Focus on land and soil should be central to UNFCCC and Rio+20 (Google / RTCC)

Read at : Google Alert – desertification

http://www.rtcc.org/nature/bonn-2012-unccd-calls-for-agriculture-to-be-central-to-rio20/

Bonn 2012: UNCCD calls for agriculture to be central to Rio+20

By Tierney Smith
RTCC in Bonn

Agriculture and a focus on land and soil should be central to both this year’s UNFCCC climate talks and the Earth Summit in June.

Home to around a third of the population, drylands account for 44% of cultivated land systems and 50% of its livestock – and yet poor land management and agricultural practices continue to be a major cause of desertification worldwide.

Speaking to RTCC, Sergio Zelaya from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) said he was pleased to see real work taking place at the conference on agriculture.

This year in Bonn sees agriculture considered and dealt with in an organised way within the UN climate process.

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