17 February 2026 – UN recognition highlights momentum in spekboom restoration across South Africa’s semidesert Karoo.
South Africa’s long-term efforts to restore degraded landscapes in the semidesert Karoo region are gaining renewed international attention after the United Nations Environment Programme recognised spekboom restoration as part of its World Restoration Flagship initiative under the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
This article by Joe Walsh for Mongabay, outlines how planting spekboom – a resilient indigenous succulent – is central to rehabilitating soil, rebuilding biodiversity and supporting community livelihoods across landscapes that suffered extensive degradation from historical overgrazing. Government programmes dating back to the early 2000s, alongside more recent private and community-led efforts, have helped expand restoration activities.
This UN recognition is seen as a boost for scaling up restoration, attracting investment, and strengthening collaborative action to transform degraded Karoo land into healthier ecosystems that benefit both nature and people.
Last modified: February 23, 2026
