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Drought and forest fires increase vulnerability to desertification in Europe

Bonn, 21 Aug 2003 – “Forest fires and heatwaves not only burn houses and claim lives, but also make drylands more susceptible to desertification,” said Hama Arba Diallo, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

Drought and deforestation are two of the major causes of desertification in Europe. Perennial trees or crops and seasonal ones, help maintain vegetation cover on the land throughout the year so as to prevent wind and water erosion. The vegetation helps keep the moisture level on the ground as well as under-ground, thus decreasing aridity. Conversely, forest fires and droughts contribute to erosion, land degradation and eventually desertification.

The heatwave scorching Europe and the ensuing forest fires will put the affected regions into greater vulnerability to desertification. According to a report by Radio Free Europe yesterday, forest fires in Croatia, Portugal and Spain alone have swept more than 250,000 hectares of land during the recent heat wave in Europe.

In Portugal, this adds to a total of 215,000 hectares of land devastated by fires so far this year, or 7% of Portugal’s total 3.3 million hectares of woodland. Already more than one third of its land is at risk of desertification. In Spain, 31 percent of its land is under serious threat of desertification. Eighty-seven percent of the territory in Italy responded positively to vulnerability to desertification.

Agricultural productivity due to prolonged drought and heat among Europe Union member states is already expected to lower output by 5. 7 percent from last year to 197 million tons. With forest fires and land degradation, however, agricultural productivity is expected to drop further, if left unchecked.

Nevertheless, these trends are not expected to abate soon, as the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) predicted last month that extreme weather conditions might increase in the future.

Among European countries, 44 countries are Parties to the Convention and 22 countries are affected by desertification, land degradation and drought. Of the affected countries, seven have already finalized their National Action Programmes, which are long-term policy guidelines that constitute the backbone of the Convention.

The UNCCD was adopted as a follow up to the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and came into force in 1996. It is serviced by a permanent Secretariat based in Bonn and counts 188 country Parties. The Convention is the only binding international legal instrument to address the issue of desertification and recurring droughts. www.unccd.int

Note to Journalists: For more information about this news release, please contact Ms. Elysabeth David at edavid@unccd.int or Ms. Cheemin Kwon at ckwon@unccd.int