In 2003 APN conducted a Land Use and Cover Change (LUCC) synthesis of past and present APN LUCC-related projects, and also held the 2nd Workshop on Vegetation Recovery in Degraded Land Areas. As a follow-up to these activities, the APN organised an international symposium on “Land Use and Cover Change and Vegetation Recovery – Global Environmental Change Research and its Application in Conservation Measures” to publicise the latest progress in scientific knowledge in these fields. The symposium also facilitated innovative liaison between experts in LUCC and Vegetation Recovery research.