MAPUTO, Sept 30 (Xinhua) -- Mozambique has launched the Southern Africa Exchange Mechanism, a regional platform aimed at driving joint efforts to restore degraded landscapes and strengthen climate resilience across the region.

The inauguration on Monday coincided with the opening of the third regional seminar of the Drylands Sustainable Landscapes Impact Program, funded by the Global Environment Facility.

"The Regional Exchange Mechanism we inaugurate today in Maputo (the capital of Mozambique) is designed to strengthen regional cooperation and accelerate the implementation of integrated solutions to restore degraded landscapes," said Mozambican Secretary of State for Land and Environment Gustavo Djedje.

"In our country, this reality has dramatic contours: southern provinces such as Gaza and Inhambane have seen rainfall decline by 20 percent to 30 percent over the past decades, coupled with rising temperatures and prolonged droughts affecting around 2.3 million people in this region alone," he said.

Since 1961, Angola, Zimbabwe, and Namibia have reported agricultural losses of more than 40 percent due to prolonged drought, while the agricultural productivity in the Southern African Development Community region has fallen by 34 percent, a trend directly linked to global warming, said Djedje.

He added that the Miombo and Mopane ecosystems, a vital shared heritage for southern Africa, regulate climate and water resources, host rich biodiversity, and support over 300 million people.

"Since 2000, the Miombo ecosystem has lost about 800,000 square kilometers, an area larger than the entire territory of Mozambique. This is not just an environmental statistic; it is a direct threat to the prosperity, health, and future generations of the region," said Djedje. ■