1st International Conference on Land Degradation and Restoration.
Valencia, July 20th – 26th, 2026
About the conference
Land degradation is a major global challenge that threatens food security, biodiversity, water quality, and human livelihoods. It results from both human activity and natural processes, and its impacts are felt from local to continental scales.
Restoring degraded land is essential not only for environmental sustainability but also for social and economic development. Land restoration enhances ecosystem resilience, improves soil health, supports biodiversity, and strengthens climate adaptation strategies.
This international event aligns with global initiatives such as the UNCCD, SDG 15.3, the Bonn Challenge, and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, and supports the European Research and Innovation Strategy (Horizon Europe).
Programme (IN PROGRESS)
Dear Participant/organizer of the LDR Conference in València,
Dear Colleague,
The SEDER (Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Group) at the Universitat de València has been working intensively to prepare the scientific programme for the 1st International Conference on Land Degradation and Restoration (LDR Conference 2026).
Following the abstract submission deadline on 5 July 2026, we received 423 abstracts. After the scientific review and programme organization process, 321 high-quality research abstracts were accepted for presentation.
Some colleagues did not indicate their preferred presentation format (oral or poster) or whether they would participate in person or virtually. Therefore, we kindly ask you to review the attached programme and verify that your name and presentation have been assigned to the appropriate session and presentation format. Please let us know if you require any changes or adjustments.
Please note that the scientific programme is still being finalised and is updated daily in response to participants’ requests. The final version will be also published here. Thank you for your patience and understanding!
To develop the scientific programme, abstracts were initially assigned according to the authors’ preferred scientific sessions. Sessions with fewer than four oral presentations were merged into the Miscellaneous Scientific Session, as a minimum of four oral presentations is required to complete an oral session.
The conference will be held over three scientific days (Monday 20th to Wednesday 22nd July 2026), with four parallel rooms, followed by four days of field excursions (Thursday 23rd to Sunday 26th 2026).
Poster presentations will be displayed in the Rachel Carson Hall, located on the first floor of the Faculty of Geography and History. Poster sessions will take place daily at 18:30, accompanied by light refreshments and networking opportunities. Please find attached two sketches of the venue layout for your reference.
Registration will open daily at 08:00 on the first floor of the Faculty of Geography and History and will remain available throughout the whole day to facilitate the distribution of the conference bag. Do not forget your T-shirt and cap.
Each morning will begin with keynote lectures from 08:30 to 10:00, focusing on current advances and emerging challenges in land degradation and restoration research. All keynote lectures will be held in the Alexander von Humboldt Plenary Hall (400 seats).
Parallel scientific sessions will take place in the Aldo Leopold Hall, George Perkins Marsh Hall, and John B. Thornes Hall.
A coffee break will be served from 11:00 to 11:30 in the Faculty Restaurant on the ground floor.
Lunch will be available from 13:00 to 14:00, also in the Faculty Restaurant. The restaurant offers a spacious self-service dining area together with a reserved section for conference participants (approximately 60 seats). The café of the canteen will remain open from 09:00 to 16:00 each day and serves excellent coffee.
The afternoon programme will continue with keynote lectures from 14:00 to 15:00, followed by parallel scientific sessions from 15:00 to 18:00. The daily programme will conclude with the poster session and networking reception from 18:30 to 20:00, where participants will have the opportunity to enjoy local wines, extra virgin olive oil, tomatoes, and other regional products while discussing their research in an informal atmosphere.
To facilitate scientific interaction and networking among all participants, including those attending virtually, we have created a dedicated WhatsApp group. It will also be useful for sharing practical information during the conference and your stay in Valencia. We encourage you to ask for access contacting artemio.cerda@uv.es
We will also use LinkedIn to disseminate conference news, highlight scientific activities, and share photographs before, during, and after the meeting.
Conference LinkedIn page:
Personal LinkedIn profile:
We look forward to welcoming you to Valencia. During the coming week, you will receive updated versions of the scientific programme together with additional practical information about the conference.
We are confident that the conference will provide an excellent opportunity for scientific exchange, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the development of new international research initiatives.
With our best regards,
Keynote Speakers
María José Marqués
“Soil Management under Water Limitation: Lessons from On-Farm Studies in Mediterranean Vineyards and Olive Groves”.
Arash Malekian
“Integrated Watershed Management: A key point for sustainable management of land and water resources“.
Gerd Lupp
“The Socio-Cultural Dimension of Landscape Restoration”.
José Rodríguez
“From Degradation to Resilience: Optimising Water Management for Dryland Wetland Restoration”.
Cristina Branquinho
“Let It Grow or Help It Grow? The importance of microclimate for restoration in drylands”.
Patricia Saco
“Predicting coastal wetland resilience to climate and human pressures”.
Fernando Valladares
“The fate of the humankind. A biophysical, social and económic approach to undestand the land degradation processes”.
Yakov Kuzyakov
“Humankind as the 6th Soil-Forming Factor and Soil Degradation under Agropedogenesis”.
Adel Sepehr
“When Ecosystem Flickers? Early Warning Signs and the Path to Riverine and Riparian Restoration and Rehabilitation”.
Sergio Vicente
“Climate Aridification processes: from regional to global scales”.
Purushothaman Chirakkuzhyil Abhilash
“The Strategies for Restoring Global Land During the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration (UN-DER)”.
Benukar Biswas
“Vegetation Planning and Nature-Based Solutions for Land Degradation Restoration”.
Rattan Lal
“Agriculture as the solution. The fate of the planet is the fate of the soil”.
Organization
Artemi Cerdà
Full professor in Physical Geography. Department of Geography. Valencia University
Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Group (SEDER)
Learn more
Artemi Cerdà has been studying the human impact on the planet since 1989.
His studies on soil erosion and degradation across five continents have led him to develop a comprehensive view of the human role in the Earth system.
His work on agricultural and forest soils demonstrates the degradation induced by human activity and the need for soil and ecosystem restoration to achieve sustainability.
An editor of scientific journals (>30), prolific author of scientific papers (>500), highly cited (>40,000 citations), research project coordinator (>20), and international conference organizer (>50), he dedicates his research to field and laboratory work that allows us to understand the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, especially Mediterranean ones, where human activity has been going on for millennia .
Jesús Barrena González
Associate profesor. Department of Geography. Valladolid University
Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Group (SEDER)
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Jesús Barrena González has been analyzing the interrelationships between land use, environmental heterogeneity, and soil sustainability in Mediterranean environments since 2018.
His work aims at examining the effects of grazing intensity and landscape configuration on the spatial distribution of soil properties and ensuing ecosystem functions.
Through large-scale field campaigns, geospatial modelling, and machine learning approaches, he seeks at elucidating the ways in which soil quality can be preserved in the face of rising environmental pressures.
With over 30 scientific communications in various conferences—including 14 in JCR-annotated publications—and international collaborations in Europe and Latin America, his research advocates scientifically grounded sustainable land management.
Jesús is immensely committed to science-informed environmental conservation and soil protection, particularly in agroforestry systems where ecological resilience and traditional knowledge intersect.
Both as a scientist and as a scholar, he actively engaged in public outreach, scientific education, and international collaboration for terrestrial ecosystem conservation.
Ying Zhao
Distinguished Professor of Soil Physics and Hydrology. School of Hydraulic and Civil Engineering. Ludong University, China
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Ying Zhao has investigated how water moves through and transforms soils for more than two decades. Trained across China and Germany, he integrates field observation, laboratory analysis, and numerical simulation to illuminate soil hydrological processes, frozen soil hydrology, and soil–plant interactions.
His work advances soil reclamation and remediation and supports sustainable land and water management in cold and seasonally frozen environments.
A prolific scholar (>200 journal articles; >150 indexed in SCI), he has also authored five book chapters, translated three books, and holds >20 patents. According to Google Scholar, he has an h‑index of 60 and >10,000 citations.
His contributions have been recognized with prestigious fellowships, including the Max Planck Fellowship (Germany) and the JSPS Fellowship (Japan), alongside multiple talent programs in China.
He serves the scientific community as Associate Editor for Vadose Zone Journal and Land Degradation & Development, on the Editorial Advisory Board of Soil & Tillage Research, and as an editor for Water; he regularly reviews for >20 peer‑reviewed journals and participates in international scientific committees, including ISTRO.
Saskia Keesstra
Senior Researcher Climate Kic Foundation. The Netherlands.
Senior researcher Wageningen Environmental Research
Chair and Founder of TERRAenVISION Foundation.
Learn more
Saskia’s main research focus revolves around holistically understanding land system dynamics by incorporating both processes in soils and landscapes as well as the socio-economic elements of the land system. Process knowledge enables explanation of the impact of natural (climate change, fire regimes) and human drivers (land and water management, policy and governance) on the soil and landscape system, and which consequences these drivers have for water and sediment connectivity, climate resilience, and mitigation. Improved understanding of the soil, sediment, and water dynamics will empower sustainable land and water management and mitigate threats like soil erosion, off-site water and sediment accumulation, wildfire threats, and with the help of nature’s forces (NBS), and are embedded in society.
Working together with stakeholders (farmers, industry, and policymakers) to find solutions is essential, as only then can we find usable, acceptable tools for sustainable land and water management to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Specific attention lies with resilient soils (through soil carbon sequestration and enhancing soil biodiversity), (bio)diverse and culturally rich landscapes; to achieve the goals related to climate adaptation and mitigation, land and water sustainability.
Scientific committee
- 1 Ademir de Oliveira Ferreira, Laboratory of Soil Management and Conservation. Departamento de Agronomia, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Brazil ademir.oliveiraferreira@ufrpe.br
- 2 Ataollah Kavian, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Iran a.kavian@sanru.ac.ir
- 3 Anna Brook , University of Haifa, Israel abrook@geo.haifa.ac.il
- 4 Ali El-Keblawy, University of Sharjah, UAE akeblawy@sharjah.ac.ae
- 5 Antonio J. Manzaneda, Universidad de Jaén, Spain amavila@ujaen.es
- 6 Anna Klamerus, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Poland anna.klamerus-iwan@urk.edu.pl
- 7 Artemi Cerdà, Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Team Universitat de València, Spain artemio.cerda@uv.es
- 8 Bořivoj Šarapatka, Palacky University Olomouc, Czech Republic borivoj.sarapatka@upol.cz
- 9 Calogero Schillaci, Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Ispra, Italy calogero.schillaci@ec.europa.eu
- 10 Attila Çiner, Director, Eurasia Institute of Earth Sciences, Istanbul Technical University (ITU) cinert@itu.edu.tr
- 11 Cristina Branquinho , Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal cmbranquinho@fc.ul.pt
- 12 Diego Garagaño, Spanish Geological Survey, Spanish National Research Council (IGME-CSIC), Spain d.baragano@igme.es
- 13 Dani Or , University of Nevada Reno, USA dani.or@env.ethz.ch
- 14 Daphne López , Universidad de Valladolid, Spain daphne.lopez@uva.es
- 15 Dara Park, Clemson University, USA darapark@gmail.com
- 16 Eshan Moradi, National Forest Centre. Slovak Republic eh.moradi64@gmail.com
- 17 Elouali Aailal, National School of Business and Management (ENCG) of Dakhla, Morocco eloualiaailal@desertexpertise.com
- 18 Elton Lima, Research Centre for Architecture, Urbanism and Design (CIAUD), University of Lisbon, Portugal elton.lima@edu.ulisboa.pt
- 19 Tianjiao Feng, School of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, China fengtianjiaobest@sina.cn
- 20 Fernando Maestre, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia fernando.maestregil@kaust.edu.sa
- 21 Gerd Lupp, Technical University of Munich: Munich, Bavaria, Germany gerd.lupp@tum.de
- 22 Hosein Azadi, Department of Geography, Ghent University, Belgium hossein.azadi@ugent.be
- 23 Hamid Reza Pourghasemi, Department of Soil Science, College of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran. hr.pourghasemi@shirazu.ac.ir
- 24 Jasper Knight, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa Jasper.Knight@wits.ac.za
- 25 Jesús Barrena, Department of Geography, Universidad de Valladolid, Spain jesus.barrena@uva.es
- 26 Jesús Rodrigo-Comino, EGEMAP. Unversity of Granada. Spain jesusrc@ugr.es
- 27 Jian Liu NIBIO, Norsk institutt for bioøkonomi, Norway jian.liu@nibio.no
- 28 José Múñoz-Rojas, Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, University of Évora, Portugal jmrojas@uevora.pt
- 29 José Luis Rubio, Honorary President of World Association of Soil and Water Conservation – WASWAC, Spain jose.l.rubio@uv.es
- 30 José Rodriguez Newcastle University, Australia jose.rodriguez@newcastle.edu.au
- 31 Juan García Duro, Universidad de Valladolid, Spain juan.garcia.duro@uva.es
- 32 Juan Pedro Martín-Sanz , Instituto Madrileño de Investigación y Desarrollo Rural, Agrario y Alimentario (IMIDRA), Spain juanpedro.martin@madrid.org
- 33 Kantoush Sameh, Water Resources Research Center – Disaster Prevention Research Institute. Kyoto University, Japan kantoush.samehahmed.2n@kyoto-u.ac.jp
- 34 Yakov Kuzyakov , Dept. of Soil Science of Temperate Ecosystems and Dept. of Agricultural Soil Science. University of Goettingen. Germany kuzyakov@gwdg.de
- 35 Lea Wittenberg, University of Haifa, Israel leaw@geo.haifa.ac.il
- 36 Leonor Calvo, Department of Ecology, University of León, Spain leonor.calvo@unileon.es
- 37 Lixin Wang, Indiana University Indianapolis, USA lxwang@iu.edu
- 38 Mehdi Rahmati , Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH: Jülich, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany m.rahmati@fz-juelich.de
- 39 Muhammad Saqib, Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences. University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan m.saqib@uaf.edu.pk
- 40 Marc Oliva, Research Group on Antarctic, Arctic and Alpine Environments (ANTALP). Department of Geography, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain marcoliva@ub.edu
- 41 Martina Sartori, European Commission Joint Research Centre, Brussels, Belgium martinapaola.sartori@gmail.com
- 42 Matías E. Mastrangelo , Unidad Integrada Balcarce INTA – UNMdP, Argentina matias.mastrangelo@dir.iai.int
- 43 Mª Helena Guimarães, MED – Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development, Portugal mhguimaraes@uevora.pt
- 44 Miodrag Zlatic, Ex President of World Association of Soil and Water Conservation –WASWAC miodrag.zlatic@sfb.bg.ac
- 45 Mulatie Mekonnen, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia mulatiemekonneng@gmail.com
- 46 Nigussie Haregeweyn, Tottori University, Japan nigussie_haregeweyn@tottori-u.ac.jp
- 47 Ning Duihu, President of World Association of Soil and Water Conservation (WASWAC) ningdave@foxmail.com
- 48 Carmen Orts, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias, Spain orts.mca@gmail.com
- 49 Pandi Zdruli , CIHEAM Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari, Italy pandi@iamb.it
- 50 Panos Panagos , Join Research Centre of the European Unión, Italy Panos.PANAGOS@ec.europa.eu
- 51 Pasquale Borrelli, Roma Tre University, Italy & University of Basel, Switzerland pasquale.borrelli@uniroma3.it
- 52 Patricia Saco, University of Technology Sydney & The University of Newcastle, Australia Patricia.Saco@uts.edu.au
- 53 Purushothaman Chirakkuzhyil Abhilash, Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development, Banaras Hindu University, India pca.iesd@bhu.ac.in
- 54 Primitiva Andrea Mboyerwa, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania primitivaandrea@yahoo.com
- 55 Rachid Mrabet, National Institute of Agricultural Research, Rabat, Morocco rachid.mrabet@inra.ma
- 56 Rocio Millán, CIEMAT Centro Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas, Spain rocio.millan@ciemat.es
- 57 Roey Egozi , Soil Erosion Research Station,Israel roey@volcani.agri.gov.il
- 58 S.H.R. Sadeghi, Tarbiat Modares University, Iran sadeghi@modares.ac.ir
- 59 Saeedreza Moazoni , Department of Reclamation of Arid and Mountainous Regions, University of Tehran, Iran saeedreza.mo@gmail.com
- 60 Saskia Keesstra, Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands saskia.keesstra@gmail.com
- 61 El Sayed El Habbasha, National Research Centre, Egypt sayedhabasha1@gmail.com
- 62 Sheikh Adil Edrisi , School of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, India sheikhadil.edrisi@thapar.edu
- 63 Sinan Demir , Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Faculty of Agriculture, Isparta University of Applied Sciences, Türkiye sinandemir@isparta.edu.tr
- 64 José Damián Ruiz Sinoga , Soil and Geomorphology Lab. University of Málaga sinoga@uma.es
- 65 Sergio Vicente Serrano, Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología, CSIC, Spain svicen@ipe.csic.es
- 66 Tassos C. Kyriakides, Yale Center for Analytical Sciences, USA tassos.kyriakides@yale.edu
- 67 Fernando Valladares, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Spain valladares@mncn.csic.es,
- 68 Vicente Andreu ,Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación, Spain vicente.andreu-perez@uv.es
- 69 Xiangming Xiao, School of Biological Sciences. University of Oklahoma, USA xiangming.xiao@ou.edu
- 70 Xiaofeng Ren, Gansu Qilian Mountain Forest Ecosystem of the State Research Station, Zhangye, China xiaofeng_r@126.com
- 71 Xueyu Geng , School of Engineering. The University of Warwick, United Kingdom Xueyu.Geng@warwick.ac.uk
- 72 Xingliang Xu, Institute of Geographic Sciences, and Natural Resources Research, China xuxingl@hotmail.com
- 73 Ying Zhao, College of Hydraulic and Civil Engineering, Ludong University, China yzhao@ldu.edu.cn
Technical Secretariat
- Ana Pérez Albarracín – SEDER Group, University of Valencia (ana.perez-albarracin@uv.es)
Be part of the 1st International Conference on Land Degradation and Restoration.
Valencia, July 20th -26th, 2026.
Venue
Facultat de Geografia i Història. Universitat de València. Blasco Ibáñez 28, 46010 Valencia, Spain.
The underground station “Facultats” is at the doors of the venue and conect you to the airport (30´) and city centre (10´). Valencia is well connected to Madrid and Barcelona via train, bus and airplane
Sponsors
