Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused by a variety of factors,such as climate change and overexploitation of soil as a result of human activity.
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification,Particularly in Africa (UNCCD) is a Convention to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought through national action programs that incorporate long-term strategies supported by international cooperation and partnership arrangements.
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It is named after the city of Ramsar in Iran,where the convention was signed in 1971.
Rio Convention relates to the following three conventions,which were agreed at the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a multilateral environmental fund that provides grants and blended finance for projects related to biodiversity,climate change,international waters,land degradation,persistent organic pollutants (POPs),mercury,sustainable forest management,food security,and sustainable cities in developing countries. It is the largest source of multilateral funding for biodiversity globally,and distributes more than $1 billion a year on average to address inter-related environmental challenges.
Green Cross International is an environmentalist organisation headquartered in Geneva,Switzerland,founded by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1993. Today,member organisations are in 30 countries. Its primary mission is to "respond to the combined challenges of security,poverty,and environmental degradation to ensure a sustainable and secure future".
Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by a combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land. It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious or undesirable. Natural hazards are excluded as a cause;however human activities can indirectly affect phenomena such as floods and bush fires.
Nicéphore DieudonnéSoglo is a Beninese politician who was Prime Minister of Benin from 1990 to 1991 and President from 1991 to 1996. He was Mayor of Cotonou from 2003 to 2015. Soglo was married to Rosine Vieyra Soglo,the Beninois former First Lady and politician.
The Great Green Wall or Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel is a project adopted by the African Union in 2007,initially conceived as a way to combat desertification in the Sahel region and hold back expansion of the Sahara,by planting a wall of trees stretching across the entire Sahel from Djibouti,Djibouti to Dakar,Senegal. The original dimensions of the "wall" were slated to be 15 Km wide and 7,775 Km long,but the program has expanded to encompass nations in both northern and western Africa. The modern green wall has since evolved into a program promoting water harvesting techniques,greenery protection and improving indigenous land use techniques,aimed at creating a mosaic of green and productive landscapes across North Africa. The ongoing goal of the project is to restore 100 million hectares of degraded land and capture 250 million tonnes of carbon dioxide,and create 10 million jobs in the process all by 2030.
Kamarou Fassassi was a Beninese politician.
The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is a United Nations observance celebrated each year on 17 June. Its purpose is to raise awareness of the presence of desertification and drought,highlighting methods of preventing desertification and recovering from drought. Each year's global celebration has a unique,novel emphasis that had not been developed previously.
The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is an independent think tank founded in 1990 working to shape and inform international policy on sustainable development governance. The institute has three offices in Canada - Winnipeg,Ottawa,and Toronto,and one office in Geneva,Switzerland. It has over 150 staff and associates working in over 30 countries.
Ibrahim Thiaw is a Mauritianian public servant who has been serving as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) since 2019.
Monique Barbut,born in 1956 in Morocco,is a French public servant who served as the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) from 2013 until 2019. She was appointed to this position by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 16 September 2013.
The Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) Initiative is a global initiative which aims to increase awareness of the benefits of sustainable land management and economic consequences of land degradation.
Elion Group was founded in 1988 in a saltern in Kubuqi Desert,one of China's deserts,aiming at restoring the eco-environment. Committed to preventing land degradation and transforming deserts into cities,it has developed the Kubuqi mode to restore the ecology of the Kubuqi Desert. Based on Elion's experiment,Kubuqi International Desert Forum,the only desert forum worldwide,was established in 2007.
Caroline King-Okumu is an international development opportunities manager for the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. She was formerly a senior researcher for the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). Her major areas of research are dryland ecosystems,economic and environmental assessment,and climate change. She is considered an international expert on land and water management,particularly drylands agriculture. King-Okumu is based in Kenya but is involved in research and projects throughout the world.
Environmental issues in Yemen are abundant and are divided into the categories of land and water. In the aspect of water,Yemen has limited natural fresh water resources and inadequate supplies of potable water. As for the land,two main issues of Yemen are overgrazing and desertification. Yemen has signed several international agreements:Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol,Desertification,Endangered Species,Environmental Modification,Hazardous Wastes,Law of the Sea,and Ozone Layer Protection.
The Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) is a multi-stakeholder forum to participate in landscape approach.
Sustainable Development Goal 15 is about "Life on land". One of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015,the official wording is:"Protect,restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems,sustainably manage forests,combat desertification,and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss". The Goal has 12 targets to be achieved by 2030. Progress towards targets will be measured by 14 indicators.
