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| Sunday, 22 January 2006 |
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Junior Observer |  |
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Protecting the Earth from desertification This year, 2006 is marked as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification(IYDD). On January 1, the United Nations launched its International Year of Deserts and Desertification to raise global public awareness of the advancing deserts, of ways to safeguard the biological diversity of arid(parched) lands covering one third of the planet and protecting the knowledge and traditions of the two billion people affected by the phenomenon(existing situation).
The Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has stressed the importance of recognising that in addition to the human and environmental cost of the eroding that contributes to the problem, the drylands are the location of some of the most magnificent ecosystems of this world: the deserts. Desertification and drought cause an estimated loss of 42 billion US Dollars a year from agricultural production, contribute to food insecurity, famine and poverty and can give rise to social, economic and political tensions that can cause conflicts, further impoverishment and land degradation, according to the Convention's Secretariat. At the same time, these natural habitats with their incredibly diverse fauna have been home to some of the world's oldest civilizations and the Convention's Secretariat hopes the Year will also celebrate the fragile beauty and unique heritage of the world's deserts, which deserve protection.
Desertification, in the words of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, is one of the world's most alarming processes of environmental degradation. The issue is often obscured (concealed), however, by a common misperception: that it's a "natural" problem of advancing deserts in faraway developing countries. Desertification as a global challenge, together with climate change and biodiversity, now enjoys the support of a strong union of partners. But public awareness has not kept pace. In relation to the true scope and magnitude(scale) of the problem, desertification still receives too little attention and is little understood by the public. In view of this situation, the 22nd session of the United Nations Environment Programme, recalling the UNCCD, the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the Environment Initiative of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), invited the General Assembly of the United Nations to consider declaring an international year of deserts and desertification. Subsequently, at its 58th ordinary session, the General Assembly declared 2006 the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. In doing so, the General Assembly underlined its deep concern for the exacerbation (worsening) of desertification, particularly in Africa, and noted its far-reaching implications for the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, which must be met by 2015. At the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, the Convention was singled out as a key instrument for poverty eradication(wipe-out) in dryland rural areas. What is desertification? The UNCCD defines desertification as the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. Desertification occurs in arid, semi-arid and sub-humid areas - where the soils are especially fragile, vegetation is sparse (thinly scattered) and the climate particularly harsh. These areas are inhabited by one fifth of the world's population. One third of the earth's land surface (four billion hectares) is threatened by desertification, and over 250 million people are directly affected by it. Twenty four billion tons of fertile soil disappear annually. From 1991 to 2000 alone, droughts have been responsible for over 280,000 deaths; they accounted for 11 per cent of the total water-related disasters. Causes of desertification Desertification comes mainly from variations in climate and from human activities, but many other causes can interact to create conditions likely to lead to desertification. These include the movement of refugees during periods of conflict, inappropriate land use or environmental management, specific socio-economic and political factors. Climatic variations High temperatures lasting for months create droughts that prevent the vegetation from growing. Human activities Human activities leading to desertification are mainly related to agriculture:overgrazing removes the vegetation cover that protects it from erosion, over-cultivation exhausts the soil and deforestation destroys the trees that bind the land to the soil. Wood is the principal source of domestic energy for lighting and cooking in many arid areas. Poor irrigation practices raise salinity (salt content), and sometimes dry the rivers that feed large lakes: the Aral Sea in Central Asia and Lake Chad in the African country Chad have shrunk dramatically in this way. The intensification of human activities brings an increased greenhouse effect, causing global warming. Dry lands are likely to be especially vulnerable to rises of temperature during the 21st Century. Poverty and desertification: the vicious circle Economic pressures can lead to the over-exploitation of land, and usually hit the poorest, hardest. Forced to extract as much as they can from the land for food, energy, housing and source of income, they are both the causes and the victims of desertification. International trade patterns are based on the short-term exploitation of local resources for export, acting against the long-term interests of the local people. Poverty leads to desertification, which in turn leads to poverty. Await more information on desertification. |
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