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Europe Launches the UN Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification
London played host to the
European launch of the United
Nations Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification (UNDDD),
which will run from 2010-2020 with a view to securing drylands for
future generations. At the event, which took place on Thursday, 16
December 2010, geographers, scientists, development experts and
policymakers gathered to discuss the challenges and opportunities
facing drylands under threat from climate change and land
degradation. The event comprised of a seminar followed by a press
conference, and signature of the Record of the regional Launch.
In his opening remarks, the moderator, Dr Matt Walpole, United
Nations Environment Programme World Conservation and Monitoring
Centre (UNEP-WCMC), noted the importance of the Decade and how it
intersected with the UN Decade for Biodiversity, as well as other
relevant UN years such as the 2010 International Year of Forests. He
said these streams should come together and the UN system should
work hard to raise awareness on these important topics, emphasising
the opportunities for each. Dr Walpole said by speaking about the
issues from their own perspectives, the panellists would offer
challenging viewpoints for consideration.
Mr Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), said "drylands are the new frontier of investment" as possibilities open up in sectors as diverse as carbon markets, tourism and high-end drylands products such as cashmere and vicuna. Change, however, can only happen at grassroots level and policy must seek to empower local communities working with an intimate, specialised knowledge of their environment. Launching the Decade, Mr Gnacadja explained why we need to take action. “First, because it is about our own food security. Second, drylands are homeland to one third of the world’s population, half of whom are the poorest. Third, water stress will increase. Fourth, eight of the 25 biodiversity ‘hotspots’ in the world are in the drylands. And fifth, drylands play a vital role in global and local climatic regulation.”
Ranging from Mediterranean olive plantations to the freezing plains of the Tibetan Plateau, drylands represent incredible biodiversity. Yet, they are under increasing threat from land degradation that turns fertile soils into dust.
The UN Decade aims to place initiatives to combat desertification at the centre of the global environment and development policies that address current major global challenges. Policy makers will be encouraged to recognise the urgency of the interlinked threats. Thus, speakers at the launch stressed as a key message that drylands must not be viewed merely as wastelands. Rather, they are places of opportunity.
Dr
Alison
Rosser, UNEP-WCMC, spoke about drylands from a climate
change perspective, with a focus on what is special about drylands,
the threats they face and what policy makers in Europe, in
particular, can do about it and the tools available to
decision-makers. Using maps, Ms Rosser showed the potential impacts
of global warming, within a context of global economic crisis, a
projected population growth and a high level of global food
insecurity, among other aspects. Global warming is expected to
result in water shortages, a shift in the agricultural areas in the
drylands, the range of species, an extension of the drylands areas
in Eurasia, Africa and Australia and increased uncertain conditions
for the drylands’ populations, she said.
Dr
Johannes
Kamp, Senior Research Assistant, Royal Society for the
Protection of Birds, spoke about the impact of change in livestock
grazing on the biodiversity in the Eurasian Steppes. He reported
that some species have benefited from overgrazing, but overall, huge
populations of ‘farmland [bird] species’ are declining all over
Europe due to agricultural intensification. More specifically, he
reported a loss of floristic diversity, a strong decrease in bird
diversity and abundance, the disappearance of ‘typical’ steppe birds
and mammals and range shifts.”
Dr José Luís Rubio, President, European Society for Soil Conservation, provided the Perspective from Southern Europe. He presented the worst and best case scenarios. He described soil as the skin of the Earth that stands between life and lifeless. Unlike the atmosphere which is 400 km deep or the 6300 rock mass beneath it, soil is only a few centimetres deep. It weighs 0.000000000000014% of the Earth, but contributes 90% of our food, he said. Mr. Rubio explained the causes of land degradation in the region, and its outcomes, which include the loss of subsistence, forced migration and conflict.
Desertification is both a
cause and a consequence of the extreme poverty suffered by many
drylands inhabitants, 'the forgotten billion' driven to overgrazing
without access to good water supply. Climate change exacerbates
desertification and, since drylands contain a quarter of the world's
carbon stocks, their protection is crucial in the struggle to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions.
"Local people are the principle actors”, said Dr Camilla Toulmin,
Director of the International Institute for Environment and
Development (IIED). ”They are not victims of something beyond their
control.” She pointed to the success of Mali villagers, with whom
she has worked closely for thirty years, who are now enjoying high
prices for their sesame as international demand for the crop soars.
“Maintaining a thriving agricultural system requires the ability to
continue with good production and taking local people as the
principal actors,” she said. Ms. Toulmin called for action directed
towards improving the soil and water conditions and new varieties of
seed, and recognizing the rights [of people] to control land,
territory and vital resources. "It's only through taking the long
term view that you can separate the trends from the noise and spot
the patterns of positive change," she concluded.
Dr
Michael Mortimore, Drylands Research, provided
the
investment perspective. He said drylands are non-equilibrium
environments. Their extreme and uncertain conditions interact with
human activities to create an environment without equilibrium. Even
so, he outlined fourteen areas with great potential for investment
in the drylands, and analyzed their investment chains. An emerging
paradox of this environment, Dr Mortimore said is that “more people
means less erosion,” and evidence which suggests that intensive
systems, such as those practiced by small-holders in the drylands
areas, are more sustainable than the extensive agricultural systems
widely practiced in the developed countries.
The participants viewed the UNDDD both as a period for urgent action
and a chance to see real improvement. The event was jointly
organized by the UNCCD, UNEP-WCMC and IIED. The UN tasked the
leadership of the Decade’s events to the UNCCD, UNEP, United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Department of Public
Information (DPI) and the International Fund for Agricultural
Development(IFAD).
This report was prepared by Maria Hannah Bass (UNEP-WCMC) and Wagaki Mwangi (UNCCD).
For information on the decade launch, contact:
Email: wmwangi@unccd.int or Jessica.smith@unep-wcmc.org
For more information on the UNDDD, contact the task force at:
Email: arce@unccd.int
Phone: +49-(0)228-815 2820
Internet: http://unddd.unccd.int
Land Degradation, Desertification & Human Insecurity in the European Context : A Decade? Time enough for change
The European launch of
the United Nations Decade for Deserts and the Fight against
Desertification will take place on Thursday, 16 December 2010, in
London, United Kingdom (UK), a country that hosts a critical mass of
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), research, and advocacy
organizations that support the sustainability of deserts and
drylands ecosystems, and activities to combat land degradation and
desertification.
The event will bring together prominent speakers from the United
Nations, civil society, business and academia to consider, in the
ten year time span of the decade:
• What are the best and worst cases for deserts and drylands with
regard to Europe?
• What does Europe need to do in order to reach the best case?
• What must Europe avoid doing to prevent the worst case?
A sub-text of the discussion is that 10 years is time enough for –
positive – change.
The United Nations General Assembly declared the United Nations
Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification (2010-2020)
to promote action that will protect the drylands. The Decade is an
opportunity to make critical changes to secure the long-term ability
of drylands to provide value for humanity's well being. It runs from
January 2010 to December 2020.
The General Assembly resolution encourages observance of the Decade
in order to raise awareness of the causes of and solutions to
ongoing land degradation and desertification, and the global
significance of desert ecosystems. The event is an opportunity to
delve deeper into the issues of desertification and to share
knowledge among the stakeholders who include communities,
governments, non-governmental
organizations (NGOs),
donors, international and inter-governmental organizations and other
actors.
The European launch marks the end of the Decade events for 2010.
They included events held in August 2010 in
Fortaleza, Brazil, and
Nairobi, Kenya, and in October and
November, in Seoul, Republic of Korea
and Fort Collins, Colorado, United States, respectively. You can
read more about the Decade events at unddd.unccd.int.
The launch of the Decade in Europe is jointly organized by the UN
Covention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), United Nations
Environment Programme-World Conservation Monitoring Center (UNEP-WCMC),
and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).
The Decade activities are spearheaded by an inter-agency task force
comprised of the UNCCD, UNEP, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
UN Department of Public Information (DPI) and the International Fund
for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
The
programme of the event, the
concept note that clarifies the
thinking behind the event and the history of
the Decade are available online.
For more information on the launch in London, contact:
• Jessica Smith, UNEP-WCMC,
jessica-smith@unep-wcmc.org, +44 1223 814 703
To participate and attend the event, email your confirmation by
Tuesday, 14 December to:
• Andrea Perez, aperez@unccd.int,
+49-228-815 2831
For media information and interviews with the speakers, contact:
• Wagaki Mwangi,
wmwangi@unccd.int, +49-228-815 2820
• Mike Shanahan,
mike.shanahan@iied.org, +44-207 388 2117
