UNCCD has already recognised the importance of secure land rights. Parties at COP17 must now move from decisions to delivery by embedding land rights into national plans, monitoring systems, tenure data frameworks and responsible investment strategies, with clear accountability for implementation and measurable progress.

Parties at COP17 should strengthen implementation of existing land tenure decisions and advance the use of land tenure data and indicators to measure progress.

Pastoralist mobility is not a problem to solve, It is a proven system for sustaining healthy rangelands, producing food, supporting livelihoods, restoring ecosystems and adapting to a changing climate. COP17 must recognise and protect the mobility rights of pastoralists as a non-negotiable foundation for resilient lands, livelihoods and food systems.

Parties at COP17 should recognise mobility as an adaptive and restorative practice and protect access to grazing lands and corridors.

Investors, donors and governments should support the people already restoring the land by linking restoration efforts to secure land rights, expanding direct access to finance, and ensuring meaningful participation in decision-making. Pastoralists, Indigenous Peoples, smallholder and family farmers, women and youth must be recognised as partners, not beneficiaries, in restoration.

Parties at COP17 should increase direct financing and decision-making power for local land stewards and their organisations.

The UNCCD has recognised women as critical stewards of land and natural resources and highlighted the need to protect women's land and resource rights.

Parties at COP17 must ensure that these rights are truly recognised through clear, measurable actions, especially at the national level. To support this, a dedicated, core-funded gender capacity must be appointed within the UNCCD Secretariat.

Successful restoration is not only about recovering ecosystems, but strengthening livelihoods, food security and local economies. COP17 should promote approaches that support pastoralists, Indigenous Peoples, and smallholder and family farmers as key actors in sustainable food systems, ensuring that restoration delivers benefits for both people and the planet.

Parties at COP17 should advance agroecology and other integrated approaches that deliver for food security, livelihoods and healthy ecosystems.