Education: A Key Strategy of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
Publication year
Resource type
UNCCD Library
Material Type
article
Desertification means land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, generally known as "drylands". It is a process by which fertile land becomes degraded, typically as a result of drought, deforestation or inappropriate agriculture. Even though desertification is one of the significant challenges of these times, many people do not know what it is, or how it affects their lives.
For this reason, education and awareness raising is a key component of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and has been emphasised in its 10-year Strategic Plan and Framework (2008-18). The strategy seeks to deepen the interest of parties--194 signing countries and European Union--to the convention, so that combating desertification, land degradation and drought becomes part of every country's development or development assistance policy. While education is an important means for people to understand the threats of desertification, land degradation and drought, one important lesson is that these processes do not have to be permanent.
The most common cause of desertification and land degradation is over-cultivation of land for agriculture. If people are educated in techniques of sustainable land management, desertification and land degradation are preventable.
The current issue of the journal comes in the year that marks 20 years of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held at Rio de Janeiro in 1992. At that time, along with Agenda 21, came the three important multilateral environment conventions on climate change, biological diversity and desertification. This was a period over which the concept of ESD evolved.
The UN DESD started in 2005 and UNESCO was given the responsibility to be the lead agency on behalf of the UN. And so, 20 years after Rio, the authors felt it would be appropriate to ask the DESD secretariat at UNESCO to compile and edit a special section which would help explore the way ESD has evolved over the three conventions. UNESCO has contributed to the special section on ESD to this issue of JESD.
For this reason, education and awareness raising is a key component of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and has been emphasised in its 10-year Strategic Plan and Framework (2008-18). The strategy seeks to deepen the interest of parties--194 signing countries and European Union--to the convention, so that combating desertification, land degradation and drought becomes part of every country's development or development assistance policy. While education is an important means for people to understand the threats of desertification, land degradation and drought, one important lesson is that these processes do not have to be permanent.
The most common cause of desertification and land degradation is over-cultivation of land for agriculture. If people are educated in techniques of sustainable land management, desertification and land degradation are preventable.
The current issue of the journal comes in the year that marks 20 years of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held at Rio de Janeiro in 1992. At that time, along with Agenda 21, came the three important multilateral environment conventions on climate change, biological diversity and desertification. This was a period over which the concept of ESD evolved.
The UN DESD started in 2005 and UNESCO was given the responsibility to be the lead agency on behalf of the UN. And so, 20 years after Rio, the authors felt it would be appropriate to ask the DESD secretariat at UNESCO to compile and edit a special section which would help explore the way ESD has evolved over the three conventions. UNESCO has contributed to the special section on ESD to this issue of JESD.
Keywords
education
sustainable development
environmental education
desertification
biodiversity
climate change