United Nations Decade for Deserts and the
Fight against Desertification
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United Nations General Assembly declared the United Nations Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification. It will run from January 2010 to December 2020 to promote action that will protect the drylands from further deterioration and degradation into deserts. |
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Drylands take up to 41.3% of the land surface. Their deterioration and desertification will threaten the livelihoods of more than 1 billion people in some 100 countries. The process is related to severe water scarcity, risk for the cultivated systems and livestock on drylands, threats to biodiversity, including many endemic plant species, worse climate regulation. Therefore, in compliance with the Millennium Development Goals, the Decade aims to contribute to the global action for eradication of poverty and ensuring environmental sustainability.
Official launches took place in Fortaleza, Brazil, during the Second International Conference: Climate, Variability, Sustainability and Development, ICID 2010, and at the United Nations Environment Programme in Nairobi, Kenya.
UN Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification Website http://unddd.unccd.int/
From 13 August on, a website of the UN Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification has been running. It provides detailed information about deterioration and desertification processes, including their definitions. There is a fact sheet describing the main issues related to drylands and their protection - size of drylands; food security; poverty; population affected by desertification; water scarcity; biodiversity; climate change; land degradation and drivers for it; and sustainable land management as a solution.