All publications and documents

The world’s drylands are among the most vulnerable ecosystems on our planet. Desertification and land degradation are affecting huge land areas, jeopardizing the livelihoods of millions of people. Unsustainable management practices in dryland cultivation and pastoralism have given rise to widespread soil erosion, reduction of the biological production of soils, reduction of vegetation cover, and…

The book explores changes in the science and management of arid lands over the past 50 years within their historical contexts. It highlights the effects of changes in science on land use management policy and speculates on what role arid lands might play in the future and how policy must adapt to their changing nature. Reflecting the shift in drylands thinking from a piecemeal or a ‘magic…

Features: Presents land degradation problems by salinization; Evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of currently available remote sensing platforms; Provides salinization cases from different countries; Includes color images on CD; Summary; Recognized and advocated as a powerful tool, the role of remote sensing in identifying, mapping, and monitoring soil…

The CDROM “2008 Virtual Disaster Risk reduction Library” is a result of partnership between many institutions, CSO, governments, academic, technical experts etc. The section on desertification is the UNCCD Library contribution to this first virtual library version. It contains key documents and publications in full electronic format and complements the Bibliography on Drought,…

Countries retain powers of compulsory acquisition in order to enable governments to acquire land for specific purposes. The nature of these powers and the ways in which they are used are invariably sensitive and have wide implications, including from the perspective of international agreements on human rights and their national expressions. Compulsory acquisition is disruptive for those who are…

The document provides broad generic steps for mainstreaming environment and drylands issues into national development frameworks, as well lessons drawn from various countries on environment and drylands mainstreaming. The guidelines have been developed with the aim of influencing action at several levels of planning and policy engagement.