A-21: DESERTIFICATION & DROUGHT
Distr.
GENERAL
A/CONF.151/26 (Vol. II)
13 August 1992
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON
ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
(Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992)
Chapter 12
MANAGING FRAGILE ECOSYSTEMS: COMBATING DESERTIFICATION
AND DROUGHT
INTRODUCTION
12.1. Fragile ecosystems are important ecosystems, with unique features
and resources. Fragile ecosystems include deserts, semi-arid lands,
mountains, wetlands, small islands and certain coastal areas. Most of
these ecosystems are regional in scope, as they transcend national
boundaries. This chapter addresses land resource issues in deserts, as
well as arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. Sustainable mountain
development is addressed in chapter 13; small islands and coastal areas are
discussed in chapter 17.
12.2. Desertification is land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry
sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic
variations and human activities. Desertification affects about one sixth
of the world's population, 70 per cent of all drylands, amounting to 3.6
billion hectares, and one quarter of the total land area of the world. The
most obvious impact of desertification, in addition to widespread poverty,
is the degradation of 3.3 billion hectares of the total area of rangeland,
constituting 73 per cent of the rangeland with a low potential for human
and animal carrying capacity; decline in soil fertility and soil structure
on about 47 per cent of the dryland areas constituting marginal rainfed
cropland; and the degradation of irrigated cropland, amounting to 30 per
cent of the dryland areas with a high population density and agricultural
potential.
12.3. The priority in combating desertification should be the
implementation of preventive measures for lands that are not yet degraded,
or which are only slightly degraded. However, the severely degraded areas
should not be neglected. In combating desertification and drought, the
participation of local communities, rural organizations, national
Governments, non-governmental organizations and international and regional
organizations is essential.
12.4. The following programme areas are included in this chapter:
(a) Strengthening the knowledge base and developing information and
monitoring systems for regions prone to desertification and drought,
including the economic and social aspects of these ecosystems;
(b) Combating land degradation through, inter alia, intensified soil
conservation, afforestation and reforestation activities;
(c) Developing and strengthening integrated development programmes
for the eradication of poverty and promotion of alternative livelihood
systems in areas prone to desertification;
(d) Developing comprehensive anti-desertification programmes and
integrating them into national development plans and national environmental
planning;
(e) Developing comprehensive drought preparedness and drought-relief
schemes, including self-help arrangements, for drought-prone areas and
designing programmes to cope with environmental refugees;
(f) Encouraging and promoting popular participation and
environmental education, focusing on desertification control and management
of the effects of drought.
PROGRAMME AREAS
A. Strengthening the knowledge base and developing information
and monitoring systems for regions prone to desertification
and drought, including the economic and social aspects of
these ecosystems
Basis for action
12.5. The global assessments of the status and rate of desertification
conducted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1977, 1984
and 1991 have revealed insufficient basic knowledge of desertification
processes. Adequate world-wide systematic observation systems are helpful
for the development and implementation of effective anti-desertification
programmes. The capacity of existing international, regional and national
institutions, particularly in developing countries, to generate and
exchange relevant information is limited. An integrated and coordinated
information and systematic observation system based on appropriate
technology and embracing global, regional, national and local levels is
essential for understanding the dynamics of desertification and drought
processes. It is also important for developing adequate measures to deal
with desertification and drought and improving socio-economic conditions.
Objectives
12.6. The objectives of this programme area are:
(a) To promote the establishment and/or strengthening of national
environmental information coordination centres that will act as focal
points within Governments for sectoral ministries and provide the necessary
standardization and back-up services; to ensure also that national
environmental information systems on desertification and drought are linked
together through a network at subregional, regional and interregional
levels;
(b) To strengthen regional and global systematic observation
networks linked to the development of national systems for the observation
of land degradation and desertification caused both by climate fluctuations
and by human impact, and to identify priority areas for action;
(c) To establish a permanent system at both national and
international levels for monitoring desertification and land degradation
with the aim of improving living conditions in the affected areas.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
12.7. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of the
relevant international and regional organizations, should:
(a) Establish and/or strengthen environmental information systems at
the national level;
(b) Strengthen national, state/provincial and local assessment and
ensure cooperation/networking between existing environmental information
and monitoring systems, such as Earthwatch and the Sahara and Sahel
Observatory;
(c) Strengthen the capacity of national institutions to analyse
environmental data so that ecological change can be monitored and
environmental information obtained on a continuing basis at the national
level.
(b) Data and information
12.8. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of the
relevant international and regional organizations, should:
(a) Review and study the means for measuring the ecological,
economic and social consequences of desertification and land degradation
and introduce the results of these studies internationally into
desertification and land degradation assessment practices;
(b) Review and study the interactions between the socio-economic
impacts of climate, drought and desertification and utilize the results of
these studies to secure concrete action.
12.9. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of the
relevant international and regional organizations, should:
(a) Support the integrated data collection and research work of
programmes related to desertification and drought problems;
(b) Support national, regional and global programmes for integrated
data collection and research networks carrying out assessment of soil and
land degradation;
(c) Strengthen national and regional meteorological and hydrological
networks and monitoring systems to ensure adequate collection of basic
information and communication among national, regional and international
centres.
(c) International and regional cooperation and coordination
12.10. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of the
relevant international and regional organizations, should:
(a) Strengthen regional programmes and international cooperation,
such as the Permanent Inter-State Committee on Drought Control in the Sahel
(CILSS), the Intergovernmental Authority for Drought and Development
(IGADD), the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC),
the Arab Maghreb Union and other regional organizations, as well as such
organizations as the Sahara and Sahel Observatory;
(b) Establish and/or develop a comprehensive desertification, land
degradation and human condition database component that incorporates both
physical and socio-economic parameters. This should be based on existing
and, where necessary, additional facilities, such as those of Earthwatch
and other information systems of international, regional and national
institutions strengthened for this purpose;
(c) Determine benchmarks and define indicators of progress that
facilitate the work of local and regional organizations in tracking
progress in the fight for anti-desertification. Particular attention
should be paid to indicators of local participation.
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
12.11. The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total annual
cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this programme to be
about $350 million, including about $175 million from the international
community on grant or concessional terms. These are indicative and
order-of-magnitude estimates only and have not been reviewed by
Governments. Actual costs and financial terms, including any that are
non-concessional, will depend upon, inter alia, the specific strategies and
programmes Governments decide upon for implementation.
(b) Scientific and technological means
12.12. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of the
relevant international and regional organizations working on the issue of
desertification and drought, should:
(a) Undertake and update existing inventories of natural resources,
such as energy, water, soil, minerals, plant and animal access to food, as
well as other resources, such as housing, employment, health, education and
demographic distribution in time and space;
(b) Develop integrated information systems for environmental
monitoring, accounting and impact assessment;
(c) International bodies should cooperate with national Governments
to facilitate the acquisition and development of appropriate technology for
monitoring and combating drought and desertification.
(c) Human resource development
12.13. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of the
relevant international and regional organizations working on the issue of
desertification and drought, should develop the technical and professional
skills of people engaged in monitoring and assessing the issue of
desertification and drought.
(d) Capacity-building
12.14. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of the
relevant international and regional organizations working on the issue of
desertification and drought, should:
(a) Strengthen national and local institutions by providing adequate
staff equipment and finance for assessing desertification;
(b) Promote the involvement of the local population, particularly
women and youth, in the collection and utilization of environmental
information through education and awareness-building.
B. Combating land degradation through, inter alia,
intensified soil conservation, afforestation
and reforestation activities
Basis for action
12.15. Desertification affects about 3.6 billion hectares, which is about
70 per cent of the total area of the world's drylands or nearly one quarter
of the global land area. In combating desertification on rangeland,
rainfed cropland and irrigated land, preventative measures should be
launched in areas which are not yet affected or are only slightly affected
by desertification; corrective measures should be implemented to sustain
the productivity of moderately desertified land; and rehabilitative
measures should be taken to recover severely or very severely desertified
drylands.
12.16. An increasing vegetation cover would promote and stabilize the
hydrological balance in the dryland areas and maintain land quality and
land productivity. Prevention of not yet degraded land and application of
corrective measures and rehabilitation of moderate and severely degraded
drylands, including areas affected by sand dune movements, through the
introduction of environmentally sound, socially acceptable, fair and
economically feasible land-use systems. This will enhance the land
carrying capacity and maintenance of biotic resources in fragile
ecosystems.
Objectives
12.17. The objectives of this programme area are:
(a) As regards areas not yet affected or only slightly affected by
desertification, to ensure appropriate management of existing natural
formations (including forests) for the conservation of biodiversity,
watershed protection, sustainability of their production and agricultural
development, and other purposes, with the full participation of indigenous
people;
(b) To rehabilitate moderately to severely desertified drylands for
productive utilization and sustain their productivity for
agropastoral/agroforestry development through, inter alia, soil and water
conservation;
(c) To increase the vegetation cover and support management of
biotic resources in regions affected or prone to desertification and
drought, notably through such activities as afforestation/reforestation,
agroforestry, community forestry and vegetation retention schemes;
(d) To improve management of forest resources, including woodfuel,
and to reduce woodfuel consumption through more efficient utilization,
conservation and the enhancement, development and use of other sources of
energy, including alternative sources of energy.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
12.18. Governments at the appropriate level, and with the support of the
relevant international and regional organizations, should:
(a) Implement urgent direct preventive measures in drylands that are
vulnerable but not yet affected, or only slightly desertified drylands, by
introducing (i) improved land-use policies and practices for more
sustainable land productivity; (ii) appropriate, environmentally sound and
economically feasible agricultural and pastoral technologies; and (iii)
improved management of soil and water resources;
(b) Carry out accelerated afforestation and reforestation
programmes, using drought-resistant, fast-growing species, in particular
native ones, including legumes and other species, combined with
community-based agroforestry schemes. In this regard, creation of
large-scale reforestation and afforestation schemes, particularly through
the establishment of green belts, should be considered, bearing in mind the
multiple benefits of such measures;
(c) Implement urgent direct corrective measures in moderately to
severely desertified drylands, in addition to the measures listed in
paragraph 19 (a) above, with a view to restoring and sustaining their
productivity;
(d) Promote improved land/water/crop-management systems, making it
possible to combat salinization in existing irrigated croplands; and to
stabilize rainfed croplands and introduce improved soil/crop-management
systems into land-use practice;
(e) Promote participatory management of natural resources, including
rangeland, to meet both the needs of rural populations and conservation
purposes, based on innovative or adapted indigenous technologies;
(f) Promote in situ protection and conservation of special
ecological areas through legislation and other means for the purpose of
combating desertification while ensuring the protection of biodiversity;
(g) Promote and encourage investment in forestry
development in drylands through various incentives, including legislative
measures;
(h) Promote the development and use of sources of energy which will
lessen pressure on ligneous resources, including alternative sources of
energy and improved stoves.
(b) Data and information
12.19. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of the
relevant international and regional organizations, should:
(a) Develop land-use models based on local practices for the
improvement of such practices, with a focus on preventing land degradation.
The models should give a better understanding of the variety of natural and
human-induced factors that may contribute to desertification. Models
should incorporate the interaction of both new and traditional practices to
prevent land degradation and reflect the resilience of the whole ecological
and social system;
(b) Develop, test and introduce, with due regard to environmental
security considerations, drought resistant, fast-growing and productive
plant species appropriate to the environment of the regions concerned.
(c) International and regional cooperation and coordination
12.20. The appropriate United Nations agencies, international and regional
organizations, non-governmental organizations and bilateral agencies
should:
(a) Coordinate their roles in combating land degradation and
promoting reforestation, agroforestry and land-management systems in
affected countries;
(b) Support regional and subregional activities in technology
development and dissemination, training and programme implementation to
arrest dryland degradation.
12.21. The national Governments concerned, the appropriate United Nations
agencies and bilateral agencies should strengthen the coordinating role in
dryland degradation of subregional intergovernmental organizations set up
to cover these activities, such as CILSS, IGADD, SADCC and the Arab Maghreb
Union.
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
12.22. The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total annual
cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this programme to be
about $6 billion, including about $3 billion from the international
community on grant or concessional terms. These are indicative and
order-of-magnitude estimates only and have not been reviewed by
Governments. Actual costs and financial terms, including any that are
non-concessional, will depend upon, inter alia, the specific strategies and
programmes Governments decide upon for implementation.
(b) Scientific and technological means
12.23. Governments at the appropriate level and local communities, with
the support of the relevant international and regional organizations,
should:
(a) Integrate indigenous knowledge related to forests, forest lands,
rangeland and natural vegetation into research activities on
desertification and drought;
(b) Promote integrated research programmes on the protection,
restoration and conservation of water and land resources and land-use
management based on traditional approaches, where feasible.
(c) Human resource development
12.24. Governments at the appropriate level and local communities, with
the support of the relevant international and regional organizations,
should:
(a) Establish mechanisms to ensure that land users, particulension officers
working at the local level.
END OF CHAPTER 12
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