1Desertification

The Institute for Domestic and International Affairs

United Nations Environment Programme

Desertification

Rutgers Model United Nations

16-19 November 2006

Director: Jorge Barriero

© 2006 Institute for Domestic & International Affairs, Inc. (IDIA)

This document is solely for use in preparation for Rutgers Model

United Nations 2006. Use for other purposes is not permitted without the express written consent of IDIA. For more

information, please write us at [email protected]

Introduction _________________________________________________________________ 1

Background _________________________________________________________________ 3 Effect of Population on Land Use ____________________________________________________ 8 Deforestation, Erosion, and Attempts to Combat Desertification __________________________ 9 Recent Developments _____________________________________________________________ 10 Africa __________________________________________________________________________ 11 Asia____________________________________________________________________________ 12 South America___________________________________________________________________ 13 United Nations___________________________________________________________________ 14

Current Status ______________________________________________________________ 15

Key Positions _______________________________________________________________ 17 Regional Positions________________________________________________________________ 17 Asia____________________________________________________________________________ 18 South America___________________________________________________________________ 18 North America and Europe ________________________________________________________ 19 NGO Positions___________________________________________________________________ 19 Business Interests ________________________________________________________________ 20

Summary___________________________________________________________________ 21

Discussion Questions _________________________________________________________ 22

Works Cited ________________________________________________________________ 23

Rutgers Model United Nations 2006 1

Introduction Desertification of fertile land has become one of the major reasons for the lack of

development in various states, due to a process in

which land degradation caused by climatic

variations and human activities makes formerly

arable land barren. This type of degradation is a

significant problem across the globe, affecting approximately 250 million people. With

the expected increase in the severity of desertification and the continuous growth of

populations, the problem will become more serious within the next fifty years.

Desertification is a human-induced degradation of land that occurs when

overgrazing, over-cultivation, poor irrigation management, and deforestation occurs.

These activities play a role in the development of agricultural systems as societies

throughout the world rely on the land for sustenance. While these strategies may help

people live off the land in the short run, in the long term, such lands are often degraded to

a point that they are no longer useful to anyone. Once soil becomes depleted of nutrients,

crops cannot be cultivated and the lack of food begins to have a noticeable affect on

human nutrition. Desertification becomes noticeable when extreme climate changes

occur, such as droughts and floods.

Droughts increase the severity of

desertification and cause famine to become

widespread in the affected region. Floods,

though seemingly beneficial, can strip away

meaningful nutrients and vegetation clinging to the arid land. This degradation can have

disastrous affects on the lives of people throughout the region and cannot easily be

reversed once the process begins.

The effects of desertification have caused the international community to become

aware of the potential problems that could occur in the future. In order to prevent these

developments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the United Nations (UN)

Desertification: the gradual transformation of habitable land into desert; is usually caused by climate change or by destructive use of the land Source: wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Famine: a sudden and unusual shortage of food in an entire community resulting from war or some natural disaster such as drought or flood. Source: www.naiadonline.ca/book/01Glossary.htm


have assisted in advancing methods and strategies to prevent this damaging phenomenon.

The effective implementation of these guidelines assists in planning to control

desertification, but the process is one that takes considerable effort and financial support.

By controlling desertification, states will be able to recover some of these lands, and

return them to harvest. It must be understood, however, that while the desertification

process can take mere decades to occur, the process of undoing this degradation takes

much longer.

The challenge in solving desertification is attaining the necessary support and

financial funding. Since 1977, the international community has done the majority of the

groundwork in realizing the causes and ramifications of desertification. The remaining

action left to the United Nations is determining how desertification can be controlled and

reversed. Although many states have submitted plans on how they plan on counteracting

desertification, the necessary funding and public support are not readily available to put

these plans into place. Funding has been the primary difficulty when trying to solve

desertification. A majority of states that suffer from desertification are also those that

have the least developed economies. Not only do these countries not have the financial

means to prevent desertification, they also lack the infrastructure to teach rural and

subsistence farmers about the perils desertification. Unlike their counterparts, developed

states typically have the funding and infrastructure necessary to effectively counteract

desertification. What both types of states lack is the understanding and acceptance of the

public that desertification is not some fanciful scientific theory, but a real and damaging

development that will have a direct impact on them in the coming years. If the public

does not understand and support the guidelines meant to stop desertification, they will

continue to disregard them and further damage will be allowed to occur. Further, the

UN’s method in solving problems such as these does not allow for an efficient use of

funds. With various UN organizations attempting to combat desertification, an efficient

and organized effort does not appear possible. The UN must find methods in which it

can effectively manage the activities of its organizations when dealing with this growing


problem. Desertification is being addressed in committees as diverse as the United

Nations Environment Programme, the Food and Agricultural Organization, the United

Nations Development Programme, and regional bodies such as the Economic

Commission for Africa and the African Union. While it is important to have the support

of such a broad cross-section of political discourse, these groups need to coordinate their

efforts, rather than duplicate them, wasting important limited resources.

Since many states do not realize the global effects of desertification, they do not

find it necessary to fund projects designed to slow, or even reverse the damage already

done to their lands. Other states are directly impacted by desertification and hold that it

is imperative that international support be given to fund measures to stop it. States that

are more developed have usually taken on the role of solving their own desertification

problems; while the less developed have completely turned away from implementing

controls because of their immense costs. What most states do not seem to realize is that

desertification is not a phenomenon that affects a single state, it affects bordering states,

and indeed the environment of the entire world.

Background Through the process of desertification, a majority of today’s deserts have been

formed. Since prehistoric times, water and wind erosion and drought have desertified

land, forming massive deserts such as the Sahara in Africa and the Gobi in Asia, among

others. Until the early 1930s, desertification was

considered a naturally occurring process: it was

believed that the world underwent cycles in

which areas would dry out, or would return to

arable conditions. Commonly mistaken for a

natural disaster, the American Dust Bowl of the

1930s was directly caused by human activities of

cultivating on marginal land. The problem of the

Dust Bowl was addressed by the United States, but it was not given enough international

Dust Bowl: The Dust Bowl, also known as the "Dirty Thirties", was a series of dust storms caused by a massive drought that began in 1930 and lasted until 1941. This ecological disaster caused a mass exodus from the Oklahoma Panhandle region and also the surrounding Great Plains. Topsoil across millions of acres were blown away because the indigenous sod had been broken for wheat farming. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_Bowl


attention. In the decades following this disaster, lands dried out in much of central

Mexico as a result of the damage done in the United States. Moreover, the causes of the

Dust Bowl problem were not corrected in other areas. A more severe example of

desertification had to occur for the world to see that desertification is a serious yet

avoidable dilemma.

In 1956, China realized the problem of desertification. With the destruction of

vegetation in desert areas by means of over-cultivated soil and overgrazing, strong winds

from the southeast began to push sand dunes which were previously held in place by

vegetation. The movement of these dunes was of concern as they caused land to dry out,

forcing population migrations and the suspension of a significant program to build a

railroad through China. In 1956 the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with

the Railway and Forestry Departments and Zhongwei County, began research on how to

control these sand movements. They came to the following measures: 1. Tree and shrub shelterbelts to protect farmland from encroaching sand. 2. Methods of fixing dune surfaces, using straw checkerboards and tree and shrub planting, to

protect the railway. 3. Checkerboard establishment bordering the main highway. 4. Dune leveling on the terrace of the Huanghe River to establish new irrigation scheme.1

These efforts were undertaken to improve the

development of the area. Through this

process, the Chinese demonstrated the

possibility of reclaiming desertified land and a

commitment to prevent future desertification.

In the 1960s another form a

desertification was beginning to emerge in the

East. More specifically, the Aral Sea was

beginning to dry up and the land around it

became too arid to cultivate. In the 1930s, the

1 UNEP, World Atlas of Desertification, UNEP (Great Britain: 1992).

Aral Sea


Soviet Union rerouted water from the Amu Darya and Syra Darya rivers to irrigate

marginal land farther east. This re-routing was done to cultivate cash crops such as

cotton. From the 1930s until the 1960s, this plan was successful, but soon thereafter

negative effects of this began to appear, including a dramatic drop in the water level of

the Aral sea, causing the exposed seabed to dry up. The vegetation in the area began to

die, and the soil became degraded. At the same time, reduction of the freshwater caused

the soil to become salinized, further hindering development in the region. Finally, winds

began carrying nutrient-weak soil throughout the area, dramatically increasing the area in

which crops could not be planted. While the directional shift in the rivers caused

localized problems, broader concerns arose as a result of this unfortunate environmental

policy.

Between 1968 and 1974 a drought plagued much of Africa, affecting the Sahel

region. This drought heightened the effects that desertification was taking over the land.

Over-cultivation, overgrazing, and other means

by which the lands were mismanaged were the

prime reasons for the region’s sensitivity to

drought. The area began to suffer reduced

rainfall, soil degradation, and overdependence on

marginal land, bringing on massive

desertification. As vegetation either dried up or

was consumed by the over-extended herds,

inhabitants began to experience famine. During

the drought, more than 200,000 people and

millions of their animals died.2 The animals that

were once relied upon for food and for revenue were dying from lack of water and

nourishment.

2 "Land degradation." UN Chronicle 34, no. 2: 26. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed March 21, 2006).

Sahel Region of Africa


Massive amounts of aid from NGOs and governmental agencies poured into the

region to alleviate this pandemic. The supplies were well-received, but the severity of the

drought and the desertified land proved too strong to be counteracted by these

organizations. The response to this drought brought on a search for the causes of such

droughts and means to lessen the intensity of the famine. The UN took on this challenge

and planned a conference to address desertification and its link to drought. In 1977, “the

United Nations … focused on desertification on a global scale at the United Nations

Conference on Desertification (UNCOD).”3 Hosted by Kenya, the conference brought

together states to address the affects of desertification at a global level. The conclusion

of the conference brought forth the Plan of Action to Combat Desertification (PACD), a

set of guidelines and recommendations urging states to develop plans to combat

desertification in their state, while also recommending a coordinated effort to support

states unable to afford these costly remedies. This plan ensured that the problems of

desertification better understood, but did not ensure that the plans designed as a result of

the conference were effective or even implemented.

In 1978, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) hosted the

Consultative Group for Desertification Control (DESCON), which served as a forum to

discuss plans of action and which would serve as a financial intermediary for states

seeking to take action.4 DESCON was designed as the fundraising arm of what was to be

a global effort to combat desertification, but the lack of donors caused it to lose its

mission. By its fifth session, eight years later, “seventy-four projects were submitted to

the Group of which only twenty-nine had been implemented.”5 The seventy-four projects

were estimated to cost USD $540.6 million, but until then only USD $47.3 million had

been allocated due to a lack of funding. As more plans of actions were developed and

submitted, DESCON realized that improper funding was the reason for the failure of the

3 Ibid. 4UNEP, “Status of Desertification and Implementation of the United Nations Plan of Action to Combat Desertification,” UNEP/GRID http://www.na.unep.net/des/uncedtoc.php3, (accessed April 26, 2006). 5 Ibid 10.


UNCOD initiatives. In 1988, the UNEP put the work of DESCON on hold and used

remaining funds to reanalyze the affects of desertification.

In recent years, much light has been shed on the increasing growth of areas of arid

and dry land. This growth is directly related to the degradation of soil, which correlates

to a decline in a region’s biological productivity. With further study, supported by UNEP

funding, the international community has further defined the process of desertification:

according to the United Nations Conference on Desertification (UNCOD) of 1977,

“desertification is a process of ‘land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid

areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities.’”6

These climatic variations refer to the climatic changes brought on by the El Niño Effect,

global warming, and droughts. The human activities that lead to desertification

correspond to the overgrazing, over-cultivation, irrigation mismanagement, and

deforestation of lands. Overgrazed land has the characteristics of having grass or any

type of vegetation “heights of less than 3cm for grasslands and less than 5cm for rough

grassland with high density of cattle/sheep dung, areas of bare ground and

trampling/poaching damage.”7 Over-cultivated land results in “soil exhaustion and poor

irrigation practices, which raises salinity,” while also extracting too many nutrients from

the soil.8 Deforestation is the act of chopping down trees which loosens the soil and

makes it more susceptible to erosion. Combined, this human-induced destruction of

arable land can cause an entire region to suffer famine. With proper training and

effective environmental practices, the desertification process can be controlled, and in

some cases avoided altogether. Without proper maintenance, lands cultivated improperly

will fall barren and useless to the populations that once used them for sustenance.

6 “Land Degradation,” UN Chronicle 34, no. 2:26 Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed March 21, 2006). 7 “Agri Business- Overgrazing warning,” The Irish News Limited 2006, January 24, 2006, p52. 8 “Relevance of World Environmnet Day,” Hindustan Times 2006, June 2, 2006,


Effect of Population on Land Use A primary cause of desertification is population growth, causing farmers to over-

cultivate their lands in response to an increase in demand, and in some cases, can lead to

insufficient water for crops. With the world population expected to increase by nearly

half by 2050, desertification must be addressed to ensure that future populations have

fertile land to grow crops and ensure healthy lives.9 A majority of population growth is

expected to occur in developing states, and due to the lack of funding and education in

the areas of advanced cultivation and grazing, these least developed countries (LDCs) are

at the forefront of the effort to combat this phenomenon. This coming population

explosion demonstrates the need for international support for LDCs and developing states

as they undertake important programs and environmental reforms. While it is LDCs and

developing states that experience the majority of problems with desertification, it must be

noted that desertification does not recognize state borders, and negative environmental

affects in one region have significant affects throughout the world.

Through desertification, land increasingly becomes infertile and loses its ability to

support vegetation. More specifically, human-induced desertification leaves land devoid

of trees, shrubs, weeds, crops, and other forms of nourishment for animals and humans.

Combined with drought, desertification intensifies and land becomes even less useable,

resulting in a situation where inhabitants of the affected region suffer from famine, and

are forced to relocate to other areas, resulting in significant refugee flows. These

migratory flows have the potential to cause significant damage in the areas where these

people seek refuge, as these lands will need to be over-harvested to support a sudden

increase in population.

The Sahel drought of the early 1970s caused a dangerous famine in the region. In

this case, the drought in the Sahel coupled with improper land management left

significant swaths of land useless. The Sahel is heavily populated with a pastoral

9 UN, “World Population to increase by 2.6 billion over next 45 years with all growth occurring in less developed regions,” UN News Service. Press Release 2005 POP/918, http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2005/pop918.doc.htm, (accessed April 26, 2006).


population that relies raising animals for nourishment

and economic stability. When the drought struck, this

population began to feel the most severe stages of

desertification. Soil infertility and the lack of water

led to a reduction in vegetation during this period

causing significant reductions in size of herds, which led to a decrease in the availability

of foodstuffs, leading to famine and starvation. Once the process took hold, it was not

long before it had run its course, killing thousands of people. Indeed, the process

represents a vicious cycle in which a reduction in vegetation leads to overgrazing by

herds, further depleting access to nutrients found in vegetation, which hastens the

desertification process. Although the region was already experiencing the early stages of

this phenomenon as a result to improper management of the land, the drought acted as a

catalyst to accelerate the desertification process. Although drought does not directly lead

to desertification, it does increase the extent to which damage can occur.

Deforestation, Erosion, and Attempts to Combat Desertification Deforestation causes significant environmental damage wherever it occurs.

Relying on trees for fuel and timber, many people ravage forestland and destroy the

biological balance prevalent in these areas. Many farmers cut down trees in order to clear

lands so that they can cultivate cash crops. Despite the opportunity to grow more crops,

the lack of trees causes more damage to the area than is achieved through the planting of

more crops. Trees allow for several important processes that counteract desertification

including the protection of topsoil from heat and wind and the retention of water near its

roots.10 The removal of the root systems causes topsoil to be eroded by water and wind.

Trees also give shade to small plants that may be growing under their branches. The

intense heat in such places as the Sahel causes these plants to lose much of their water

through respiration. Additionally, the branches shelter the soil from intense evaporation

10 Ibid.

Pastoral: Pastoral refers to the lifestyle of shepherds and pastoralists, moving livestock around larger areas of land according to seasons and availability of water and feed. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastoral


that occurs in dry periods. The soil resulting from deforestation becomes unable to

sustain vegetation.

The erosion of topsoil by wind and water is indirectly caused by human efforts at

cultivation. Winds blow away nutrient-rich layers of topsoil that were once held in place

by trees and other vegetation. This dry soil is then blown into areas of other vegetation,

and serves as a dry blanket, suffocating the soils and plants where it settles.

To ameliorate the causes of desertification and drought, farmers irrigate dry lands

to sustain the necessary balance of water and nutrients. Under the recommendation of

various NGOs, governments have built dams and other irrigation systems to induce

productivity and catalyze development. While in some cases these efforts promote

sustainable crop development, the affect that they have can be quite destructive as natural

water flows are diverted, resulting in destruction as seen near the Aral Sea. Moreover,

unless implemented correctly, irrigation can actually have a negative impact on crops as

poorly drained soil traps water, allowing for the absorption of salts and minerals from the

surface and the soil, leading to the salinization of the soil. This change in the fragile

environmental system causes plants to die of thirst, as the salt causes the plants to require

more water.11

Recent Developments In 1991 the results from the DESCON assessment were released suggesting the

desertification had become a bigger problem than was earlier understood. According to

the research, 3.4 per cent of the earth’s surface had been destroyed through physical soil

degradation between 1984 and 1991.12 The study further showed that significant

proportions of arable lands were at risk of desertification, including “25% [of lands] in

Africa, 32% in Asia, 14% in North America, 14% in Australia, 10% in South America

and 6% in Europe.”13 It is important to note that the areas of most concern are those

11 Ibid., 64. 12 "UNEP/DC-PAC update on desertification," Connect: UNESCO International Science, Technology & Environmental Education Newsletter 20, no. 1: 3. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed March 21, 2006). 13 "UNEP/DC-PAC update on desertification."


regions that are least

developed. While these

areas are not

necessarily in worse

condition than more

developed regions, the

report took into account

the potential for

adverse agricultural efforts to damage the fragile soil in these regions.

Africa The assessment of Africa in 1991 demonstrated that the major regions that are

undergoing detrimental soil degradation are the areas north of the Sahara, the Sahel, and

the southern reaches of the continent. North Africa has experienced desertification

caused by overgrazing, poor agriculture management, and some deforestation. Soil

destruction in Southern Africa is mostly caused by overgrazing and poor agriculture

management. In total, some 25.8 per cent of the African land is undergoing the process

that will result in the inability to use the land.14 Of this proportion, nearly two-thirds is

caused by overgrazing of cattle, followed by poor agricultural management.

African states have struggled to effectively manage their farmlands for hundreds

of years, and it appears that some of the programs designed to steward lands back to

health are in fact causing further destruction. At its very core, the lack of water has led to

intense desertification. The UN and other organizations have recommended that Africa

design a continent-wide program to counteract desertification, by means of maximizing

the use of available water resources. Unfortunately, despite the fact that states

throughout Africa suffer from the same problems, there are limited efforts at cooperation,

and indeed in some cases, states seem to take actions that they know will cause further

destruction. Efforts of states in the Nile River basin are a prime example of this lack of

14 UNEP, World Atlas of Desertification, UNEP (Great Britain: 1992) 35

Distribution of Dry lands 1991 (in million of hectares)1 Africa Asia Australia Europe North

America South America

World Total

%

Hyper-arid 672 277 0 0 3 26 978 16 Arid 504 626 303 11 82 45 1571 26 Semi-arid 514 693 309 105 419 265 2305 37 Dry Sub-humid

269 353 51 184 232 207 1296 21

Total 1959 1949 663 300 736 543 6150 100 % 32 32 11 5 12 8 100

Source: UNEP, “Status of Desertification and Implementation of the United Nations Plan of Action to Combat Desertification,” UNEP/GRID http://www.na.unep.net/des/uncedtoc.php3 (accessed April 26, 2006).


cooperation. From 1929 until 1999, these states took water from the Nile River as they

saw fit, with little regard for the health of the river, itself. Fights for greater control over

the river cost many lives and arguably further divided an already tense region. Worse,

these battles did little to bring about sustainable use of the river. Despite having one of

the largest rivers in the world, the region, especially the Horn of Africa, suffered

punishing droughts.

It was not until 1999, that the Nile River basin states formed a pact and established

the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), which hopes to achieve sustainable growth from the Nile

River. By strategically placing dams, reservoirs, and canals, NBI plans on bringing more

water to each state in the region. More important than bringing water to states in the

region, NBI is also developing programs to reverse some of the most damaging aspects of

the desertification process.

Asia Asia experiences significant desertification, primarily due to wind and water

erosion, but also because of poor vegetation management. Recalling the situation in the

Aral Sea, it is easy to notice the poor management that resulted in the destruction of this

natural body of water. When the Soviet Union attempted to improve the fertility of

marginal land, they allocated water from another region, resulting in the noticeable drop

in water level in the sea, causing an environmental imbalance. When locations are

selected to be cultivated, efforts to maintain an ecological balance are necessary.

Locations must be chosen that are already fertile and have remained so for some time, so

as to ensure that the environment can be maintained and even improved. The actions of

the Soviet Union are a prime example of the poor management of water and vegetation.

After the 1960s the Aral Sea decreased by about 50 per cent of its previous volume.15 In

the 1990s, the effects of this degradation were evident with the demise of the fishing

industry, increased salinity of the sea water adversely affected surrounding soil, and wind

15 The Water Page, “Aral Sea”, The Water Page, http://www.thewaterpage.com/aral.htm.


erosion destroyed crops up to 1,000 kilometers away by means depositing aerosols from

the exposed seabed.16

The Chinese government has taken a more active role in combating desertification

than most governments have. Utilizing extensive research, the Chinese have

implemented and enforced the monitoring of guidelines such as those in the

aforementioned study by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. To ensure that its guidelines

were followed, the Chinese government established various funds and incentives to

achieve completion of project. The measures taken by the Chinese government have

proven effective in select regions, including the improvements made in the Southeast

Tengger Dessert. In 1959, before newly designed sand movement strategies were in

place, the Southeast Tengger Desert was losing much of its oasis land, but by 1990, the

process had reversed. Due to Chinese efforts, more than 100 km2 was reclaimed and

made into farmland and orchards.17

South America In South America, soil degradation is

typically caused by wind and water erosion,

salinization, and soil compacting. As the people

of this region cleared forestland and animals

overgrazed, the soil became even more

susceptible to desertification. In 1986, it was

estimated that “22% of the arid regions of South

America may be classified as being affected by

severe or very severe desertification.”18

Deforestation in South America, especially

in the Amazon rainforest, is also responsible for

16 Ibid 16. 17 UNEP, World Atlas of Desertification, UNEP (Great Britain: 1992) 47. 18 IUCN, “Consultation on Desertification in South America,” LADA, http://lada.virtualcentre.org/eims/download.asp?pub_id=91220 (accessed April 26, 2006).

Amazon Rainforest


the destruction of nourishing soil. The growing population in the region required

additional food resources, causing farmers to cut down vibrant forests in order to plant

subsistence crops. Additionally machines were used to till the land, which causing the

soil to compact improperly drain, making it more susceptible to water erosion. Cleared

forestland, especially near watersheds, has become increasingly eroded and much of the

land is barely able to sustain vegetation.

United Nations In 1991, UNEP determined that the problem of land degradation in arid, semi-arid

and dry sub-humid areas had become more severe, and correlated this destruction to a

lack of attention and funding.19 It was not until June 1994 that the UN adopted a new

approach to combat desertification with a larger emphasis on funding. After struggling

with the lack of funding for various national Plans of Action to Combat Desertification

(PACD), the UN resolved to find a solution to this lack of collaboration between various

NGOs and other states at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

(UNCCD). By November 1994, eighty-seven countries signed the agreement for the

UNCCD, but it was not until 1997 that the United States and France promised USD $738

million to combat desertification on a global scale.20 Perhaps more than a fundraising

vehicle, the Convention served as a forum for all the states of the globe to discuss the

causes of desertification and methods of reclaiming destroyed land.

The UNCCD and other organizations such as the UNDP saw desertification as a

serious impediment to development in least developed countries. Only through the

rehabilitation of land could states move to develop their land in a manner that would be

profitable and sustainable. As a result, the UNCCD required the development of

comprehensive National Action Plans (NAPs) before they could apply for funding. The

UNCCD wanted to ensure that plans to reconstitute desertified regions were part of a

19 UNCCD, “The convention.” United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, http://www.unccd.int/ , (accessed April 26, 2006). 20 1994. "Business briefs: Environment," Africa Report 39, no. 6: 12. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed April 4, 2006).


broader national program, and not short-sighted attempts at addressing the issue. Using a

grassroots approach, the UNCCD recommended that plans integrate farmers, pastoralists,

and others into the development of a broader national strategy, as bringing these diverse

groups together would result in a more comprehensive approach to ameliorating the

problem. Moreover, by giving a sense of ownership to the group, there would be more

incentive for the groups to actively participate. By working directly with the people in

the field, the UNCCD sought to circumvent traditional bureaucratic systems, and achieve

measurable success at the most basic level.

Current Status The initial deadline for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is 2015, and

it is probable that the failure of the international community to adequately address

desertification will cause at least two

goals to be missed: eradicate extreme

poverty and hunger and ensure

environmental sustainability. But failure

to achieve these goals could have far-

reaching implications with regard to the

MDGs, in that success in these goals will

have a very direct affect on the world’s ability to achieve most of the other goals.

As a result of the increase of desertification, soil will continue to degrade and the

environment of the region will suffer drastically resulting in a decrease in the amount of

arable land, and thus will reduce the amount of food that the region can grow. This lack

of fertile soil will also cause farmers and pastoralists to reap less revenue from cultivating

and grazing and will likely force them to turn to virgin forests as a source of new harvest

area. Only through a global partnership for development between developed and

undeveloped states will the combat against desertification be possible. The already

overextended budgets of these developing states cannot afford the investment necessary

to improve and maintain land that is already suffering from desertification.

Millennium Development Goals: • Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger • Achieve universal primary education • Promote gender equality and empower women • Reduce child mortality • Improve maternal health • Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases • Ensure environmental sustainability • Develop a global partnership for development

Source: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/


Although many states have improved their methods to counter desertification, the

broader international community has not fully understood the problem. When the UN

established the UNCCD, it did so with the intention addressing desertification through

the promotion of national plans. While it was an international effort to improve the

environmental situation, action was to be taken on the local and national level to bring

about the most effective results. While the specific remediation efforts would be handled

locally, they would largely be funded by the UNCCD. At first, the UNCCD received a

large amount of funding, which allowed the UNCCD to fund the NAPs that were

approved. Unfortunately, as more states wrote their NAPs, the amount of donations did

not increase accordingly. Moreover, pledges of contributions to the UNCCD have

lagged, and as of 28 February 2006 the core budget of the UNCCD has an outstanding

balance of some USD $7.5 million, of which the United States owes USD $2.6 million,

and Japan owes USD $1.5 million.21 These outstanding funds are desperately needed to

implement the various plans of action that have already been approved. Additionally,

further contributions are necessary to allow for the development and implementation of

more NAPs.

It was not until 1996 that the UNCCD fully came into operation. Since then, ten

sessions have been held across the globe, resulting in the development of an improved

process of how states should complete their NAPs. Specifically, the meetings have

produced five “regional implementation annexes” which include the criteria for each

region’s plan, and methods of implementation. These regions include Africa, Asia, Latin

America and the Caribbean, the Northern Mediterranean, and the Central and Eastern

Europe. The annexes serve as strategies to implement effective plans. About ninety

NAPs have been developed and approved by the UNCCD, but implementation is much

more difficult to attain. Lack of funding and support to complete the plans has caused

many of these plans to remain dormant. As a result, the UNCCD can only point to

21 UNCCD, “The convention,.” United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, http://www.unccd.int/, (accessed April 26, 2006).


limited success in implementing these plans, and therefore limited verifiable

environmental improvements.

One of the reasons for insufficiency of funding is lack of global understanding on

desertification and its causes. In developing states, misconception exists on the reasoning

for the need to combat soil degradation. For example, in Africa, many of the inhabitants

were told that they should plant trees to aid in their development. In the view of

desertification, the planted trees improve the ecological balance of the region, but the

inhabitants of the region believe that the planting of trees is to improve their access to

fuel in the form of lumber. The UNCCD hopes that by educating the inhabitants about

desertification they will be able to asses the situation more fully. Many inhabitants will

not take into consideration the recommendations of a distant organization that does not

understand their needs; rather they must reach their own consensus on the situation at

hand. The lack of public support is also due to the difficulty in explaining the

desertification process in common language. The UNCCD had previously left this task to

NGOs, but a stronger voice had to be used to reach the entire globe, causing the UN to

name 2006 the International Year of Deserts and Desertification (IYDD). With the goal

of educating and informing the world on desertification, the UN hopes to improve

financial, moral, and technological support.

Key Positions

Regional Positions Constituting the region with the most severe conditions of desertification, Africa

views this environmental phenomenon as a direct cause to their lack of development.

The region understands that they are in an environmentally challenging situation with

regard to varying amounts of rainfall and large swaths on arid land. They are also aware

that their economic possibilities do not allow for expensive efforts to reverse this process.

To maximize efficiency, they have adopted many of the recommendations of the

UNCCD and have formed NAPs, along with other regional and sub-regional action


programs. With reduced access to water, the African region understands the importance

of effective management of water at a local, national, and regional level. They believe

that the solution to desertification is an effective plan to assess desertification at a

national level, while coordinating their efforts with neighboring states, especially in

regions where desertified lands cross national borders. Africa understands that only

through the “good for all” approach will it be possible to combat desertification and

achieve some sort of development.

Asia Although there are more acres of desertified land in Asia, the existence of

sustainable development means that Asia is more equipped to combat this environmental

process. Asia generally views desertification as a detrimental process and finds that the

cause of desertification in the region is mostly related to the movement of sand dunes and

drought, intensified by the presence of human activity. China has viewed desertification

as a serious matter, and continues to take steps to counteract the movement of sand dunes

and to reclaim oases that have been desertified. States, especially in southern Asia have

been motivated to improve the conservation of soil. The region has also taken into

account the management of water into the process of desertification. They differ from

Africa in that concrete advances have been made in some sub-regions to counteract

desertification.

South America South America is gaining an understanding of its range of ecosystems, recognizing

that the causes of desertification vary by location. Some areas experience significant

amounts of rainfall, while others are similar to African arid and semi-arid land. They

understand that deforestation is a prevalent cause of this desertification. States in South

America view this problem as one that requires some economic understanding, as about a

quarter of the South American inhabitants live in poverty, and thus cannot afford the

capital to take measures to combat desertification. They look to international

organizations to aid in the financing of their national and regional action plans.


North America and Europe The developed regions of the world include North America and a majority of

Europe. Although they are developed, they are not immune from the effects of

desertification. Due to their sustained development, they are more capable of assessing

their own situations, and thus do not view submitting NAPs as necessary. These

developed states understand their role in the world and have led in the financing of many

plans to counteract desertification. This financing includes donations from governments

and individuals. Also, the advanced education levels of these populations allow them to

aid in the development of new methods to counteract desertification.

NGO Positions Non-governmental organizations constitute the largest effort in the fight against

desertification. NGOs have welcomed the role given them by UNCCD as the field effort

to bring desertification under control. The UNCCD relies on NGOs to support their

grassroots approach. The NGOs understand the success possible with this approach and

maintain their position. Some NGOs that have taken on the fight against desertification

include the Eden Foundation, GreenWinds, and the International Institute for Sustainable

Development (IISD). The Eden Foundation has established itself in Niger and taken on

the role of aiding farmers in the region. They have attempted to teach these farmers the

possibility of growing fruit bearing tress to improve their situation of reduced amounts of

food in their arid conditions. The GreenWinds NGO has established themselves in

Australia to “regreen” the desert land by desalinizing water and irrigating it to “help

improv(e) our atmosphere’s air, improve the local flora, and help to reduce desert land

area, therefore help improve the climate”22 These NGOs have taken on the challenge on

improving desertification in all types of environments and continents, and represent the

possibility of improving the desertification from the bottom-up.

22 GreenWinds. “What we do.” PEGE. http://pege.org/greenwinds/whatwedo.htm (accessed April 26, 2006)


Business Interests Businesses in farming and technology have much to gain in the fight against

desertification. Businesses that concentrate on desalinization and other such water

improving technologies will profit in this fight, as they hold the tools to effectively bring

more freshwater to desertified regions. Additionally, farming businesses are prone to

prosper as cultivatable land increases, compared to decreasing at the current rate.

Businesses that export and import will also gain in this fight, as the increase in crop

success will cause developing countries to export more.


Summary With the increase of global exposure to desertification, international organizations

such as the UNCCD, and NGOs such as the Eden Foundation, continue to lead in the

fight against desertification. The foundation that the UNEP has laid out with the

advancements of both the UNCOD and the UNCCD have substantially aided in the

development of awareness of desertification by governments from the affected states.

The presence of these organizations has improved the methods of funding plans to

counteract desertification. Moreover it has allowed the desertification combating process

to become more manageable. Desertification is a global problem and the improvements

of the guidelines to control it have proven effective.

Implementation of the various plans proves to be the only obstacle. Both funding

and hands-on assistance is needed. With some hope, the motivation established by the

activities of the 2006 Year of Desertification will accelerate the rate at which support is

established. Additionally, it is necessary that a more distinct method of acquiring

promised contributions is attained, in order to more effectively align costs of approved

plans with the necessary funding.

Finally it must be realized that an effective collaboration among the various UN

organizations and the UNCCD be achieved as to ensure the effectiveness of every dollar

donated or lent to combat desertification. The work of many organizations is required to

take on the problem of desertification, but an improved management of this work is

pertinent. The positive affects of combating on desertification will only occur in the

long-term, and so it must be understood that immediate actions are necessary, but that

results can only be expected in over time.


Discussion Questions • Why should your region care about desertification? Should they be concerned

with their own desertification, or that of other countries? • Should your region be concerned of the global effects desertification can have on

them? • Has your region experienced desertification in the past? How did it occur? What

were its effects? How did you region’s government respond?

• Explain a specific response that was taken to counteract the desertification.

• How and where is your region susceptible to soil degradation?

• What kinds of forms of desertification is your region currently experiencing? How did this desertification come into existence?

• Why should your region form agreements with neighboring regions to solve

desertification?

• Is your region involved with the UNCCD? Have they drafted a PACD? What does it consist of? How do they hope to finance the PACD?

• What NGOs are assisting your region? How have they contributed?

• How can the UN streamline the efforts being taken, to combat desertification?


Works Cited 1994. "Business briefs: Environment." Africa Report 39, no. 6: 12. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost (accessed April 4, 2006). 1995. "UNEP/DC-PAC update on desertification." Connect: UNESCO International Science, Technology & Environmental Education Newsletter 20. No. 1: 3. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost (accessed March 21, 2006). “Agri Business- Overgrazing warning.” The Irish News Limited 2006. January 24, 2006. “China National Report To Implement The United Nation's Convention To Combat Desertification.” UNCCD. April 16, 2002. http://www.unccd.int/cop/reports/asia/national/2000/china-eng.pdf. (accessed April 26, 2006). “Dry Outlook.” Courier Mail. Section: Headstart. January 24, 2006. Nationwide News Pty Limited. Erik Eckholm and Lester R. Brown. Spreading Deserts- The Hand of Man. Institute Paper. 13. World watch. August 1977. Grainger, Alan. Threatening Desert: controlling desertification. Earthscan Publications Ltd 1990. Greenwinds. “What we do.” PEGE. http://pege.org/greenwinds/whatwedo.htm.

(accessed April 26, 2006). H.P. Das, T.I. Adamenko, K.A. Anaman, R.G. Gommes and G. Johnson. Agrometeorology Related to Extreme Events. World Meteorological Organization. (Geneva: 2003). IUCN, “Consultation on Desertification in South America” LADA http://lada.virtualcentre.org/eims/download.asp?pub_id=91220 (accessed April 26, 2006) Julia Spurzem., “Environment: Rolling Back the Creeping Sands.” IPS-Inter Press Service. Copyright 2005 .IPS-Inter Press Service/Global Information Network November 4, 2005, Friday, Lexis-Nexis.


“Land Degradation.” UN Chronicle 34, no. 2:26 Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost (accessed March 21, 2006). “Relevance of World Environment Day.” Hindustan Times 2006. June 2, 2006. UNCCD. “The convention.” United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. http://www.unccd.int/. (accessed April 26, 2006). UNEP. “Status of Desertification and Implementation of the United Nations Plan of Action to Combat Desertification..” UNEP/GRID.

http://www.na.unep.net/des/uncedtoc.php3. (accessed April 26, 2006). UNEP. World Atlas of Desertification. UNEP. (Great Britain: 1992). United Nations. “World Population to increase by 2.6 billion over next 45 years with all

growth occurring in less developed regions.” UN News Service. Press Release 2005 POP/918. http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2005/pop918.doc.htm (accessed April 26, 2006).

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