefore to make a change towards a better environment and to promote sustainable development.

Dear fellows:

or what I hope is now more appropriate to say after your completion of this program – Dear agents of change:

It is one of the main goals of this programme to see you returning to your home countries as agents of change. To make a change is not an easy assignment, but I really hope that your stay at the Land Restoration Training Programme for the last six months and the exchange that you have had - both with Icelanders and with your fellow participiants on the programme - has increased your capacity and further motivated you to become the much needed agents of change for development.

Through development we seek a world where human inequality, conflicts, environmental degradation and poverty have been substantially and reduced. It is not about a simple increase in material consumption, but about real and durable changes that enhance peoples capabilities and choices.

In this week we received the sad news that one of the key agents of change for better environment, gender equity and social justice – the Kenyan Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai – has passed away. Wangari Maathai - the first African woman to receive the Noble Peace price for her outstanding achievement – was a real agent for change. Let her engagement for a better environment continue inspire us.

I wish you all the best in your future endeavours.

Thank you,