UNCCD: News

Celebration of the World Day to Combat Desertification in the Chilean National Congress

Heitor Matallo — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:17:01 GMT

Summary: Today an important meeting was held in the National Congress of Chile to celebrate the World day to Combat Desertification. The meeting has been organized by the Permanent Commission on Water Resources, Desertification and Drought (CWDD). The President of

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Today an important meeting was held in the National Congress of Chile to celebrate the World day to Combat Desertification. The meeting has been organized by the Permanent Commission on Water Resources, Desertification and Drought (CWDD). The President of the CWDD Ms. Monica Muñoz and other members of the commission called for an urgent action to combat desertification and to establish regulatory mechanisms for water use in the country. The UNDP presented the experiences on Sustainable Land Management at local level implemented in the context of a cooperation project jointly implemented with the EU. In the occasion, the LAC-RCU coordinator Mr. Heitor Matallo attended the meeting and gave a presentation on the global aspects related to desertification and its impacts on the natural resources and the communities in the drylands. He draws the attention of the participants to the importance of decentralized policies in line with the National Action Programmes, the main tool for the implementation of the UNCCD and also to the need to conduct a thorough economic evaluation on the losses of DLDD in the country aimed to establish sound policies and regulation for the use of natural resources.

Celebración del Día Mundial de Lucha contra la Desertificación en el Congreso Nacional de Chile

17/06/2013

En el día de hoy, 17 de junio, hubo una importante reunión para celebrar el Día Mundial de Lucha contra la Desertificación en el Congreso Nacional de Chile. La reunión ha sido organizada por la Comisión Permanente de Recursos Hídricos, Desertificación y Sequia de la Cámara de Diputados (CRHDS). La Presidente de la CRHDS, la Sra. Mónica Muñoz y otros miembros de la comisión, han hecho un llamado para una acción urgente en la lucha contra la desertificación y el establecimiento de mecanismos regulatorios para el uso del agua en el país. El Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD) ha presentado las experiencias implementadas a nivel de comunidades para el Manejo Sostenible de la Tierra, proyecto que ha sido implementado en cooperación con la Unión Europea. El coordinador de la UCR de ALC Sr. Heitor Matallo participó de la reunión e hizo una presentación sobre los aspectos globales de la desertificación y sus impactos sobre los recursos naturales y las comunidades que viven en las tierras secas. El llamo la atención de los participantes sobre la necesidad de políticas descentralizadas y en línea con los Programas de Acción Nacionales, el principal instrumento para la implementación de la UNCCD. Llamo la atención, además, para la necesidad de conducir evaluaciones económicas profundas sobre las pérdidas causadas por la desertificación.

Ms. Adriana Munoz (second from the left), the President of the Comission planting atree in the Parliament garden in celebration of the World day to Combat Desertification.

Expires: 31/12/2014

International Institutions cooperating for a new initiative for Latin America and Caribbean

Heitor Matallo — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 00:56:26 GMT

Summary: The Institute for Research (IRD) and development form France, the ECLAC, the Center for Management and Strategic Studies (CGEE) from Brazil, the Argentinian Institute for Drylands from Argentina and the LAC- RCU (UNCCD) met on 10-11 June in Santiago

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The Institute for Research (IRD) and development form France, the ECLAC, the Center for Management and Strategic Studies (CGEE) from Brazil, the Argentinian Institute for Drylands from Argentina and the LAC- RCU (UNCCD) met on 10-11 June in Santiago de Chile to discuss a new initiative for the LAC region. The Polipartite Initiative is aimed to promote the sustainable development in the LAC drylands, which is much closed related to the UNCCD Ten-Year Strategy and also takes into consideration of the AGSA report (Ad-Hoc Working Group on Scientific advise), which recommends the development of regional hubs on science and technology related to combating desertification. The initiative will have 5 components: a) Diagnosis of the status of drylands in LAC; b) Support to the formulation of public policies or the sustainable development; c) analysis of the dryland political economy; d) capacity building and e) Dissemination of information. The institutions involved in the Polipartite Initiative has been implementing a similar programme in Africa (IRD, CGEE and African countries) with great success and will take into account the lessons learned from that programme in the development of the initiative in LAC. The institutions agreed to meet again in August 2013, during the 1^st ILACCT Scientific Conference in Sobral, Ceara, Brazil.

Instituciones internacionales cooperan para una nueva iniciativa para América latina y el Caribe

10 y 11 de junio de 2013

l Instituto de Investigación y Desarrollo (IRD) de Francia, la CEPAL, el Centro de Gestión y Estudios Estratégicos (CGEE) de Brasil, el Instituto Argentino de Zonas Áridas (IADIZA) y la UCR-UNCCD se reunieron en los días 10 y 11 de junio en Santiago de Chile para discutir una nueva iniciativa para la región de ALC. La Iniciativa Polipartita tiene el objetivo de promover el desarrollo sostenible en las zonas áridas de América Latina y el Caribe, lo que está en acuerdo con la Estrategia Decenal de la UNCCD, y toma en cuenta el informe del AGSA (Ad-Hoc Working Group on Scientific Advise), que recomienda el desarrollo de nodos regionales de ciencia y tecnología en la lucha contra la desertificación. La Iniciativa tendrá 5 componentes: a) Diagnóstico de la situación de las zonas áridas; b) Apoyo a la formulación de políticas públicas para el desarrollo sostenible; c) Análisis de la economía política d las tierras secas; d) capacitación y e) diseminación de información. Las instituciones involucradas en la Iniciativa Polipartita han implementado un programa similar en África (IRD, CGEE y países africanos) con gran éxito, y tomarán en cuenta las lecciones aprendidas de este programa para el desarrollo de la iniciativa en ALC. Las instituciones acordaron otra reunión que será celebrada en agosto de 2013 durante la 1ª Conferencia Científica de ILACCT en Sobral, Ceará, Brasil.

Expires: 31/12/2014

Initiatives in Commemoration of the Word Day to Combat Desertification in Timor Leste

Kihyun Kim — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 06:53:26 GMT

Summary: Dili, Timor-Leste: Secretariat of State for Forestry and Nature Conservation plans WDCD commemoration activities, which will commence on or before June 17, 2013 and will continue throughout the year.

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The theme of this year’s commemoration, “Drought and Water Scarcity”, reflects the harsh reality that many countries face today, especially those that are developing. Many of these regions experience extensive periods of dry season and a lack of water that severely affects community livelihood. Timor Leste, as a small country in South East Asia, is one of these nations that is suffering from drought and water scarcity, issues that negatively impact agricultural production in the country.

The current condition of land degradation in Timor Leste is as follows: from the forest inventory report undertaken by the National Directorate of Forestry (NDF) and JICS in March 2013, it can be observed that the degradation of 1.7% p.a. over ten years (1999-2010) has led to the disappearance of approximately 338,473 ha (26%) of forest. As a response to this, the State Secretary for Forestry and Nature Conservation has its mandate, the Organic Law of the Fifth Constitutional Government, to promote reforestation on degraded land, support rural communities in developing nurseries, and commencing in 2015, to produce approximately one million seedlings per year.

As a nation that has ratified this Convention, Timor Leste has been carrying out its obligations to be actively involved in combating land degradation in the country. This can be seen from the following activities that have been planned by the Secretariat of State for Forestry and Nature Conservation of Timor Leste, to mark the commemoration of the WDCD:

Talk show or Interactive Dialogue with Stakeholders such as communities, local leaders, Government or International leaders, and NGOs dealing with land degradation and the environment.
Dissemination of information to community, local authorities, and students, through radio, television, leaflets, banners, and posters.
Sites preparation and production of seedlings that are to be planted in January 2014 as part of community awareness campaigns on the importance of protecting the earth.

These activities will commence on or before June 17, 2013, and will continue throughout the year.

Note: This article has been summarized from the document titled “The Commemoration of Word Day to Combat Desertification in Timor Leste”, prepared by Mr. Mário Ribeiro Nunes, UNCCD Focal Point of Timor Leste

Expires: 30/06/2013

Country Group_Taxonomy: Geography:Country groups:United Nations Regional Groups:Asia-Pacific Group

European worst floods raise climate concerns

Jamal Annagylyjova — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 13:26:46 GMT

Summary: Extreme weather in Danube and Elbe river in Central Europe is expected to occur more frequent.

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Extreme weather events in Danube and Elbe river basins in Central Europe are expected to occur more frequently. In Southern Germany at the convergence of the Danube, Inn and Ilz rivers, water reached 42.3 feet in the last few days. A similar water level was reached back in 1501. Experts say that Europe should get ready for even worse floods. Cities should implement land-use restrictions in flood-prone areas. Groundwater pumping and regular dredging are needed to decrease silt and sand deposits on riverbeds after heavy rainfall.
The cause of these floods is to do with the mass of water vapor in the air, which partly resulted from the high air temperature. Experts say that the flooding was caused by a low-pressure system above Eastern Europe drawing warm, moist air from the Mediterranean. The warm water vapor accumulated north of low-lying mountain ranges and the Alps. After its arrival to the cooler regions of Central and Eastern Europe, it condensed resulting in heavy rainfall.
Danube’s water level is expected to reach 29.5 feet in Budapest, which is 10 inches higher than the river’s previous record in 2006. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has announced a state of emergency. Thousands of volunteers agreed to work overnight to strengthen the riverbanks. An emergency evacuation facility that is able to temporary accommodate 15,000 people has been set in Budapest.
According to Mojib Latif from the Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research in the German city of Kiel, there is an increase in the frequency of the extreme precipitation events. Latif says that floods at the same scale as the present one, are occurring twice as often as they did a century ago.
Gerhard Lux, a meteorologist from the German Meteorological Office says that May 2013 was wet, resulting in an increased precipitation and therefore, ground saturation. Heavy rainfall in many areas of Germany in late May and early June caused the water to flow on the surface as the ground could not absorb it anymore. This caused the rapid filling of streams and rivers.

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Expires: 01/08/2013

Activities in Observance of the World Day to Combat Desertification

Kihyun Kim — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 08:12:13 GMT

Summary: National efforts and initiatives to mitigate DLDD issues in the Philippines

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In support of this year’s observance of the WDCD, the Honorable Secretary of Agriculture sent a memorandum to all subdivisions of the Department of Agriculture of the Philippines encouraging each to display streamers and to organize important activities that promote this year’s slogan, “Don’t let our future dry up.” Also invited to participate were the Departments of Environment and Natural Resources, Agrarian Reform, and Science and Technology.

In anticipation of the WDCD, furthermore, a seminar was held on June 7, 2013 as a preliminary activity on the theme of “Sustainable Land Management (SLM): Preventing Land Degradation and Securing Water for the Future Generation.” To address land degradation and drought, the NAP alignment process was featured at the seminar, along with a variety of SLM technologies, approaches, and crosscutting interventions such as R&D, capacity building, and knowledge management.

On June 17^th, 2013, the day of the WDCD, a tree planting activity will be held in Tanay, Rizal. Those who will participate include employees of the Bureau of Soils and Water Management and the students of the University of Rizal System, in order to raise awareness among the youth of the significance of this World Day.

Expires: 30/06/2013

Country Group_Taxonomy: Geography:Country groups:United Nations Regional Groups:Asia-Pacific Group

New project to boost knowledge-sharing on sustainable land management in Central Asia

Jamal Annagylyjova — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 13:46:16 GMT

Summary: Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, 10 June 2013: A new initiative to streamline use and creation of knowledge on sustainable land management (SLM) in Central Asia in the face of climate change launches today.

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Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, 10 June 2013: A new initiative to streamline use and creation of knowledge on sustainable land management (SLM) in Central Asia in the face of climate change launches today.

It aims to improve knowledge on SLM practices in the region, and tailor this knowledge to the needs of local populations for practical use and of authorities for shaping better informed policies.

Officials, researchers, practitioners and policymakers will meet to officially kick-start the project and review its objectives and planed outcomes, and design a project work plan. The event is co-organized by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation (GIZ) in Bishkek.

This initiative lays the groundwork for the second phase of a larger multi-donor investment program called the Central Asian Countries Initiative for Land Management (CACILM), which was created to respond to risks posed by growing land degradation and climate variability to local communities, who are highly dependent on land resources for their livelihoods. More specifically, CACILM was established to support Central Asian countries in implementation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. In the inception phase from 2006 to 2009, it delivered a set of regional and national land management projects totaling US$155 million.

During this initiative, which is supported by a three-year grant from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and is coordinated by ICARDA, a knowledge platform will be built to consolidate knowledge generated during the Inception Phase. "Learning something new in one country can help to raise the level of knowledge in other countries," says Alona Reichmuth, Advisor with GIZ’s Regional Program for Sustainable Use of Natural Resources, who led a team that analyzed, evaluated and documented over 20 best practices arising from the Inception Phase.

The new initiative and the Bishkek workshop are designed to give a renewed impetus to the process of sharing useful approaches and best practices in SLM across the region.

Dr Jozef Turok, ICARDA Regional Coordinator for Central Asia and the Caucasus, comments: "Our main objectives are to enhance CACILM knowledge management for facilitating widespread dissemination of sustainable land management (SLM) practices, to make agricultural systems more productive and sustainable, and to promote climate change adaptation."

The initiative seeks to produce recommendations on how SLM interventions can best be scaled-up. Researchers will work with target groups, which include policymaking units responsible for SLM in each country; non-governmental organizations and rural development agencies working in each country and at regional level; extension agencies, farmers and farmers' organizations; and the international donor community active in Central Asia.

Dr Theib Oweis, Director of ICARDA's Water and Land Management Program that spearheads the effort, explains: "Knowledge management is essential to understanding and disseminating innovative SLM approaches and technologies that have high potential for implementation in the different agro-ecosystems of Central Asia. The evaluation how these technologies perform in farmers' fields is needed to tailor interventions to specific needs. And the choice of interventions needs to be accompanied by enabling policies and institutional arrangements for each agro-ecosystem."

The project targets four main agro-ecosystems: rainfed cropland; irrigated agriculture; mountain ecosystems; and rangelands.

It is expected that through this project, knowledge on how to better adapt to climate change in agriculture and rural development will increase. A knowledge platform will be created that displays up-to-date information on SLM, monitors and assesses the rate of SLM adoption in the region, and provides support for evidence-based policy formulation.

ICARDA will work closely with the CACILM Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA), a multi-donor partnership, which includes IFAD, GIZ, ICARDA and other organizations. This project will surely contribute to making vulnerable populations in Central Asia ready for and better adapted to climate change by harnessing best practices in SLM.

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If you have any questions regarding this press release, please contact Mr Mutalib Begmuratov at mbegmuratov@cgiar.org, or by telephone on (+998 71) 237 21 30.

Expires: 11/08/2013