*Global CA-CoP* *CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE*
*for sustainable production intensification and land management*
Dear Subscribers,
Please see herebelow a communication from the CGIAR Research Programme on
Drylands Systems on the occasion of the World Day to Combat Desertification
(*June 17th).*
Apologies for cross-posting.
*Amir Kassam *
*Moderator*
e-mail: <[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]
URL: <http://www.fao.org/ag/ca>www.fao.org/ag/ca
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Thomas <[log in to unmask]>
To: Amir Kassam <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Fri, Jun 17, 2016 4:13 pm
Subject: Love the LAND - Take Action!
Love the LAND - take action!
[image: CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Systems] [image: CGIAR Research
Program on Dryland Systems]
------------------------------
Land degradation affects the livelihoods of 900 million people across 5
continents and decreases global biodiversity with a loss of 27,000 species
annually. The value of the ecosystem services lost worldwide is estimated
between *US $6.3 - $10.6 trillion annually*, which is equivalent to 10
- 17% of global GDP.
It goes without saying that the issue demands global attention. The
2016 theme of *World Day to Combat Desertification* for more *inclusive
cooperation* to restore and rehabilitate degraded land and reach the
*Sustainable
Development Goals*, including *target 15.3* for a *Land Degradation Neutral
World* could not be more exigent.
There was a time when desertification conjured up the image of creeping
deserts in drylands, such as the Sahara, the Kalahari, or the Sinai
deserts. That concept has now expanded to acknowledge desertification as
the end result of *land degradation processes* induced by both *climate
variability* and *human activities* that turn once fertile soils into
barren land due to overexploitation of land resources. These days, land
degradation is being increasingly recognised as a global phenomenon
extending beyond drylands, and affecting everyone and everything from the
food on our plates, the clothes on our backs, the houses we live in, the
cars we drive, and the things we buy. Everything is connected to land and
its resources.
Efforts to combat desertification should not be reserved to one especially
designated day by the *United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification *(UNCCD),
which should perhaps consider updating its name also. Rather these efforts
should be continuous and permeate all choices we make on a daily
basis. Notwithstanding the slight incongruity of terms, the driving forces
and remedies for reversing and preventing land degradation require
increased collaboration amongst various actors at different levels to
implement scientifically sound and large scale actions.
The global initiative on the *Economics of Land Degradation* (ELD) is one
such way of bringing various stakeholders together to develop comprehensive
solutions and a shared understanding of the issue in the *common language
of money*. Although some argue that one cannot put a dollar value on all
nature, the ELD Initiative serves as a sound basis for triggering policies
and action - by both the public and private sectors – and recasting the
traditional narrative of land degradation in socio-economic terms.
I take this opportunity to encourage you to explore the significant
research work produced by the ELD Initiative, and most notably the well
received *Value of Land*
<http://cgiar.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2c6a96e1aa0375baaa6f402b2&id=1d7befd70c&e=515d5b6e4c>
report. We also invited three of our scientists and partners to share with
us their thoughts on the subject and tell us about some of the work on the
ground:
- Lessons Learned in sustainable land management in drylands
<http://cgiar.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2c6a96e1aa0375baaa6f402b2&id=6c26f6a91e&e=515d5b6e4c>
- by Claudio Zucca of *ICARDA*
- Reversing agricultural land degradation worldwide
<http://cgiar.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2c6a96e1aa0375baaa6f402b2&id=d2dc00e0d1&e=515d5b6e4c>
- by Amir Kassam of *Global Conservation Agriculture Community of
Practice*
- All that glitters and burns is not gold
<http://cgiar.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2c6a96e1aa0375baaa6f402b2&id=482a1cd65c&e=515d5b6e4c>*
-* by Vanja Westerberg of *Altus Impact*
To mark the 2016 World Day to Combat Desertification, we have also produced:
- Desertification: the Invisible Frontier of Land Degradation, Poverty
and Migration
<http://cgiar.us13.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=2c6a96e1aa0375baaa6f402b2&id=a427c0aae7&e=515d5b6e4c>,
an *Exposure* multimedia story by Tana Lala-Pritchard of *CGIAR
Research Program on Dryland Systems*.
- Interactive infographic on key facts and figures on Land Degradation
and Drylands
<http://cgiar.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2c6a96e1aa0375baaa6f402b2&id=4fd6a8d694&e=515d5b6e4c>
.
Given the complexity of the land degradation issue and the varying views on
its definition, bringing people together is of paramount importance, as is
overcoming science prejudices and skepticism against different sectors, in
particular the private sector, community based organisations and
non-governmental actors. Action is needed on the ground by raising
awareness of the problems and solutions with land users, and at the same
time engaging with policy makers to ensure that sufficient resources are
dedicated to preserving and maintaining the natural resource base that many
agrarian societies depend on.
In collaboration with the UNCCD, our program recently brought together
several of these different actors to discuss and share knowledge and
lessons learned on successful case studies of sustainable land management
practices and critical factors determining the success of scaling up such
practices. The outcome of this workshop will be a whole chapter on *Scaling
Up Sustainable Land Management* in the UNCCD *Global Land Outlook* report
due for release in 2017.
Land degradation mostly affects the world’s poor. We recognise
*desertification* as the invisible frontier of poverty with *potential
threats to security, peace and stability* in many dryland countries and
beyond. These threats are reflected in growing food and water
scarcity, *environmentally
forced migration*, and manifested in unemployment, disillusionment,
radicalisation, and conflict. Yet, desertification is not an irrevocable
calamity as dryland populations have survived and thrived all for thousands
of years.
Solutions do exist and their effective application must build on *indigenous
knowledge* and *innovation*, by strengthening community participation,
increasing public and private sector investments, and engaging actors from
at all levels. Agriculture and productive land for *employment* and *income
generation* are critical for many dryland countries of the developing
world. Our efforts for sustainable development, for peace and stability in
drylands and beyond must focus more and more on land.
Sincerely,
*Richard Thomas*
Director of CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Systems
and Scientific Coordinator of the Economics of Land Degradation Initiative
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*Our mailing address is:*
CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Systems
Address: c/o ICARDA, Bld.15
Khalid Abu Dalbouh St. Abdoun
PO Box 950764, Amman 11195, JORDAN
(Office) +962 (6) 5903120
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