PART
I. World Status of Desertification
PART
III. Policy Guidelines and Course
of Action for Combating Desertification
PART
IV. Financing the Plan of Action
to Combat Desertification
Annex
PART
II - THE UNITED NATIONS PLAN OF ACTION
TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION (PACD)
A.
MONITORING OF THE PACD AND ITS EVALUATION
BY THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF UNEP
1. Starting from 1978 , the Governing
Council of UNEP at each of its regular
sessions and in accordance with the mandate
given to it by the UN General Assembly,
considered progress in the implementation
of the Plan of Action to Combat Desertification
regularly reporting its findings and decisions
to the General Assembly through the Economic
and Social Council.
2. In 1984 at its 12th Session, the Governing
Council considered not only progress in
the implementation of the PACD and the
world status of desertification but the
PACD itself. By paragraph 4 of decision
12/10 of 28 May 1984, the Governing Council
reconfirmed the validity of the Plan of
Action to Combat Desertification and the
general appropriateness of the institutional
arrangements established by the General
Assembly for the follow-up of its implementation.
3. By paragraph 8 of its decision 15/23
of 25 May 1989, the Governing Council
requested the Executive Director "to
arrange for an external evaluation of
the Plan of Action to Combat Desertification
to be conducted and for the results to
be presented well in time for the proposed
United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development in 1992, but not later
than the Governing Council at its 16th
session" (in 1991). The required
evaluation was made during 1990 and the
corresponding report was presented to
the 16th session of the Governing Council
as document UNEP/GC16./16/Add.1.
4. The external evaluation
reconfirmed the validity of the principles
contained in the PACD, and its utility
as a tool for experts and technicians,
but it showed that the modest implementation
of the PACD during 1978-1989 was partly
due to a certain deficiency of the PACD
itself. It criticized the Plan for its
lack of focus and for omitting socio-economic
factors associated with desertification
that should be better understood by politicians
and decision- makers. The evaluation concluded
that the PACD should remain a global strategy
for desertification control and recommended
the preparation and dissemination of a
slightly revised version of the PACD and
its guidelines.
5. After considering the above report
on the external evaluation of the PACD,
the Governing Council by its decision
16/22 of 31 May 1991 reaffirmed "its
conviction that the Plan of Action to
Combat Desertification is an appropriate
instrument to assist Governments in developing
national programmes for arresting the
process of desertification" and also
requested the Executive Director "to
take into account when revising the existing
recommendations of the Plan of Action
to Combat Desertification, the approved
findings and recommendations of the evaluation
report and of this decision, and to include
the revised recommendations in the Council's
report on the status of desertification
and implementation of the Plan of Action
to the United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development".
6. Part III of the present report responds
to the above decision of the Governing
Council and the relevant provisions of
UN General Assembly Resolution 44/172
concerning the preparation of the documentation
on desertification for the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development.
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B.
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PACD 1978-1991
(I) INTRODUCTION
7. In compiling the present report, the
material was obtained from relevant agencies
and organizations, both within and outside
the United Nations system, including:
United Nations Environment Programme [UNEP],
United Nations Development Programme [UNDP],
United Nations Sudano-Sahelian Office
[UNSO], the World Bank, Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations [FAO],
International Fund for Agricultural Development
[IFAD], World Food Programme [WFP], United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization [UNESCO], United Nations
Children's Fund [UNICEF], United Nations
Development Fund for Women [UNIFEM], World
Meteorological Organization [WMO], World
Health Organization [WHO], International
Labor Organization [ILO], United Nations
Commission for Trade and Development [UNCTAD],
International Union for the Conservation
of Nature and Natural Resources [IUCN],
United Nations Regional Commissions [ECA,
ECLAC, ESCAP, ESCWA, ECE], Permanent Inter-State
Committee on Drought Control in the Sahel
[CILSS], Inter- governmental Authority
for Drought and Development [IGADD], Organization
of African Unity [OAU], African Ministerial
Conference on the Environment [AMCEN],
Southern Africa Development Co-ordination
Conference [SADCC], European Economic
Community [EEC]. Unavoidably, constraints
of reporting length preclude the possibility
of including the detailed contributions
supplied. Therefore, only a summary and
synopsis of major trends is outlined below,
while a world-wide compendium of anti-desertification
actions and projects is maintained and
permanently updated by UNEP.
8. It may be observed that the recommendations
contained in the PACD were wide-ranging
and expected action from rural populations,
governments, sub-regional and regional
institutions, and the international community.
Such expectations raised real problems
for accurate evaluation of achievements
and it is only possible to speak in general
terms when looking back at what has been
achieved.
9. As UNEP's Governing
Council reviewed the first assessment
of progress achieved in the implementation
of the PACD carried out in 1984, the Council
noted that measures carried out during
the seven-year period had not produced
substantial results in any of the countries
and regions affected by desertification,
nowhere had the PACD been implemented
in its totality.
10. On the occasion
of the Xth anniversary of the PACD in
1987, an attempt was made by the United
Nations system to evaluate what had been
achieved in the intervening period. This
served to confirm that, despite 10 years
of the PACD, desertification was still
progressing virtually at the same rate
as at the time of UNCOD. It was also confirmed
that the process still affects all continents
and, as observed previously, the most
affected countries are linked to arid,
semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas of Africa
and Asia. In Africa, the Sudano-Sahelian
region, after a recent series of droughts
stretching for more than 20 years, remained
the most permanently vulnerable, and it
was estimated that the well-being of some
80-85% of the population of the region
has been affected.
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(II) ROLE OF
THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM AND THE INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNITY
11. At UNCOD, the United Nations system
as a whole participated actively, bringing
in the special expertise of each agency,
towards the solution of the problem of
desertification. In drafting the programme
of action to combat desertification, lessons
were learnt from the experience of these
agencies, and it was assumed that they
would participate actively in the subsequent
implementation of the PACD, as envisaged
by the appropriate General Assembly resolutions.
Some of the pre-UNCOD initiatives which
were tacitly subsumed in the PACD included
inter alia the following:
• FAO/UNEP Project
on Ecological Management of Arid and
Semi-Arid Rangelands [EMASAR] in Africa,
Near East and Middle East started in
1975;
• Relevant components of UNEP's
Global Environmental Monitoring System
[GEMS] using the satellite imagery interpretation
established in 1972;
• UNESCO/MAB first launched in
1970 and having important components
on the management of arid lands, like
the Integrated Programme on Arid Lands
[IPAL].
12. It was recommended
by UNCOD and decided by the General Assembly
to establish an Inter-Agency Working Group
on Desertification [IAWGD] reporting to
the UN Administrative Committee on Co-ordination
[ACC] and the Governing Council of UNEP.
This body was intended to serve as a forum
for co-ordinating the work of various
UN agencies and organizations, including
the regional commissions, towards the
implementation of the PACD. Regular annual
sessions of the IAWGD were held, starting
from 1978 and through 1991, providing
an input to co-ordinated activities within
the United Nations system and ensuring
the avoidance of duplications.
13. The PACD was explicit in recognizing
that whereas the main anti-desertification
thrust was expected to come from a national
level, there would be many other areas
where support from regional or international
organizations would be called for (Recommendation
26), or projects which could only be carried
out in the framework of regional or international
co- operation. Since UNCOD, the co-ordinating
mechanism has been used successfully to
ensure a tiered action programme which
starts with activities at the grassroots
level, through national, regional and
global levels. At regional and global
levels, activities of the United Nations
system have been complemented by those
of Non-governmental Organizations [NGOs],
the International Council for Scientific
Unions [ICSU] and the International Union
for the Conservation of Nature and Natural
Resources [IUCN].
14. The Consultative Group for Desertification
Control [DESCON] was established by the
General Assembly in 1978 as a mechanism
for mobilizing resources needed for the
implementation of the PACD. Its mandate
was later expanded to include exchange
of information and policy guidance. So
far (1991) there have been eight DESCON
meetings, while the total funds made available
through this mechanism for approved projects
have remained minimal. The changing role
of DESCON has come as a disappointment
to the developing countries and to all
those who felt that with more financial
resources available, it would be possible
to put forward viable programmes for the
control of desertification as recommended
in the PACD. Despite problems with DESCON
(see Paras 22-26 in Part IV), there have
been some limited funds to enable recipient
countries to carry out certain projects
dealing with desertification. Between
1978 and 1985, some 50 projects at a cost
of US $ 15 million were completed, and
that year (1985) there were some 20 projects
under implementation at a cost of US $
51 million. These projects are a part
of national programmes and the funding
was provided through bilateral arrangements
catalyzed by DESCON. The past and present
assessments have, however, indicated that
the problem of desertification was so
large that in the absence of massive financial
resources it was bound to get worse each
year. Thus, in 1991 it can be concluded
that there has been a failure to respond
adequately to the needs of the PACD including
through DESCON because of the apparent
unwillingness on the part of the affected
countries and the donors to make it work
as originally conceived.
15. The UN General Assembly decided (Res.
32/172 of 19 December 1977, para. 8) to
entrust the Governing Council and the
Executive Director of UNEP as well as
the Environment Co-ordinate Board [ECB],
with the responsibility of following-up
and co-ordinating the implementation of
the PACD. Based on the Executive Director's
reports, the Governing Council of UNEP
considered various aspects of the problem
of desertification and of the progress
in implementing the PACD at each of its
regular sessions since 1978, periodically
reporting the results of considerations
to the General Assembly through the Economic
and Social Council. Within UNEP, a Desertification
Control Branch was established which was
later transformed into Desertification
Control Programme Activity Center [DC/PAC].
This unit also provided a secretariat
for IAWGD and DESCON.
16. With the Plan in place, UNEP, supported
by the IAWGD, saw its primary role as
consisting of the following:
• assisting
countries to formulate national action
plans for combating desertification;
• stimulating and co-ordinating
action within the international community
and the United Nations system in particular;
• assessing desertification at
a global level and developing a methodology
for the assessment;
• monitoring the implementation
of the PACD at a global level;
• building a computerized data
base on desertification and disseminating
information for use in desertification
control;
• promoting national, regional
and global co-operative action through
the establishment of networks of institutions
and NGOs engaged in desertification
control;
• co-operating with national,
regional and international institutions
in the assessment and monitoring of
desertification through the application
of relevant methodologies within the
means of developing countries;
• creating and co-ordinating a
network of regional and international
training courses on desertification
control, particularly for personnel
from developing countries;
• sponsoring a few pilot projects
for testing and demonstrating technologies
for desertification control and integrated
development in drylands.
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17. UNEP has been in
a position to sponsor and to fund the
above skeletal programme areas from the
Environment fund. But the main activities
had to be funded through different mechanisms,
such as the Trust Fund administered by
UNSO, funds administered by the specialized
UN agencies, the World Bank, Regional
Development Banks and bilateral aid agencies.
18. Members of the IAWGD have been particularly
helpful to UNEP in the technical aspects
of the PACD implementation such as deriving
criteria and techniques for the assessment
of desertification [FAO, UNESCO, WMO],
holding training workshops and seminars,
and the preparation of field manuals for
use in various anti-desertification activities.
19. UNEP has managed to work with the
UN regional commissions quite successfully,
and has succeeded in co-ordinating their
work which is relevant to the recommendations
of the PACD. Important break-through has
included the establishment of several
regional networks since 1984. UNEP Governing
Council decision 12/10 of 1984 contained
recommendations for stronger regional
action and supported the establishment
of regional networks primarily for training
and demonstration. The following networks
were established:
• Network on
Sand-Dune Fixation - North Africa and
Middle East [ESCWA];
• Network on Afforestation - Latin
America [ECLAC];
• Regional Network of Research
and Training Centers for Desertification
Control in Asia and the Pacific - Asia
and the Pacific [ESCAP/UNEP/UNESCO];
• NGO Network of Research and
Information Development of Sustainable
Livelihoods in the Arid and Semi-Arid
Lands in Africa [ECA];
• Watershed Management Network
- SADCC region of Africa [ECA];
• Chaco Arid Zones Network - Argentina
[ECLAC];
• Dendro-energy Network - Peru
[ECLAC].
In commenting on the
establishment of these networks, the ACC
recently noted that the networking approach
represents an effective means of implementing
the PACD (UNEP/GC/SS I/5/1988). There
are other networks at global level established
by one or more agencies working together.
These include the MAB National Committees
of UNESCO plus the MAB International Network
of Biosphere Reserves.
20. At UNCOD, attempts were made to find
suitable candidates of large anti-desertification
projects for international action. These
were transnational projects like the Trans-Saharan
Green Belt in North Africa. Apart from
their rather idealistic format, they helped
to emphasize the fact that desertification
is not limited by political boundaries.
As part of that international approach
there have recently been several new projects
which are better researched and less idealistic.
These include AMCEN's African Deserts
and Arid Lands Committee [ADALCO] projects
which involve true deserts (Sahara), adjoining
river basins, economic communities (Common
Market partners), and the African NGOs
Network. These international collaborative
projects also include the development
of sub-regional data bases, monitoring
systems for the Sahara, Somali-Chalbi
and Kalahari-Namib deserts, and the selection
and implementation of regional projects
suggested by the Cairo Programme in line
with the PACD.
21. Economic and social issues are central
to international co-operation in responding
to the PACD. The Plan had specific recommendations
on dealing with some of these aspects
but they have been the most difficult
to quantify. It is important both at national
and international levels to endeavor to
sensitize planners, project managers and
technical persons on these issues, to
ensure that they give them the priority
ratings required for adequate funding.
There are certain achievements in this
area, but it is difficult to say how substantial
they are and what impact they provide
for the implementation of the PACD.
22. The rehabilitation of the national
wealth of natural resources in the form
of land surely deserves a better deal,
particularly through appropriate land
surveys at the first stage. This issue
has still inadequate priority. In the
past, donor governments, inter-governmental
organizations, aid agencies and non-governmental
organizations have often failed to accord
high priority to restoring degraded land
and tend to favor projects of agriculture,
even when the land resource base is fast
being depleted by degradation. They were
usually reluctant to fund pastoralist
areas where nomadic or semi-nomadic peoples
are fast degrading the rangeland by overgrazing.
23. In terms of financial and technical
support for anti-desertification projects
as contained in the PACD, UNDP has made
the largest contribution in its normal
process of funding various development
programmes in the developing countries.
Many of the UNDP funded projects were
executed by the relevant UN agencies,
and the greatest concentration of anti-desertification
projects has been executed by FAO, particularly
in the areas of rainfed croplands, rangeland
and range management improvement, soil
degradation, secondary salinization of
irrigated cropland.
24. International effort to assist in
combating desertification is illustrated
by the following list of projects implemented
or executed by the UN agencies between
1978 and 1990:
Table
25. A UNDP-UNEP joint
venture enabled UNSO to assist, on behalf
of UNEP, 22 developing countries in the
Sudano-Sahelian region of Africa with
their national programmes to combat desertification.
These countries are most seriously affected
by desertification, many of which are
least developed countries. This activity
covered a large area including: co- ordination
of anti-desertification programmes within
the region, promotion and encouragement
of regional co-operation, provision of
general policy guidelines for the direction
and co- ordination of anti-desertification
programmes, support for efforts undertaken
to combat desertification at national
level, working with various donors and
mobilization of financial resources, assisting
countries in the translation of the PACD
recommendations into concrete projects,
assisting countries in the preparation
of their national PACDs, monitoring of
the implementation of the PACD in the
region.
26. Between 1974 and 1989, more than US
$ 200 million had been channelled by UNSO
for projects in the region. Programmes
that benefitted from these funds were
relevant to the PACD, such as afforestation
and reforestation, fuelwood conservation
and the utilization of alternative sources
of energy, rangeland conservation, soil
management and sand dune stabilization,
integrated land management, and planning
and programming for natural resources
conservation.
27. Although the funds, mobilized by UNSO
are very far from adequate, the UNSO example
demonstrates the fact that, if more funds
were available, anti-desertification programmes
within the framework of the PACD would
have been on a more meaningful level throughout
the world compared to the present. The
Sudano-Sahelian region of Africa fared
better than the other regions around the
globe in respect of resources mobilization
for anti-desertification activities. Some
consideration was given to the possibility
of replicating the "UNSO Experience"
in other badly degraded lands of the world.
Furthermore, the important role of UNSO
in Africa is that its experience is now
being shared by certain sub-regional inter-governmental
organizations such as IGADD, SADCC, ECOWAS
and COMIDES, which are dealing with anti-desertification
programmes in their respective sub-regions
of Africa.
28. Another example of the United Nations
efforts to cope with the problem is the
current provision, through World Food
Programme, of some half billion dollars
worth of food aid to projects which aim
at reducing desertification impact on
affected population. The WFP projects
mainly focus on providing food-for-work
in support of activities such as tree
planting, building of soils and water
conservation structures, and construction
and rehabilitation of irrigation/drainage
systems. Over the 1980-1990 period WFP
supplied about US $ 700 million of emergency
food aid for victims of drought and crop
failure in drylands. Some US $ 127 million
of emergency food aid was provided to
those in 1991.
29. One of the most successful international
actions catalyzed and co-ordinated by
UNEP has been through sponsorship of training
courses, seminars and workshops in collaboration
with a number of countries. These were
often repeated during the last ten years
(number in brackets). The main themes
of these were:
• Sand dune
fixation (6),
• Reclamation of saline irrigated
soils (5),
• Ecology, productivity and management
of rangelands (10),
• Combating desertification through
integrated development (4),
• Physics of desertification (1)
• Desertification control (5)
• Zootechnology in drylands (2),
• Creating desertification awareness
(2),
• Drylands agriculture and machinery
use (1),
• Protection of oasis and lands
from sand dune encroachment (1),
• Role of forests and afforestation
in combating desertification (1),
• Soil erosion and water conservation
(2),
• Ecological studies in drylands
(1),
• Afforestation techniques and
suitable species (1),
• Use of aerial photographs and
satellite imagery (1),
• Rainfed agriculture and soil
conservation (1),
• Assessment of desertification
(6),
• Soil laboratory techniques (1),
• Agricultural development in
drylands (1),
• Role of women in combating desertification
(6),
• Diagnosis, reclamation and conservation
of gypsiferous soils (1),
• Eco-farming villages (1),
• Anti-desertification projects
formulation (1).
30. The following data
illustrate the participation of the countries
in the organization of the above training
courses, seminars and workshops sponsored
by UNEP from 1978 through 1991 as well
as the number of participating specialists,
from developing countries affected by
desertification:
Table
31. In addition to the
above, the Southern India training courses
on afforestation, organized by the "Millions
of Trees Club" NGO, were attended
by 1,600 local participants at grassroots
level.
32. Various training courses related to
combating desertification were also organized
by members of IAWGD as well as by different
inter-governmental regional organizations.
33. Thus, a total number of about 7,000
specialists, practically all from developing
countries affected by desertification,
have received their additional anti-desertification
training through various international
courses, seminars and workshops during
the years of implementation of the PACD,
to which 1,600 trainees at grassroots
level in India should be added. Naturally,
this is far below what is required at
global level but it shows a good start.
34. Several recently launched international
initiatives related to the anti-desertification
campaign should be particularly mentioned.
One is the 1990 initiative of FAO to undertake
a large-scale International Scheme for
the Conservation and Rehabilitation of
African Lands, which is designed to provide
a means by which African countries can
develop their own programmes to fight
land degradation. The scheme is specifically
designed to enable countries to tailor
these programmes to meet their individual
needs. The second was also undertaken
by FAO in 1990 - an international action
programme on Water and Sustainable Agricultural
Development which has a strong drylands
water management component. The third
initiative belongs to IFAD under its Special
Programme for Sub-Saharan African Countries
Affected by Drought and Desertification,
which gave priority to improving food
security by measures to preserve the environment
and restore existing productive capacity
and to ensuring that projects, once completed,
would yield lasting benefits.
35. Certain concrete examples may be selected
to illustrate the achievements of the
international community in assisting countries
struck by desertification in solving their
respective environmental and developmental
problems. One such good example is the
Keita Integrated Development Project in
Niger launched by FAO in 1984 with the
support of the governments of Niger and
Italy. As stated by Mr. E. Saouma, Director-General
of FAO, "The Keita Integrated Development
Project testifies to the dramatic achievements
that can result when human energy and
innovation are applied to tackle the challenges
of rural development. In just fives years,
the people of Keita have transformed their
district from a barren landscape unable
to meet basic food requirements to a flourishing
environment for crops and livestock. The
Keita project has put into practice FAO'S
objectives for integrated, sustainable
development." The project involved
typically Sahelian semi-arid landscape
with an area of some 257 thousand hectares,
205 villages and 156 thousand inhabitants.
Unfortunately, however, such examples,
are scarce throughout the world.
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(III)
ROLE OF REGIONAL AND SUB-REGIONAL CO-OPERATION
36. Co-ordination at regional level has
been meaningful for various reasons. Desertification
as an environmental phenomenon cuts across
international boundaries, hence it calls
for cross- boundary co-operation, particularly
at sub-regional level where the experiences,
efforts and technologies could be shared
by neighboring countries having similar
problems and similar ecological conditions.
37. In addition to the activities of the
UN Regional Commissions, several sub-regional
inter- governmental institutions and programmes
were established that were specifically
directed to the desertification problem
throughout the developing countries affected
by desertification, and more particularly
in Africa.
38. Even before UNCOD, African drought
and famine problems had led to the establishment
in 1973 of the Inter-State Committee for
Control of Drought in the Sahel [CILSS],
a body which was sponsored by the Club
du Sahel uniting several industrialized
countries and the developing countries
of the western part of the Sudano-Sahelian
region. CILSS was followed in 1973 by
UNSO which was a mechanism for the co-ordination
of the United Nations efforts to assist
Sahel countries in combating drought.
Later on, the mandate of UNSO was expanded
to cover the combat against desertification
in the Sahel and now this UN organ covers
the whole region consisting of 22 countries
affected by desertification. The activities
of UNSO were referred to in Paras. 25-27
above.
39. The Committee of Ministers on Desertification
[COMIDES] with its headquarters based
in Dakar, Senegal, the Inter-Governmental
Authority on Drought and Development [IGADD]
covering the East-African sub-region,
the Southern African Development Co-ordination
Conference [SADCC], relevant activities
of such sub-regional organizations as
the Arab Maghreb Union [AMU] and the Economic
Community of West African States [ECOWAS]
are examples of sub-regional mechanisms,
each with important mandates to make contributions
in the implementation of some of the recommendations
of the PACD. 40. The African Ministerial
Conference on the Environment [AMCEN]
has among its activities an important
mechanism for the implementation of the
PACD - the African Deserts and Arid Lands
Committee [ADALCO]. This committee has
decided to tackle some PACD projects like
the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer, North-African
Green Belt, Kalahari-Namib Action Plan,
"savannization" and "sahelization"
problems in Africa, etc. The Cairo Programme
(of AMCEN) can be said to be closely in
line with the need to address the PACD.
41. With relevance to the implementation
of the PACD, the African Environment Agenda
reflected the environmental aspirations
enshrined in the Monrovia Doctrine of
1979. The Lagos Plan of Action, adopted
in 1980 by the Assembly of Heads of States
and Governments of the Organization of
African Unity [OAU], set out the long-term
development objectives of Africa, giving
priority to regional food self-sufficiency,
the elimination of poverty through the
satisfaction of basic needs and national
and regional self-reliance. The Cairo
Plan of Action approved by AMCEN in 1985
aims at strengthening the co-operation
with the objective of halting and reversing
degradation of the African environment.
In 1986, in response to the deepening
crisis, the OAU adopted Africa's Priority
Programme for Economic Recovery 1986-
1990 and the UN General Assembly adopted
a programme as the United Nations Plan
of Action for Africa Economic Recovery
and Development 1986-1990. All these regional
co-operative initiatives incorporated
drought and desertification as one of
the priorities.
42. One good example of regional and inter-regional
co-operation is the initiative by the
European Economic Community within the
framework of the Lomé Convention,
through which assistance is provided to
the African countries struck by desertification.
Under IIIrd Lome Convention, 1000 MECU
were devoted to direct and indirect actions
to fight against desertification through
the European Plan of Action which combined
EDF funds and Member States funds. It
is recognized, as a result of past years
experience, that there is a need for a
much broader strategic approach to desertification
than one limited solely to dealing with
the most visible phenomena. Within the
past 3-4 years a number of projects related
to combat against desertification were
implemented in different countries of
Africa, among which 18% were specifically
designed for management of natural resources
and land use, 19% were sectoral production
projects with at least 70% of funds devoted
to controlling the deterioration of natural
resources, and 63% were integrated rural
development projects with at least 50%
component related to combating desertification.
43. In the ESCWA region, UNEP has been
co-operating with various inter-governmental
organizations, some of them members of
different networks interested in contributing
to the PACD implementation. One such co-operation
is with the Arab League Educational, Cultural
and Scientific Organization [ALECSO] on
the implementation of the North African
Green Belt Project. The original feasibility
study for this project was carried out
by ALECSO for presentation to UNCOD. Further
links with ALECSO were established when
a joint UNEP/ALECSO sponsorship led in
1986 to the convening of the first Arab
Ministerial Conference on Environmental
Considerations in Development. Co-operation
with the Arab Centre for Studies of Arid
Zones and Drylands [ACSAD] centered around
the preparation of national plans for
combating desertification in West Asia.
Countries which have benefitted from this
include Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Yemen.
Apart from these, several member countries
of ESCWA have shown interest in extending
the Green Belt concept in keeping with
the recommendations of the PACD.
44. The above examples clearly show that
the regional and sub-regional approach
which has developed recently is the most
promising and should be followed in the
implementation of the PACD throughout
the world.
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(IV)ACTIONS
AT NATIONAL LEVEL
45. The PACD underlines that effective
action needs to be at national level.
Success at national level is reflected
at the regional level and ultimately at
global level. Where funds for anti-desertification
measures are limited, any action that
is taken will depend on national priorities.
Although attention on drought and desertification
increased steadily throughout the 1980s,
national government priorities were little
concerned with their marginal lands or
long- term conservation activities. The
acute economic crisis forced them to concentrate
on economic affairs such as energy provision,
unfavourable trade balances and terms
of trade, indebtedness and debt rescheduling.
By emphasizing these concerns, structural
adjustment plans often increased pressure
on natural resources by stressing export
production and foreign exchange earnings.
This practice has often led to further
degradation of the natural resource base,
desertification.
46. As recommended by the PACD, countries
affected by desertification would prepare
national plans adapted to their specific
natural, economic, social and cultural
conditions. Till present, only some 20
countries, out of 99 affected, have developed
their national programmes to combat desertification,
In the preparation of these national plans,
the countries, upon their request, were
assisted by UNEP as well as by other relevant
UN agencies, e.g. FAO, ESCWA, UNSO. Attempts
were made to incorporate these NPACDs
into national development programmes or
strategies. According to available information,
the following situation in this respect
can be reported:
• Countries
with developed NPACDs and at the advanced
stage of implementation: Argentina,
Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Tunisia;
• Countries with developed NPACDs
and at the beginning of implementation
:
Benin, Botswana (National
Nature Conservation Strategy), Burkina
Faso, Chad, Jordan, Kenya (partial),
Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania,
Uruguay;
• Countries with NPACDs under
preparation : Mongolia, Peru, Yemen.
47. Action at national
level presupposes that plans have been
approved and funds set aside for appropriate
activities. But the truth of the matter
is that most developing countries affected
by desertification were concurrently struggling
with major drought and other pressing
economic and social problems. Under these
circumstances, there was a wide preference
for short-term investments with immediate
returns rather than for long-term and
low-yield investments such as were envisaged
in dealing with desertification (25 years
or more) to stop the process and to restore
badly degraded land to an acceptable level
of productivity once more. Furthermore,
areas affected by desertification are
often inhabited by pastoral nomads or
semi-nomads who are usually socio-politically
marginalized. Where this is the case,
causes of failure include neglect over
past long periods and the lack of adequate
machinery on the ground.
48. Lack of financial resources to undertake
such large-scale activities as proposed
in the PACD was a major cause for the
failure at national level. Because donor-countries
and agencies showed a clear preference
for bilateral aid, developing countries,
which tried to marshall resources for
anti-desertification activities, found
themselves changing to short-term "more
fundable" projects, usually those
dealing with agricultural development.
49. Land degradation as a development
issue cuts across many ministries in most
governments in both developing and industrialized
countries. This calls for co-ordination.
The absence of this co-ordination has
often led to dispersion of efforts at
national level. Some development funds
were available nationally for affected
countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America,
and there are examples of successful projects
almost in each country. Efforts to co-
ordinate some of these disparate projects
at the sub-regional and regional levels
produced series of Networks that have
been established in the last years.
50. The active participation of the peoples
themselves in the implementation of the
PACD at national level has not been achieved
in the majority of countries affected,
although there are certain examples of
massive public participation in some campaigns,
e.g. afforestation campaigns in Algeria,
India and Kenya. In 1988-1989, the grassroots
participation or self-help projects were
sponsored by members of IAWGD in Djibouti,
Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya,
Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania,
Uganda, Zaire, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Several
eco-village projects are launched in China
and throughout Africa. The potential for
meaningful and successful action at national
level has now been increased in Africa
through a series of demonstration village
projects set up under AMCEN. This innovative
approach is beginning to attract funds
even though donors still insist on bilateral
negotiations.
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(V)
IMPLEMENTATION OF SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS
OF THE PACD
51. Recommendations 1-3: Assessment of
desertification and improvement of land
management
Assessment of desertification is essential
for each affected country. This requires
national machinery, especially to evaluate
how desertification affects the people,
and a programme of land use planning and
management based on ecologically sound
methods. Many developing countries plagued
by poverty could not accord the priorities
required to handle these recommendations
appropriately. Shortage of human and technical
resources prevented many countries from
mounting proper assessment machineries.
In order to institute land use planning,
there should be a tradition of it in the
country in question. It is therefore found
that some countries have gone much further
than others because of their own particular
circumstances, for example where the tradition
of land use planning has been in operation
for other purposes like irrigation or
commercial farming. As for creating public
awareness and participation, there is
some evidence of the achievements recorded
since UNCOD. In general, however, there
is still much more to be done.
52. Recommendation 4: Combination of industrialization
and urbanization with the development
of agriculture and their effects on ecology
in arid areas
Industrialization and urbanization, if
properly conceived and pursued, can reduce
ecological pressures on drylands environment,
thereby ameliorating desertification in
these lands. During the last fourteen
years, a series of workshops and training
courses were carried out to enable people
from developing countries to study the
problems associated with urbanization
and industrialization as they have an
impact on desertification both in the
USSR and China. A number of publications
were issued by UNEP in this connection.
Countries, which are sufficiently industrialized
and urbanized are nevertheless succeeding
in providing a relief to the hard pressed
rural environment, in Latin America for
example. In the Middle East the development
of the oil industry has helped to relieve
rural areas. Much more needs to be done
by UNEP in co-operation with UNCHS (Habitat)
and UNIDO for the realization of this
recommendation.
53. Recommendations 5-10: Corrective anti-desertification
measures
Corrective anti-desertification measures
at national level are of primary importance
in determining success or failure. There
has been a lot of international support
over the last fourteen years in the form
of disparate projects, particularly in
Africa, but they are still like a drop
in the ocean in respect of the magnitude
of the problem. A look at the projects
shows that the majority of them consist
of studies, planning and programming missions,
seminars and workshops, with very few
field-based actions. The assumption is
that once sensitized the countries themselves
should identify and plan the anti-desertification
field projects. The most impressive field
projects have recently concerned sand
dune stabilization (China, Iran, Mauritania)
water improvement (Burkina Faso), rangeland
rehabilitation and reforestation, integrated
rural development (Niger). Action to restore
degraded irrigated lands is difficult
and costly; it is easier to institute
corrective measures in newly established
irrigation schemes. Failure will always
result at the national level where there
is a lack of the tradition of management,
and future efforts should be directed
at assisting the countries to acquire
the knowledge. Frequent and prolonged
droughts, especially in Africa, and rapid
population growth and unplanned demographic
changes, including the problem of the
refugees, remained very serious obstacles
for achievement and progress to be noticed.
The results achieved so far seem to suggest
that a broad-based rural development strategy
is the real issue.
54. Recommendations 11 & 16: Monitoring
physical conditions of the land and human
conditions
Certain provisions of these recommendations
were recently implemented in various parts
of the world by establishing different
monitoring or early warning systems at
international, regional and national levels.
At global level these are represented,
for example, by the Global Environment
Monitoring System [GEMS] and the Global
Resource Information Database [GRID] of
UNEP, several appropriate monitoring systems
of FAO, WHO and WMO, including FAO's regular
issue of Food Outlook (Global Information
and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture)
and Desert Locust Bulletin. At regional
level, there is regular FAO information
on weather, food and agricultural conditions
in Africa and in the Sahel in particular.
At national level, an example may be given
of regular issue of Early Warning System
Bulletin of Turkana District in Kenya,
another one being that of the establishment,
with financial and technical assistance
from UNSO, of the National Ecological
Monitoring Centre in Senegal under the
Ministry of Nature Protection. Another
development is the initiative of the Government
of France to establish a permanent monitoring
system for North Africa in a large region
covering areas both north and south of
the Sahara. However, all these activities
are not very well co- ordinated, particularly
from a methodological point of view, and
do not provide a comprehensive picture
of the state of affairs on a regular basis.
This is a very good start, indeed, but
the efforts should be expanded.
55. Recommendations 12-15: Socio-economic
aspects of combating desertification
As the analysis of numerous reports shows,
social, political and economic aspects
of decertification have been addressed
both nationally and internationally over
the last fourteen years, but not adequately
enough to make significant impact on the
problem. Obviously, much work needs to
be done if land degradation is to be halted.
56. Recommendation 17: Insurance against
the risk and effects of drought
Drought is closely related to desertification,
to such an extent that even among the
scientific community there is a risk of
confusing one for the other. For industrialized
countries which have large arid, semi-arid
and dry sub-humid stretches of their land
areas plagued with recurrent drought,
elaborate drought insurance schemes have
been put into practice to cushion their
rural communities from these natural disasters.
Since UNCOD, efforts have been made to
ensure affected populations, particularly
those in Africa, by the institution of
"drought early warning systems"
and the establishment of grain reserves
(most of the time imported) to tide affected
populations over the spell of drought.
There are efforts to institute even more
elaborate crop insurance schemes in many
of the menaced countries in the developing
world, but the economic base on which
these are built is weak. The notion of
drought risk insurance in drylands should
be even more applicable to livestock and
rangelands, because in the final analysis
pastoral peoples rely more on their livestock
than on their crops. Fourteen years after
UNCOD, there is little evidence of a break-through
in livestock and rangeland insurance against
drought risk. For many of the countries
concerned, particularly in Africa, foreign
aid is still the main insurance against
famine during the drought years.
57. Recommendations 18-20: Strengthening
science and technology at a national level
The PACD clearly identified the lack of
scientific and technological capabilities
in many developing countries as an obvious
obstacle to successful national campaigns
against desertification. This issue seems
to have received adequate attention. Probably,
the largest number of anti-desertification
projects have gone to training, education,
information and institution-building.
Agricultural research which is the key
to rural development in drylands has also
received much attention. Assistance to
developing countries has come in the form
of advice, technical and financial support,
and training. In the area of energy-related
science and technology, some success has
been recorded particularly in two issues:
the use of fuel-efficient stoves and solar
heating to relieve pressure on the wood-fuel
reserves, in addition to the search for
alternative sources of energy.
58. Recommendation 21: Establishment of
national machineries to combat desertification
Only a few countries have established
special machineries for implementing the
PACD at governmental level. The responsibility
was mostly given to existing ministries
or departments concerned with the environment,
forestry or agriculture. Focal points
were designated in many countries to provide
the liaison and co-ordination with both
regional or international and national
institutions concerned with the implementation
of the PACD. Nowhere in the world was
a hierarchical national machinery established
that would include provincial and local
authorities, the latter mostly not being
aware of any national plan or programme
to combat desertification. However, a
positive example of coming progress may
be found in Kenya where the Ministry of
Reclamation and Development of Arid, Semi-Arid
Areas and Wasteland was established in
1989. This ministry is responsible for
integrated development and protection
and rehabilitation of the environment
in 88% of Kenyan territory referred to
in its name, which involves 22 districts,
25% of the country's populations and 50%
of the national livestock. The ministry
reports to the Inter-Ministerial Co-ordinating
Committee on Environment and then to the
National Environment Secretariat in the
Office of the President. At local level,
the ministry is planning to establish
Arid and Semi-Arid Lands Centres for Management,
Training, Demonstration and Adaptive Research
in each of the districts to be complemented
by Multi- disciplinary Mobile Extension
Teams, which are envisaged as the key
tool in providing the dialogue between
land users and decision makers. This machinery
started functioning by developing in 1991,
the Environmental Action Plan for Arid
and Semi-Arid Lands in Kenya to be adopted
by the Government.
59. Recommendation 22: Integration of
anti-desertification programmes into development
plans
Land degradation (desertification) is
a multi-sectoral in its extent, and it
would be pointless to create a development
sector called "desertification control"
and expect it to be funded separately.
Therefore, all actions against desertification
should be included in appropriate sections
of general development programmes or strategies.
The recent assessment and the discussions
in successive sessions of UNEP's Governing
Council and DESCON provided guidance in
this field. Several countries, including
Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Syria, Tunisia,
have since developed national plans of
action to combat desertification and have
managed to integrate them with national
plans of development. Programmes of action
to implement these plans were submitted
to round-table meetings of donors for
support. Unfortunately, no support was
found for considering these plans in their
totalities.
60. Recommendations 23-28: International
action
These recommendations were implemented
during the past fourteen years at a larger
degree. The PACD, though recognizing that
action is primarily the responsibility
of governments with their national institutions,
equally recognized that co-ordination
of national, regional and international
programmes in the general campaign against
desertification was essential. This is
the role that was given to UNEP and its
specific organ, Desertification Control
Programme Activity Centre [DC/PAC]. In
this sense, it was understood that UNEP
would work closely with other United Nations
bodies, through IAWGD, ACC and DESCON.
This role in the Sudano-Sahelian region
of Africa was largely played, on behalf
of UNEP, by UNSO having an appropriate
mandate through the UNDP/UNEP Joint Venture.
Their joint role was to elaborate on desertification
assessment and control methodologies,
co-ordinate and support scientific and
technological research and training, facilitate
exchange of information, and provide financial
and technical support for the implementation
of the recommendations outlined in the
PACD. The account of these activities
during the past fourteen years is given
in Paras 11-35 above.
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(VI)CONCLUSION
61. Unfortunately, it must be admitted
that little evidence of progress emerges
from the numerous reports concerned directly
or indirectly with desertification control,
either in relation to the natural resources
situation or to agricultural production
in the affected regions and countries.
Inspite of all development and desertification
control programmes launched during recent
years, the situation has not improved,
although there are some local examples
of success.
62. Major efforts in implementing the
PACD were directed to supporting measures
rather than to concrete corrective field
operations. As the present assessment
shows, the area of lands affected by desertification
is not decreasing, although some trees
were planted throughout the world and
some areas of shifting sands were stabilized.
Neither major improvement of degrading
irrigated croplands nor control of soil
erosion in rainfed cropland nor substantial
improvement of rangelands were achieved.
The whole rural environment in the drylands
of the world continues to deteriorate
adversely affecting the socio-economic
conditions of their inhabitants.
PART
III. Policy Guidelines and Course of Action
for Combating Desertification...
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