All publications and documents

The ESA DesertWatch project goal was to develop an Information System for assessing and monitoring desertification using EO technologies, in order to support local authorities in reporting to the UNCCD. The project has selected the most robust and reliable methodologies developed during the related research projects, integrating them into a unique environment, which is easy to use,…

This publication collects the results of a practical experience of survey, through the direct control of satellite images from high to medium resolution, over areas subjected to desertification problems. The problems of the local population are closely tied to the equilibrium in the management of the territory, which is compromised by the difficulties of maintaining traditional methodologies of…

The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005-2014), offers an opportunity to rethink the manner in which we approach global challenges. Since its international launch in New York on 1st March 2005, the DESD has made considerable progress in terms of concrete activities and actions on the ground. Apart from the regional and national launches, progress has been…

The increasing demand for rural land and its natural resources is creating competition and conflicts. Many interested parties, including farmers, nature conservationists, rural residents and tourists, compete for the same space. Especially in densely populated areas, agriculture, recreation, urban and suburban growth and infrastructure development exert a constant pressure on rural areas.…

As a result of human activities and climate change the processes of desertification are progressing. Around 40% of the earth surface is threatened by risk of desertification, including wide areas of Mediterranean. Desertification, at the latest consequences represents the dismantling of all biospheric potential of the affected zone and its conversion into a barren and unproductive territory.

This book gives a comprehensive overview of the state of research on the complex issues surrounding ´climate change and drylands`. It reveals systematically the various interrelations and feedback mechanisms, with detailed information about the contribution of drylands to climate change, recent and projected climatic changes and their impacts on drylands. The authors also discuss how…