The large‑scale event took place on the eve of the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and brought together leading experts in the fields of soil science, ecology and sustainable land use.

Leading scientists from the D. I. Ivanovsky Academy of Biology and Medicine at Southern Federal University presented the results of their long‑term research in the field of soil science and biotechnologies at the forum. The following speakers presented their reports: Tatyana Minkina, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of Soil Science and Land Resource Assessment; Olga Biryukova, Doctor of Biological and Agricultural Sciences, Professor at the Department of Soil Science; Vishnu Rajput, PhD, Chief Researcher at Southern Federal University, one of the top 2% most cited scientists in the world; Inna Zamulina, Senior Researcher at the Center for Circular Biomaterials, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Soil Science.

The topics of the reports presented by scientists from Southern Federal University covered key areas in the fight against soil degradation: “Biotechnologies for soil remediation and combating desertification” and “Biorestoration of degraded soils using new methods and technologies.”

The forum brought together representatives of federal authorities, the Russian Academy of Sciences, leading universities and research centers, as well as major Russian companies. Among the participants were the Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation, the President’s Special Representative for Climate and Water Resources, Ruslan Edelgeriev; Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology Konstantin Tsyganov; Deputy Minister of Agriculture Andrey Razin; Director General of the Presidential Grants Fund Ilya Chukalin; Director of the Department of State Policy in the Field of Scientific and Technological Development of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia Anton Shashkin; and heads of relevant federal institutions, scientific organizations, and regional authorities.

The forum’s program included three eventful days. On August 5, plenary sessions and expert presentations were held at the Chechen State University venue on the use of spatial analytics, artificial intelligence, and carbon farming technologies for monitoring, forecasting, and restoring degraded lands. On August 6, the main part of the program took place at the WAY CARBON carbon test site of Chechen State University named after A. A. Kadyrov, where participants familiarized themselves with the test site’s research infrastructure and discussed the concept of a neutral land degradation balance, geoinformation monitoring of desertification, sustainable land use, soil bioreclamation, nature‑based farming technologies, and afforestation. The final day was devoted to the restoration of the fertility of agricultural lands, satellite assessment of the condition of pastures, and the use of biotechnologies for soil remediation.

The participation of SFedU scientists in the forum confirms the university’s high status as one of the leading research centers in the field of soil science and ecology. Earlier, the Academy’s developments received high praise at the 23rd World Congress of Soil Scientists in Nanjing, where the reports by Professor Tatyana Minkina and Chief Researcher Vishnu Rajput sparked an active discussion within the international community.

Holding the forum in the Chechen Republic made it possible to present the accumulated regional experience in combating desertification, to combine scientific and managerial approaches to land restoration, and to formulate proposals that will be taken into account when preparing Russia’s position for the upcoming session of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.