Amid reports that hundreds of people are still missing in Nepal and China after a floodwater surge slammed into towns and villages on Wednesday, aid teams have been working to reach communities cut off by the disaster.

Promising efforts to restore degraded land are now in the spotlight at a time when 40 per cent of the world’s land currently faces degradation and drought, threatening the livelihoods of over three billion people, the head of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) said Wednesday, announcing three winners of its World Restoration Flagships awards.