Land and Forest Iceland
Land restoration fellows from eleven countries graduate from GRÓ
2nd September 2026
Neba Estherbel Bih from Cameroon, who works with UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, spoke on behalf of the 22 fellows who graduated from the GRÓ Land Restoration Training Programme last week. She described the knowledge and skills acquired by the fellows during the programme as highly valuable. Among the most precious things they would take away from their studies, she said, were the people they had met, the friendships, conversations and shared experiences, and the connections formed both within the group and with people they encountered during their time in Iceland.
One of the graduates with her diploma. Photo: James Einar Becker/LbhÍ
The graduation ceremony took place on Thursday 27 August at the Agricultural University of Iceland’s Keldnaholt campus in Reykjavík. The group completing the six-month training programme in ecosystem restoration and sustainable land management included fellows from eleven partner countries in Africa and Asia. Nine African countries were represented: Ghana, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Ethiopia. Professionals from two Asian countries, Mongolia and Uzbekistan, also graduated. This was the first time that fellows from Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Cameroon and Rwanda had graduated from the GRÓ Land Restoration Training Programme.
In her address, Guðrún Guðjónsdóttir, Acting Director of the GRÓ Land Restoration Training Programme, reminded the fellows that graduation was not an ending but the beginning of a new stage in their careers. She emphasised the importance of taking the knowledge, skills and experience they had gained in Iceland back to their home countries and putting them into practice. The group was also addressed by María Erla Marelsdóttir, the newly appointed Director-General of GRÓ, on her third day in the role.
Fellows from Mongolia and Uzbekistan. Photo: James Einar Becker/AUI
GRÓ fellows work for the programme’s partner institutions, including ministries, environmental agencies, local and regional authorities, the Red Cross, universities and research institutions. The graduating group also included professionals working within UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme.
The GRÓ Land Restoration Training Programme is hosted by the Agricultural University of Iceland. Since 2007, it has provided six-month postgraduate training in ecosystem restoration and sustainable land management. Over the years, the programme has brought together professionals from countries facing a wide range of challenges caused by land degradation. It gives them an opportunity to learn from Icelandic experience while also sharing knowledge and perspectives from their home countries.
Ragnheiður I. Þórarinsdóttir, Rector of the Agricultural University of Iceland, closed the ceremony, congratulated the fellows on their achievement and invited those present to refreshments on the third floor at Keldnaholt. In its report on the graduation, GRÓ warmly congratulated all 22 fellows and wished them every success in their important future work on sustainable land management and ecosystem restoration.
This year, a fellow from Cameroon took part in the GRÓ Land Restoration Training Programme for the first time. Photo: James Einar Becker/AUI