Executive
Summary
1. Desertification is land degradation
in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid
areas (drylands) resulting mainly
from adverse human impact. It
is a widespread but discrete in
space process of land degradation
throughout the drylands which
is quite different from the phenomenon
of observed cyclic oscillations
of vegetation productivity at
desert fringes ("desert expansion
or contraction") as revealed
by satellite data and related
to climate fluctuations. At present
desertification directly affects
about 3.6 billion hectares-70%
of the total drylands, or nearly
one quarter of the total land
area of the world, and about one
sixth of the world's population.
These figures exclude natural
hyper-arid deserts.
2. At the same time, assessment
of the current global status of
desertification/land degradation
has shown that accurate hard data,
which would allow it to be stated
with some preciseness to which
degree and with what rate desertification
is taking place in various parts
of the world, are still lacking.
This calls for further research
and studies to define the magnitude
of the problem in all regions
and localities and the extent
to which man is responsible for
the process. The present gaps
in knowledge do not, however,
provide an excuse for delay in
action. The existing data give
enough justification to urgent
and effective action to control
ongoing land degradation in drylands.
3. At present desertification
in the drylands manifests itself
through:
• Over-exploitation
and degradation of 3,333 million hectares
or about 73% of the total area of
rangelands which are of low potential
for human and animal carrying capacity
and a low population density but may
be intrinsically resilient and might
have considerable capacity to recuperate
and regain their potential productivity
if properly managed;
• Decline in fertility and soil
structure leading gradually to soil
loss in 216 million hectares of rainfed
croplands or nearly 47% of their total
area in the drylands, which constitute
the most vulnerable and fragile marginal
cultivable lands subjected to an increasing
population pressure;
• Degradation of 43 million
hectares of irrigated croplands amounting
to nearly 30% of their total area
in the drylands, which usually have
the highest agricultural potential
and the greatest population densities
when well managed.
4. It is recognized
that, while combating desertification
is vital throughout the drylands
within the above three major land
use systems, prevention of degradation
of lands, which are not affected
or only slightly affected by desertification
at present but prone to degradation
if improperly managed, as well
as application of corrective measures
and sustaining the productivity
of lands that are moderately affected
is more economically viable and
practically feasible than to rehabilitate
severely or very severely degraded
lands. Therefore, the prevention
of degradation of lands that are
not degraded or only slightly
degraded and sustaining their
productivity is considered as
a first priority in combating
desertification. The second priority
is the application of corrective
measures and sustaining the productivity
of drylands which are moderately
degraded at present. Rehabilitation
of severely and very severely
degraded drylands and their return
to productive use is considered
as a third priority action within
the total anti- desertification
campaign. At the same time, it
is further recognized that actual
establishment of the priorities
should always be site-specific
and decided by the authorities
concerned depending on the actual
situation in the respective countries
and localities.
5. In view of the above, in order
to stop the advance of desertification
in drylands, as a first-priority
action at a global scale, it is
recommended to undertake relevant
preventive measures in:
• 102 million
hectares of irrigated non-degraded
or only slightly degraded irrigated
croplands [70% of their total area
in the drylands];
• 242 million hectares of non-degraded
or only slightly degraded rainfed
croplands [53% of their total area
in the drylands];
• 1,233 million hectares of
non-degraded or slightly degraded
rangelands [27% of their total area
in the drylands];.
6. The second
priority action will involve implementation
of the corrective measures and
sustaining the productivity in:
• 34 million
hectares of moderately degraded irrigated
croplands [23% of their total area
in the drylands];
• 183 million hectares of moderately
degraded rainfed croplands [40% of
their total area in the drylands];
• 1,267 million hectares of
moderately degraded rangelands [28%
of their total area in the drylands].
7. The third
priority action will include rehabilitation
of:
• 9 million
hectares of severely and very severely
degraded irrigated croplands;
• 33 million hectares of severely
and very severely degraded rainfed
croplands (reclamation of only 70%
of these lands might be economically
viable due to climate and soil limitations);
• 2,066 million hectares of
severely and very severely degraded
rangelands (reclamation of only 50%
of these lands might be economically
viable due to climate and soil limitations).
8. The above
considerations determine the main
priorities in the implementation
of the Plan of Action to Combat
Desertification (PACD), although
the actual priorities must be
country- specific and may not
be the same throughout the world.
Furthermore, the dynamic overlap
between major land-sue systems
must not be overlooked and, to
counteract this, an integrated
systems approach is emphasized
in combating desertification and
drylands development taking into
account the interdependence of
rural and urban societies and
policies as well.
9. It is recognized that sustainable
socio-economic development and
protection of the environment
are inseparable pre-requisites
of human survival everywhere and
in drylands in particular. Environmental
protection programmes could succeed
if conceived as integrated parts
of programmes for socio-economic
development. This means that the
anti-desertification campaign
should be managed as an integral
part of socio-economic development
of the territories and societies
of the drylands.
10. A distinction is made in implementing
the PACD in industrialized countries
which are able to cope with problem
by themselves and developing countries
which need substantial external
assistance for its solution. In
industrialized countries like
Australia or USA, development
is not dependent on drylands and
the problem of desertification
can be approached from an economic
and technical point of view: how
to stop land degradation and to
optimize the economic return from
drylands. In most developing countries,
and in particular in the Sudano-Sahelian
Belt of Africa, the natural resource
base is the main resource upon
which the development process
must rely and the social systems
interacting with dryland resources
make the problem much more complex
requiring a holistic approach
based on dryland development.
Accordingly, for the majority
of countries affected by desertification,
the PACD is in effect, a Plan
of Action for Sustained Dryland
Development.
11. In order to achieve the goal
of reducing land degradation through
dryland development, the strategy
is based on identifying and implementing
the following actions:
• Social, economic, cultural
and political development with
emphasis on solving problems of
food, poverty, housing, employment,
health, education, population
pressures and demographic imbalance;
• Conservation of natural
resources with emphasis on water,
energy, soil, minerals, plant
and animal resources in arid,
semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas;
• Environmental control
with special emphasis on protection
against decline of soil fertility,
soil loss, water, soil and air
pollution as well as deforestation.
12. It is recognized
that broad based public participation
including all sections, both rural
and urban, of the affected community
including women, indigenous groups
and representative NGOs, is most essential
for implementing the PACD.
13. To fully implement
the PACD, an increased international
effort should include strengthening
the capabilities of the countries
affected, developing countries in
particular, to address environmental/developmental
issues through assistance in developing
appropriate policies, pricing, legislation,
institution building, improved natural
resource management and accounting,
the capacity to use environmental
impact assessment and environmental
cost-benefit analysis technologies,
improved environmental data bases
and environmental education and training,
and popular participation in implementation,
especially at local level.
14. On the basis
of experience in implementing the
PACD during 1978-1991, it could be
stated that the PACD is dealing with
a problem that cannot be solved once
and for all. It is rather like dealing
with a process that will generate
new problems to be tackled once the
more urgent ones have been dealt with.
Therefore, it would be unrealistic
to fix a date when the PACD would
be fully implemented. However, certain
time targets could be set forth, both
nationally and internationally, for
implementing major preventive, corrective
and supporting measures to make the
Plan fully operational.
15. The urgency of
addressing the global problem of desertification
is based on the fact that this process:
(a) socio-economically:
constitutes the main cause and mechanism
of global loss of productive land
resources, causes economic instability
and political unrest in areas affected,
brings pressures on the economy and
the stability of societies outside
the affected areas, prevents achievements
of sustainable development in affected
areas and countries;
(b) environmentally: contributes to
loss of global biodiversity, loss
of the biomass and bioproductivity
of the planet, and global climate
change.
16. To achieve the
general goal of the PACD, the following
set of main environmental/developmental
targets can be set for the year 2020:
(a) Preventing further
deterioration of the world food security
and sustaining productivity of land
affected by, or prone to, desertification
through the introduction of environmentally
sound, socially acceptable and fair,
and economically feasible land use
systems based on social equity and
appropriate technologies;
(b) Protection of non-degraded or
slightly degraded lands prone to desertification
and reclamation of degraded lands
for productive use or their conservation
for natural rehabilitation, as appropriate;
(c) Provision of adequate insurance
against recurrent droughts and famine
in the drylands;
(d) Improvement of the quality of
life of the inhabitants of lands affected
by desertification, including health,
sanitation and family planning and
achievement of the goal of satisfying
basic human needs in the extensive
areas of world drylands;
(e) Prevention of adverse desertification
impact on global climate change and
biodiversity including germplasm materials
for many crop and fodder plants.
17. For the same
period, the following targets for
supporting measures are envisaged:
(a) Incorporation
of national actions to combat desertification
into broader national development
policies, plans or programmes;
(b) Mobilization of national, regional
and international resources needed
for the full implementation of the
PACD;
(c) Mobilization and strengthening
of national, regional and international
institutional capabilities for implementing
the Plan;
(d) Introduction of new land use economic
and social policies conductive to
sustainable development of land and
water resources and improvement of
land use;
(e) Making land users the main actors
in designing and implementing the
Plan and ensuring full public participation
in anti-desertification campaign;
(f) Development of indigenous national
and ecoregional scientific research
and technology capabilities;
(g) Co-ordination of current and new
national, regional and international
sectoral programmes within broader
environment/development programmes;
(h) Establishment of a global network
of national, regional and international
institutional and technical facilities
for current operational assessment
and continuous monitoring of desertification;
(i) Strengthening of regional programmes
and international co-operation in
the campaign against desertification;
(j) Provision of free flow of technology
on favorable terms to areas affected
by, or prone to, desertification;
(k) Improvement
of infrastructure in the areas affected
by, or prone to, desertification.
18. The following
set of practical measures, at national
level, to achieve the above targets
is recommended:
Preventive, Corrective and
Rehabilitation Measures
Recommendation 1: To introduce improved
land use systems:
Step 1 - to introduce
an integrated approach in the utilization
of every piece of land in accordance
with its ecological characteristics;
Step 2 - to introduce improved land/water/crop
management systems in existing irrigated
croplands;
Step 3 - to stabilize rainfed croplands
and to introduce improved soil/crop
management systems into this land
use practice;
Step 4 - to introduce improved rangeland/husbandry
management systems based on innovative
or adapted indigenous technologies;
Step 5 - to undertake major afforestation/reforestation
campaigns;
Step 6 - to undertake, whenever appropriate,
major campaigns on stabilization of
shifting sands.
Recommendation 2:
To develop and introduce appropriate,
improved and advanced, socially and
environmentally acceptable and economically
feasible agricultural and pastoral
technologies.
Recommendation 3: To establish adequate
communication infrastructure and sufficient
processing and marketing facilities.
Recommendation 4: To develop appropriately
available water resources and to introduce
improved water management systems.
Recommendation 5: To reclaim for productive
use or to protect effectively for
natural rehabilitation, as appropriate,
strongly desertified lands.
Supporting Measures
Recommendation 6: To establish or
to strengthen, as appropriate, the
national institutional capabilities
for implementing the PACD.
Recommendation 7: To launch nationally
a major sustained anti-desertification
awareness/training campaign.
Recommendation 8: To introduce a "loop
model" in the existing or newly
established extension service.
Recommendation 9: To finalize the
operative large-scale local and national
assessment of the current status of
desertification.
Recommendation 10: To develop, adopt
through appropriate national legislation
and introduce institutionally new
national environmentally sound and
development oriented land use policy.
Recommendation 11: To develop and
introduce effective national insurance
schemes against recurrent drought
and famine.
19. Countries affected
by, or prone to, desertification might
wish to set their own priorities in
implementing their NPACDs. However,
it seems logic that a first practical
step would be to implement Recommendations
6 and 7 above, within 3-5 years. Recommendations
8, 9, 10 and 11 may take a longer
time probably up to the year 2000.
Implementation of Recommendations
1 and 2 could start simultaneously
on a trial basis. The Plan can thus
become fully operational throughout
affected areas by around the year
2000. Full scale reconstruction will
take longer time probably through
the year 2010 by which time Recommendations
1 and 2 could be fully implemented.
The stabilization period will take
still a longer period probably up
to year 2020 by which time Recommendations
3, 4 and 5 would have been implemented.
20. A programme for the implementation
of a world-wide direct action to combat
desertification may be based on one
of the following three options:
i) Implement programmes
of direct preventive measures in productive
drylands that are not desertified
or only slightly desertified (about
30% of productive drylands). Total
cost estimate is US $ 1.4-4.2 billion
per year. This, however, will not
save territories that are moderately
desertified from further deterioration;
ii) Implement the above programme
plus programme of direct corrective
measures in productive drylands that
are moderately desertified (areas
with 10-25% loss of productivity in
croplands and 25-50% in rangelands);
total cost estimate is US $ 3.8-11.4
billion per year;
iii) Implement a comprehensive programme
of direct measures to combat desertification
in all productive drylands (preventive-corrective-rehabilitation);
total cost estimate is US $ 10.0-22.4
billion per year.
The above options
could be considered as the sort of
action priorities that could be adopted
both globally and nationally. They
could be modified as appropriate within
the areas concerned.
21. Sub-regional co-operation on the
basis of an eco-geographical concept
is advocated using existing structures
and promoting co-operation between
industrialized and developing countries
within the regions.
22. At international level, co-operation
is recommended to be strengthened
in the following areas: (a) mobilization
of financial resources and provision
of financial assistance to countries
which cannot cope with the problem
by themselves; (b) development of
appropriate pricing and trade policies;
(c) provision of technical assistance
to countries in need; (d) development
of appropriate anti-desertification
technologies and technology transfer
to needy countries on favorable terms;
(e) monitoring and co-ordination of
the anti-desertification campaign
at a global level; (f) information
exchange; (g) international legislation.
23. It is estimated that current global
direct on-site financial loss [income
foregone] due to desertification amounts
to about US $ 42 billion annually.
Indirect off-site and social cost
of desertification damage might be
2-3 or even up to 10 times higher.
24. The cost of meeting the minimum
objectives of stopping the spread
of desertification, that is the cost
of urgent direct preventive measures
in non-affected but vulnerable or
only slightly affected irrigated lands
(70% of their total area), rainfed
croplands (53% of their total area),
and rangelands (27% of their total
area), amounts to about US $ 1.4-4.2
billion a year for a 20-Year programme.
This should be complemented by the
cost of direct corrective measures
in moderately affected irrigated lands
(23% of their total area) rainfed
croplands (40% of their total area)
and rangelands (28% of their total
area) amounting to nearly US $ 2.4-7.2
billion a year for the same 20-Year
programme. Out of this total sum of
US $ 3.8-11.4 billion a year, US $
2.2-6.6 billion a year are needed
for financing the actions in 81 developing
countries affected by desertification
which cannot cope with the problem;
half of this sum could, at best, be
raised by the countries themselves,
while the other half, or US $ 1.1-3.3
billion should come through external
assistance.
25. The above indicative figures represent
only the cost of direct preventive
and corrective measures for protection
and sustaining of productive drylands.
The total cost of combating desertification,
including the cost of full implementation
of all recommendations of the PACD,
might be several times higher.
26. Past experience showed that the
amount of funds spent by the world
community during 1978-1991 [approximately
US $ 0.5-0.85 billion a year] on direct
or supporting actions to combat desertification
was far below the amount needed for
the implementation of the PACD and
for achieving substantial results.
Financial assistance to developing
countries which are most seriously
struck by desertification and have
no resources to cope with the problem,
was particularly very inadequate.
Likewise, existing mechanisms for
mobilization of the resources and
financing the PACD [DESCON, Special
Account] appeared to be inadequate.
27. Financial assistance to developing
countries struggling against desertification
should be additional, that is over
and above regular budgets and conventional
extra budgetary resources; it must
be predictable, sustainable, and with
a degree of automaticity. Net additional
financing and technical assistance
to developing countries for combating
desertification should be provided
by the donor community and international
institutions, through appropriate
new or existing international and
regional mechanisms to manage the
process of mobilizing and allocating
financial and technical resources,
on terms which will not further exacerbate
debt and trade problems of recipient
countries but rather enhance their
development process.
...Top
Introduction
1. More than 6.1 billion hectares,
nearly 40 per cent of the Earth's
land area, is dryland. Out of this,
about 0.9 billion hectares are hyper-arid
deserts. The remaining 5.2 billion
hectares are arid, semi-arid and dry
sub-humid lands, part of which have
become desert degraded by man. These
lands are the habitat and the source
of livelihood for about one fifth
of the world's population.
2. It is estimated that about 3.6
billion hectares, or 70% out of 5.2
billion hectares of potentially productive
drylands, are presently threatened
by various forms of land degradation
or, as it is called, desertification,
directly affecting the well-being
and future of one sixth of the world's
population. Recurrent drought is a
persistent natural menace in these
areas which is accentuated by unbalanced
management of natural resources. It
was the Sahelian drought of 1968-1973
and its tragic effects on the peoples
of the region that drew world-wide
attention to the chronic problems
of human survival and development
in drylands, particularly on the desert
margins.
3. The United Nations General Assembly
in Resolution 3202 (s-vi) of 1 May
1974 recommended that the international
community undertakes concrete and
speedy measures to arrest desertification
and assist the economic development
of affected areas. The Economic and
Social Council's Resolution 1878 (LVII)
of 16 July 1974 requested all the
concerned organizations of the United
Nations system to pursue a broad attack
on the drought problem. Decisions
of the Governing Councils of the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
and the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) emphasized the need
to undertake measures to check the
spread of desert conditions. The General
Assembly then decided, by Resolution
3337 (xxix) of 17 December 1974, to
initiate concerted international action
to combat desertification and, in
order to provide an impetus to this
action, to convene a United Nations
Conference on Desertification, between
29 August and 9 September 1977 in
Nairobi, Kenya, which would produce
an effective, comprehensive and co-ordinated
programme for solving the problem.
4. The United Nations Conference on
Desertification (UNCOD) was preceded
by extensive global, regional and
local studies and consultations involving
numerous scientists, decision and
policy makers and relevant institutions
all over the world.
5. On the basis of carefully collected
and analyzed available data, the Conference
noted the progressive diminution of
biological productivity and decline
of human living conditions in many
arid regions of the world. This process
was evidently due primarily to inappropriate
land use, although accentuated by
recurrent droughts. It was also evident
that it threatens the well- being
and socio-economic development of
peoples in large areas of the world,
particularly in developing countries
of Africa, Central, South and South-West
Asia as well as Latin America, while
at the same time occurring in Australia,
North America and in certain parts
of Europe. The problem was identified
as global in its magnitude.
6. This largely human-induced process
of environmental degradation and related
socio- economic decline in many drylands
was considered as desertification.
7. UNCOD concluded that desertification
was of global magnitude and affected
adversely large areas and populations
in all continents, and adopted the
Plan of Action to Combat Desertification
(PACD), which was endorsed by the
UN General Assembly that same year
as one of the major world programmes.
8. The Governing Council and the Executive
Director of the United Nations Environment
Programme were entrusted with the
task of following-up and co-ordinating
the implementation of the PACD and
assisting Governments in their efforts
to implement the PACD at national
level. The Inter-Agency Working Group
on Desertification (IAWGD) was established
within the United Nations in order
to assist UNEP in performing its duties.
The Consultative Group for Desertification
Control (DESCON), to assist in mobilizing
resources, and a Special Account to
finance the implementation of the
PACD were created (the latter was
closed in 1990 by GA Resolution 44/172A,
para. 8). To assist the Governments
of the Sudano-Sahelian region of Africa
in the implementation of the PACD,
a joint venture between UNEP and UNDP
was created as part of the activities
of the United Nations Sudano-Sahelian
Office (UNSO). The major role in implementing
the PACD was vested with Governments
of countries affected by desertification.
9. Unfortunately, since UNCOD, progress
has been modest in implementing the
PACD between 1978 and 1991. It was
repeatedly stated by UNEP, particularly
after extensive assessments of the
situation in 1984, 1987 and 1989,
that desertification continued to
spread. It has become one of the most
serious environmental and socio-economic
problems of the world, as was also
stressed in the report of the United
Nations Commission on Environment
and Development (Our Common Future,
1988). Deep and extreme drought recurring
in 1981-1984 and 1990-1991 contributed
to the worsening of the situation.
10. The principal causes of failure
to implement the PACD in full were
considered at several global and regional
international fora with the conclusion
that:
a) priority was not
given to the programmes for combating
desertification by implementing and
funding agencies, both nationally
and internationally, with the result
that not enough funds were made available
for the implementation of the PACD;
b) developing countries affected by
desertification were unable to cope
with the problem without major external
financial and technical assistance,
but the needed assistance was not
forthcoming;
c) desertification control programmes
were not fully integrated in programmes
of socio-economic development and
were considered as measures to amend
environmental damage only;
d) affected populations were not fully
involved in the planning and implementation
of programmes for combating desertification;
e) technical means were often sought
to solve the problem, while the solutions
rested in the socio-political and
socio-economic mechanisms.
11. Considering the
global problems in the area of environment
and development to be included in
the agenda of the United Nations Conference
on Environment and Development (UNCED),
which will be convened in June 1992
in Brazil, the UN General Assembly,
by its Resolution 44/214 of December
1989, included the problem of combating
desertification "among those
of major concern in maintaining the
quality of the Earth's environment
and especially in achieving environmentally
sound and sustainable development
in all countries". By the same
resolution, it was further decided
that UNCED should "accord high
priority to drought and desertification
control and consider all means necessary,
including financial, scientific and
technological resources, to halt and
reverse the process of desertification
with a view to preserving the ecological
balance of the planet".
12. By General Assembly's Resolution
44/172 of December 1989, the Governing
Council and the Executive Director
of UNEP were invited to "contribute
substantially to the discussion on
desertification at the conference,
inter alia, by undertaking a general
evaluation, sufficiently in advance,
of progress achieved in implementing
the Plan of Action to Combat Desertification".
The present report was prepared in
response to this invitation as well
as to other provisions of the same
resolution.
13. In view of the particular severity
of the problems in the Sudano-Sahelian
region a more detailed report on the
situation of desertification and drought
in the Sudano-Sahelian countries has
been prepared and will be made available
by UNSO as a background report.
14. The first draft of this report
was prepared in March 1991. Its first
part concerning the assessment of
the global status of desertification
was discussed with experts during
inter-agency consultations held at
FAO, Rome, at the beginning of April
1991. By the end of the same month,
a meeting of high-level UNEP consultants
was convened in Geneva to discuss
the first full draft of the report.
Their comments and suggestions for
its improvement were incorporated
into the second draft for review by
a bigger audience. The costing of
anti-desertification measures was
extensively discussed by UNEP experts
with relevant specialists at FAO and
IFAD in June 1991 during a specially
organized mission.
15. The financial aspects of the second
draft were discussed in July 1991
at the High- Level Meeting of Specialists
in World Financing, after which a
new third draft was prepared incorporating
their comments.
16. The third draft of August 1991
was sent in advance to the members
of IAWGD and DESCON for their review
and comments as well as to a number
of senior consultants. The meetings
of IAWGD and DESCON-8 and that of
UNEP's senior consultants were held
in succession in Geneva on 9-10, 11-12
and 13 September 1991, respectively.
The comments and suggestions obtained
at these three meetings were incorporated
into the fourth draft, which after
final in-house revision and clearance
by the Executive Director appears
as the present report.
...Top
UNCED
Part 1 - World Status of Desertification
A. CONCEPT
OF DESERTIFICATION
1. The concept of desertification
was defined by UNCOD in 1977 as follows:
"Desertification
is the diminution or destruction of
the biological potential of land,
and can lead ultimately to desert-like
conditions. It is an aspect of the
widespread deterioration of ecosystems,
and has diminished or destroyed the
biological potential, i.e. plant and
animal production, for multiple use
purposes at a time when increased
productivity is needed to support
growing populations in quest of development."
2. This definition
was found inadequate and not sufficiently
operational when attempts started
in different parts of the world to
implement various practical recommendations
of the PACD and to undertake the quantitative
assessment of desertification. A series
of definitions was developed by individual
scientists, scientific institutions
and implementing agencies. A more
precise new definition was required,
particularly in view of the need to
distinguish between desertification
and another phenomenon of observed
cyclic oscillations of vegetation
productivity at desert fringes (desert
expansion or contraction) as revealed
by satellite data and related to climate
fluctuations.
3. Based on special studies and extensive
discussions at the Ad-Hoc Consultative
Meeting on the Assessment of Desertification,
which was convened by UNEP in Nairobi
in February 1990, the following definition
of desertification was adopted:
"Desertification/Land Degradation,
in the context of assessment, is Land
Degradation in Arid, Semi-arid and
Dry Sub-humid Areas resulting from
adverse human impact.
Land in this concept includes soil
and local water resources, land surface
and vegetation or crops.
Degradation implies reduction of resource
potential by one or a combination
of processes acting on the land. These
processes include water erosion, wind
erosion and sedimentation by those
agents, long term reduction in the
amount or diversity of natural vegetation,
where relevant, and salinization and
sodication."
4. The last definition was used by
UNEP for the quantitative assessment
of the status of desertification which
was conducted during 1990-1991. The
important point is not the exact wording
of the definition of desertification
but an agreement on a more operationally
suitable tool for assessing and combating
the problem. This definition sets
desertification within the broad frame
of global land degradation.
5. The Panel of Senior Consultants,
convened by UNEP in Geneva from 25
to 27 April 1991, to discuss the first
draft of a revised PACD, considered
the desertification concept as well.
It was pointed out that the new document
should more clearly spell out the
likely impacts of natural climatic
conditions, particularly of recurrent
droughts, on desertification; it would
be necessary to note that in certain
instances desertification might not
only be human-induced but climate-induced
as well.
6. The Governing Council of UNEP,
at its 16th session in May 1991, also
considered this question. By its decision
16/22, it underlined the need for
further refinement of the definition
of the concept of desertification,
taking into account recent findings
about the influence of climate fluctuations
and about the resilience of soils.
7. As a follow-up to the above considerations
and taking into account the results
of additional studies and consultation
undertaken by UNEP, the following
definition was finally adopted for
the present assessment of the status
of desertification and preparations
for UNCED:
"Desertification is land degradation
in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid
areas resulting mainly from adverse
human impact."
8. Further refinement of the concept
and the definition of desertification
taking into account possible influence
of climate fluctuations and soil resilience,
as indicated by the Governing Council
of UNEP, may be undertaken in future
on the basis of new knowledge acquired
in the course of detailed area-specific
studies and assessments. However,
the present gaps in knowledge do not
provide an excuse for delaying the
implementation of the PACD as the
existing data give overwhelming justification
for a need to act urgently and effectively
to control the ongoing land degradation
in areas affected.
9. The urgency to address the problem
of desertification by co-ordinated
international action is accentuated
by the facts that:
• the time
for action is running short as desertification
expands threatening new areas and
new societies, while anti-desertification
measures tend to be long-term and
time demanding;
• the cost of anti-desertification
measures escalates from year to year
because (a) the area affected is growing
(b) the degree of the damage is growing,
and (c) world prices and costs of
rehabilitative measures are growing;
• off-site (and social) costs
of desertification will continue to
increase as degradation adversely
affects land, water and air resources;
• other environmental and economic
problems are increasing, tending to
distract the attention of society
to other urgent needs;
• if the process of desertification
is not arrested in the near future,
world shortage of food will increase
dramatically within a few decades.
10. Whether the
process of desertification or its
end result is considered, the most
obvious symptoms relate to:
• reduction
of yield or crop failure in irrigated
or rainfed farmland;
• reduction of perennial plant
cover and biomass produced by rangeland
and consequent depletion of food available
to livestock;
• reduction of available woody
biomass and consequent extension of
distance to sources of fuelwood or
building material;
• reduction of available water
due to a decrease of river flow or
groundwater resources;
• encroachment of sand that
may overwhelm productive land, settlements
or infrastructures;
• increased flooding, sedimentation
of water bodies, water and air pollution;
• societal disruption due to
deterioration of life-support systems,
societal need for outside help (relief
aid) or for seeking haven elsewhere
(environmental refugees).
11. The causes of
these various forms of ecological
degradation and corresponding socio-economic
disruption relate to a combination
of (a) human exploitation that oversteps
the natural carrying capacity of the
land resource system and sometimes
increased negligence and abandonment
of land due to the out-migration of
people, (b) inherent ecological fragility
of the resource system, and (c) adverse
climatic conditions, in particular,
severe recurrent droughts. The high
degree of land degradation plays a
large part in increasing the susceptibility
of farming systems to the shocks of
drought, as was so clearly seen in
the Sudano-Sahelian region of Africa
during the last three decades. Land
resource exploitation acts through
land-use operations, among which are
: irrigated farming, rainfed agriculture
and pastoralism, with a certain contribution
from wood cutting, extraction of mineral
resources, excessive tourism and hunting
game animals, etc. Excessive human
pressures on natural resource systems
relate to : (1) increase of population
and escalation of human needs; (2)
socio-political processes that bring
pressures on rural communities for
orienting their production towards
national and international markets;
(3) socio-economic processes that
reduce the market value of rural products
and escalate the prices of basic needs
of rural people; (4) processes of
national development, especially programmes
for expansion of farmlands for production
of cash crops, that exacerbate conflicts
of land and water use and often reduce
areas available to marginalized communities.
An overriding socio-economic issue
in desertification is the imbalance
of power and access to strategic resources
between different groups in the society.
12. Desertification is a very distinctive
global environmental and socio-economic
problem requiring special attention.
This process is singled out under
the specific term of desertification
and distinguished from similar phenomena
in other more humid areas of the world
because it proceeds under harsh climatic
conditions and acts adversely on areas
with limited natural resources, i.e.
soil, water and vegetation. Naturally,
there are extents and degrees, but
the end result of degraded and abandoned
land is a question of time only, if
the process is not arrested.
13. The urgency to address this problem
is connected with the fact that desertification:
Socio-economically:
• constitutes
the main cause and mechanism of global
loss of productive land resources
and thus reduces the world capability
of providing sufficient food and shelter
to growing populations, contributing
to the spread of poverty and hunger;
• causes economic instability
and political unrest in areas affected,
struggle for scarce land and water
resources, outward migration in seek
of relief and refuge;
• brings pressures on the economy
and stability of societies outside
areas affected by desertification
through escalating need for food aid,
growth of environmental refugees,
etc.;
• prevents achievement of sustainable
development in countries and regions
affected and through them, the world
as a whole;
• directly threatens health
and nutrition status of populations
menaced, particularly children.
Environmentally:
• is one element
of planetary environment degradation
that contributes to climate change,
water, air and soil pollution, deforestation,
soil loss, etc.;
• contributes to loss of global
biodiversity, particularly in the
areas which are the centres of origin
of major crop species of the world,
e.g. wheat, barley, sorghum, maize,
etc.;
• contributes to loss of biomass
and bioproductivity of the planet
and to the exhaustion of global humus
reserve, thus disrupting normal global
biogeo-chemical turnover and reducing
the global carbon dioxide sink in
particular;
• contributes to global climate
change by increasing land surface
albedo, increasing potential, and
decreasing actual evapotranspiration
rate, changing the ground surface
energy budget and adjoining air temperature,
and adding dust and CO2 into the atmosphere.
14. Desertification
is always a site-specific problem
that occurs locally within state boundaries
and affects local societies of sovereign
states. Therefore, it can only be
solved by the peoples themselves.
Governments and peoples of localities
and countries affected are the primary
actors of the anti-desertification
campaign. At the same time, as a global
problem, desertification needs to
be addressed by internationally co-ordinated
efforts because:
• it is a problem
of global magnitude with major environmental
and socio-economic consequences;
• the problem is complex and
requires a holistic integrated approach
including social, economic, political
and technical measures which can only
be provided by concerted and co-ordinated
efforts of the world community;
• countries most seriously affected
by desertification usually are developing
countries including least developed
ones, which do not have the means
of coping with a problem of such magnitude;
• the problem of desertification,
most seriously and directly, affects
rural areas and populations engaged
in various agricultural activities;
however, world-wide agriculture needs
substantial subsidies to survive and
to feed the world; without additional
support it would be virtually impossible
to cope with the requirements of combating
desertification and the related activities
of reclaiming drylands.
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