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From rehabilitating degraded land to creating value from underused biomass, bio-based innovation is helping communities build healthier ecosystems and stronger local economies. As the world marks the Desertification and Drought Day under the theme Rangelands: Recognize. Respect. Restore, CBE JU-funded projects are demonstrating how the bioeconomy can support ecosystem restoration and rural development.
Covering more than half of the Earth's land surface, rangelands provide food, water regulation, carbon storage and habitats for countless species. They also support the livelihoods of around two billion people worldwide. However, up to half of the world's rangelands are currently degraded or at risk, threatening biodiversity, climate resilience, food security and rural prosperity. Addressing these challenges requires innovative approaches that combine ecological restoration with sustainable economic opportunities. Across Europe, CBE JU funded projects are demonstrating how bio-based solutions can contribute to healthier landscapes, more resilient rural communities and sustainable resource management.
Empowering rural communities
The RuralBioReFarmeries project is helping establish small-scale, decentralised biorefineries that enable farmers and rural communities to process locally available biomass into valuable products. This model strengthens regional value chains, reduces dependency on external inputs and creates new income opportunities in rural areas.
We are working to demonstrate new approaches for sustainable grassland valorisation. Using our green biorefinery approach we can achieve a higher level of utilisation from each hectare of grassland, producing not only cattle forage, but additional protein concentrates for animals and humans, as well as high value ingredients, bioenergy and biofertilisers. This approach can generate new revenue streams for farmers while also improving local resilience and cut GHG emissions. This helps reduce land pressure and degradation associated with dedicated protein crop production in the EU and globally.James Gaffey, Project Coordinator for Rural BioReFarmeries
By promoting sustainable biomass utilisation and supporting regional development, Rural BioReFarmeries contributes to more resilient landscapes and communities, an essential component of long-term land restoration efforts.
Restoring degraded land through wildflowers
Cardoons, a plant native to the Mediterranean, grows spontaneously in Sardinia and thrives on uncultivated soils without the need for irrigation, while providing a natural anti-erosion effect, protecting the soil from degradation and successfully readapting harsh territories.
The FIRST2RUN flagship showed how these drought-tolerant crops can be cultivated on marginal land not suitable for food production, turning underutilised or degraded areas into productive assets. The project linked rural land use with industrial processing, enabling the production of renewable feedstocks for a range of bio-based applications while supporting new business opportunities in rural areas. Implemented at a repurposed biorefinery in Porto Torres, Sardinia, the project also contributed to the regeneration of a former petrochemical site and the establishment of an integrated agro-industrial model rooted in the local territory.
Through the integration of low-input crop cultivation, cascading biomass use and industrial-scale processing, FIRST2RUN demonstrated how bio-based solutions can simultaneously support land restoration, improve resource efficiency and foster rural development in regions increasingly affected by drought and land degradation.
From residues to restored landscapes
The pHYBi project is developing bio-based solutions that transform underutilised biomass streams into high-value products by creating new value chains from agricultural and forestry residues. The project enables the use of degraded, contaminated or saline soils by converting them into productive areas for cultivating resilient, non-food plant species such as poplar, birch, willow and hemp. Their approach combines phytoremediation with sustainable biomass generation, where plants supported by soil microorganisms help absorb or immobilise pollutants such as heavy metals and organic compounds while gradually improving soil quality.
At the same time, the biomass produced from both non-food crops and organic residues can be used to generate bio-based products, including fibres and other materials for industrial applications such as the textile sector, as well as biofuels and other bioproducts, without competing with land used for food production.
The pHYBi project is demonstrating how nature-based solutions can breathe life back into polluted and saline soils. By establishing resilient crops like hemp and miscanthus alongside tailored microbial inocula, we are actively restoring soil structure, boosting biodiversity, and kickstarting ecosystem recovery. This approach directly supports land-dependent communities by turning otherwise unusable acreage into productive landscapes that supply sustainable raw materials for textiles, without ever competing with food production.Andrea Martos, Team Leader at IDENER, pHYBi project
The project is currently being tested across multiple European pilot sites, including Belorado in Spain, Pierrelaye in France and several demonstration areas in Croatia. Through these circular approaches, pHYBi shows how degraded land can be restored and reintegrated into productive use, while supporting rural diversification and strengthening the role of the bioeconomy in environmental remediation and sustainable development.
A shared responsibility
Desertification and Drought Day 2026 also sets the stage for the UNCCD COP17, taking place in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, this August under the theme “Restoring Land, Restoring Hope”. As a flagship event of the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, COP17 will bring global attention to land restoration, drought resilience and sustainable land management, while highlighting the environmental, social and economic importance of restoring degraded landscapes.
This occasion offers an opportunity to showcase how innovative, circular bio-based solutions can contribute to restoring degraded landscapes while supporting livelihoods and strengthening resilience in rural communities. Rooted in sustainable biomass value chains, community-led approaches and the restoration of degraded land, CBE JU-funded projects demonstrate how the circular bioeconomy can contribute to a future where people and nature thrive together.