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Google Alert - desertification
http://www.iucn.org/en/news/archive/2007/09/19_drylands.htm
19 September 2007
As the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, comprising 191 countries, closed in Madrid in early morning of Saturday 15 September, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) called for greater engagement of the international community to fight desertification and address climate change impacts in drylands
Parties and civil society came together in Madrid with the hope of a new era for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). However, many left with the feeling (illustrated by the lack of final agreement on the increase of the Secretariat’s budget) that the importance of this Convention is not yet fully recognized.
The Eight Conference of the Parties (COP8) to the UNCCD was held from 3 to 15 September 2007 in the Spanish capital, and included a high level segment where environment ministries pledged to more action to combat desertification worldwide. Despite some negotiation hurdles, there were important milestones in the COP decisions, such as the adoption of a 10 year strategic plan and renewed mandates for the main organs of the Convention.
As the UNCCD deals with land degradation in drylands, it is highly relevant to addressing poverty and climate change impacts. Caterina Wolfangel, IUCN Drylands Programme Officer, who works extensively on desertification issues in Africa, said: “The UNCCD should draw more international attention on the world’s drylands and the challenges they are facing, and should provide further guidance and support on how to achieve success in terms of enhancing resilience to climate change and reducing poverty through sustainable land management.”
Other important decisions of this eighth Conference of the Parties include the revision of the process of national reporting, to ensure that they focus on successes and gaps and become a reference for economic and development planners, and the decision to convene future meetings of the Committee on Science and Technology in a conference-style format, for it to become a cutting-edge sharing platform of latest scientific information and make it accessible to policy makers to guide their decisions.
In a statement delivered to the UNCCD High Level Segment by Rami Salman, IUCN Programme Coordinator for the Mediterranean region, IUCN urged the Parties to recognize the significant contributions of drylands to national economies and local livelihoods. He emphasized the IUCN commitment to assist in the implementation of the UNCCD 10 year strategic plan through the development of a Global Drylands Initiative “to leverage partnerships on the ground, in areas such as sustainable dryland ecosystem management for livelihood security, dryland economics and valuation, and adaptation to climate change”.
For more information:
Caterina Wolfangel, Programme Officer, Drylands; The World Conservation Union (IUCN),
Eastern Africa Regional Office, Nairobi, Kenya Tel: ++254 (020) 890605 /12; Email: caterina.wolfangeliucn.org; www.iucn.org/ecosystems
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