Siberian Wellness Shares Its Land Restoration Experience in Uzbekistan at the UN Conference to Combat Desertification

On August 20, the Yielding to Nature roundtable discussion took place in Ulaanbaatar during the 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (COP17). The conference focused on market incentives for achieving land degradation neutrality and the role businesses can play in combating desertification. The event was organized by the Company’s partner, the Nature and People Foundation. There, experts proposed the creation of an international certification system for land degradation neutrality. Siberian Wellness shared its experience of bringing degraded land back to life through the NamAgroTech project.

Land degradation is one of the biggest environmental and economic challenges of the 21st century. It has a direct impact on food security, the availability of natural resources, supply-chain resilience, and the quality of life of millions of people. Supporting land restoration is therefore both an environmental responsibility and a strategic priority for business. The Nature and People Foundation proposed forming a multilateral working group to develop a voluntary certification system for Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN). The initiative covers creating a framework standard, establishing independent verification procedures, and testing them on pilot projects.

"Companies are currently among the largest consumers of land resources. Despite a call to invest in nature, business needs a practical mechanism to turn environmental results into a verifiable economic asset. The Nature and People Foundation suggests that international voluntary Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) certification can serve as this tool," - explained Sergey Rybakov, Director General of the Nature and People Foundation, - "Land degradation neutrality indicators should be applied not only to international obligations but also down to individual operations and supply chains. Such a system must verify tangible results: Preventing new degradation, reducing impacts, and restoring land. This will enable companies to enter premium eco-sensitive markets, mitigate risks associated with green investments, and obtain measurable metrics for ESG goals, using principles of forest certification, adapting its approaches to arid and steppe ecosystems."

Following the roundtable discussion, the Foundation will prepare a set of proposals reflecting the participants’ collective consensus and submit them to the UNCCD Secretariat. Since 2024, the Nature and People Foundation has been the only Russian NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) accredited with the Convention.

At the event, Siberian Wellness also presented its six-year experience of restoring degraded land in Uzbekistan. Through the NamAgroTech project, the Company transformed stone heathland into a productive 1,200-hectare orchard with 500,000 trees sourced from nurseries in Uzbekistan, France, Spain, Australia, and the United States. The orchard already produces a yearly harvest of 2,500 tons.

A full production cycle – from raw ingredients to finished products – wouldn't happen without one essential thing: Water. Severe water scarcity became a challenge the Company had not faced before. Its own water management system was therefore developed from scratch for the project. It includes multi-source water intake to ensure a stable water supply in arid areas, as well as reservoir storage with a capacity of 182,000 cubic metres, helping to mitigate risks during periods of drought. In addition, drip irrigation is used to deliver water directly to plant roots and minimize losses through evaporation. This approach is not simply about saving water – it is a tool to combat desertification through smart water management to support soil restoration.

"For six years, our global team under the NamAgroTech project has been implementing a full-cycle initiative in Uzbekistan. It covers every stage: Restoring degraded land, growing raw materials, and processing them into finished products with zero waste. We support the development of land stewardship certification because we possess unique expertise in soil restoration, see both environmental and commercial value in it, as well as believe in the importance of independent assessment of business contribution to land conservation. Degradation is reversible. We have demonstrated this through the NamAgroTech project in Uzbekistan. Certification is our next step to prove it on a larger scale," said Ksenia Esina, Chief Operating Officer at Siberian Wellness, and Head of Operations at NamAgroTech.

The event was also attended by representatives of Mongolia's National Organizing Committee for COP17, the Bureau of the Central Asia – Russia Interregional Group under the UNCCD, the National Responsible Governance Association (Russia), the National Conservation Agriculture Movement Non-Profit Partnership, and more.