NEWS - ENVIRO
| 2013-08-08Understanding the value of drylands
ABSALOM SHIGWEDHA
DESERTIFICATION is largely driven by the expansion of agricultural land and in drylands, 12 million hectares of land is lost every year due to desertification, says the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
Luc Gnacadja said Africa is the most vulnerable continent to desertification, land degradation and droughts as 43% of the continent is dryland. Globally, he said, 27 species of micro-organisms are lost each year due to land degradation.
Gnacadja gave a talk entitled ‘Towards last solutions to desertification, land degradation and drought – the role of the UNCCD’ in Windhoek last week.
He said soil is an important commodity in poverty alleviation as poverty is 70% rural, especially in Africa. Gnacadja said if the current rate of land degradation continues, two-third of agricultural land in Africa will be lost by 2025.
The Benin-born Gnacadja said mechanisms need to be put in place to restore degraded land, as this problem has led to many armed conflicts by people who fight for few natural resources.
Gnacadja said some of the main challenges facing the UNCCD in addressing desertification include recognition of the convention, weak scientific basis, lack of understanding of the impact of desertification and land degradation and inadequate finances.
Namibia will host the 11th Conference of Parties to the UNCCD next month. The country is a party to the UNCCD and made great strides towards the fight against desertification and land degradation.This will be the third time an African country will host the conference.
So, far it has only been held in Kenya and Senegal. The decision for Namibia to host the conference was endorsed at a meeting of Parties to the UNCCD held in Bonn earlier this year. The conference will be from the 14-28 September 2013.
The UNCCD is one of the three UN Conventions that emanated from the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. The other three are the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
Namibia ratified the UNCCD in 1997. The objective of the UNCCD is to fight desertification and land degradation, especially in those parts of the world experiencing serious drought such as Africa.
*Absalom Shigwedha is a freelance environmental journalist. E-mail: absalom.shigwedha@gmailcom
DESERTIFICATION is largely driven by the expansion of agricultural land and in drylands, 12 million hectares of land is lost every year due to desertification, says the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
Luc Gnacadja said Africa is the most vulnerable continent to desertification, land degradation and droughts as 43% of the continent is dryland. Globally, he said, 27 species of micro-organisms are lost each year due to land degradation.
Gnacadja gave a talk entitled ‘Towards last solutions to desertification, land degradation and drought – the role of the UNCCD’ in Windhoek last week.
He said soil is an important commodity in poverty alleviation as poverty is 70% rural, especially in Africa. Gnacadja said if the current rate of land degradation continues, two-third of agricultural land in Africa will be lost by 2025.
The Benin-born Gnacadja said mechanisms need to be put in place to restore degraded land, as this problem has led to many armed conflicts by people who fight for few natural resources.
Gnacadja said some of the main challenges facing the UNCCD in addressing desertification include recognition of the convention, weak scientific basis, lack of understanding of the impact of desertification and land degradation and inadequate finances.
Namibia will host the 11th Conference of Parties to the UNCCD next month. The country is a party to the UNCCD and made great strides towards the fight against desertification and land degradation.This will be the third time an African country will host the conference.
So, far it has only been held in Kenya and Senegal. The decision for Namibia to host the conference was endorsed at a meeting of Parties to the UNCCD held in Bonn earlier this year. The conference will be from the 14-28 September 2013.
The UNCCD is one of the three UN Conventions that emanated from the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. The other three are the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
Namibia ratified the UNCCD in 1997. The objective of the UNCCD is to fight desertification and land degradation, especially in those parts of the world experiencing serious drought such as Africa.
*Absalom Shigwedha is a freelance environmental journalist. E-mail: absalom.shigwedha@gmailcom
