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By 2025, 1.8 billion people will experience absolute water scarcity, and 2/3 of the world will be living under water-stressed conditions.  In the meanwhile, we continuously waste precious natural resources like land and water. A number of statistics indicate that we are wasting our natural capital at an accelerating pace. Poorly-managed natural capital is not only an ecological liability but also a social and economic threat. The overexploitation of natural capital can be disastrous, and not just in terms of land degradation and water scarcity. The loss of ecosystem productivity and resilience makes many regions more prone to extreme weather events such as floods, landslides and droughts. Drought and water scarcity are considered to be the most far-reaching of all natural disasters, causing short and long-term economic and ecological losses as well as significant secondary and tertiary impacts. In the coming decades, drought is projected to increase in frequency, severity, duration and spatial extent. More and more people will suffer, and even fight, because of water scarcity. This year, the World Water Day sends a message to everyone for taking action on reducing and reusing wastewater under the theme, “Why waste water?”  Think about this. Collectively, women from Sub-Saharan Africa spend about 40 billion hours a year collecting water. How much water do you waste a day? Why waste water?   Further readings: World Water Development Report 2017, “Wastewater, The Untapped Resource”Factsheet World Water Day 2017Issues: Land and Drought    

In 2013, the Conference of the Parties decided to establish a Science–Policy Interface (SPI) to facilitate a two‐way science–policy dialogue and ensure the delivery of policy‐relevant information, knowledge and advice on desertification/land degradation and drought (DLDD).  The SPI is composed of 20 members and three observers, who are mostly scientific experts. The SPI is currently pursuing its work programme assigned for the biennium 2016‐2017. In 2015, the COP decided that the work conducted by the SPI and its overall achievements since its establishment will be reviewed at COP 13 in order to decide on the future functioning of the SPI. In this context, the UNCCD secretariat, with advice from the CST Bureau, commissioned an assessment that will serve as a background for the SPI review at COP 13.  Part of the data collection for the assessment consists of an online survey targeting all UNCCD stakeholders. It is now open for responses in three languages (English, French and Spanish) and can be accessed through the links below. Time that is needed to answering the survey questions is estimated at 5-10 minutes.  https://de.surveymonkey.com/survey-closed/?sm=YXiquq5mvM_2BW0f9e3P7g8s5ts1mOXeCt0Y58WKsB49F_2B3TnqsxuSf1ALWJeZ3YYWeymBB4uORB2ANvBw9pUXTQP6cAO54l_2B5KywV_2Bgs20357_2Frml0as2vNpeUlRypqzD https://fr.surveymonkey.com/survey-closed/?sm=RrMdGYOrVbK6Ksqt50tjOjMcF8yDWJElLMU6F2nlgkmLGji1fbUlpz8Fkbvqr1yOS7BbNmen255rApBQNbI8IMHIzV2pOt5xyIdVe9rWnPaoLIB_2BMYj3_2FotT1tTktPuz https://es.surveymonkey.com/survey-closed/?sm=EOOlZpppTrQiMKN6pymrHS1sGLOGwhS5r1X8c3mBK_2Be0xt4L1jCFQp2wnA7_2FtoC12lRRZhZyliHhfcb5zSv2NyW_2Btuipj0PpMEYNmEeGR8ZjzhbJ_2F_2FO5z_2B_2FOeB4JHzMq

The International Day of Forests is observed on 21 March every year. This year, a special event to observe the Day was held at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) headquarters in Rome under the theme, “Forests and energy”. The observance was held in conjunction with the Global Symposium on Soil Organic Carbon which is taking place until 23 March. The UNCCD Executive Secretary Monique Barbut made the following statement at this special observance event.  The Forest – Energy nexus Excellency, Distinguished guests, Dear colleagues and friends, Province after province around the Mediterranean was turned to desert, 2000 years ago, by the rapid expansion of the Roman Empire and an urgent need for food, fuel and shelter.   It reminded me of a quote by the French philosopher François-René de Chateaubriand who once said “Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow them”.  It seems our civilization has not progressed that far in 2000 years! •    Every 60 seconds -- we cut down 15 hectares of forest primarily to make room for food or energy production.   •    Between 1990 and 2015, the world lost some 129 million hectares of forest - an area the size of South Africa.  When we take away the forest it is not just the trees that go. The entire ecosystem begins to fall apart.  With dire consequences for us all.   In terms of climate change and the water cycle certainly - but also in terms of future energy provision. •    Deforestation and forest degradation are responsible for just over 17% of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions.  For now, some 296 gigatonnes of carbon are stored in the world’s forests in both above and below ground biomass. But for how long? The need for food, fuel and shelter is still turning forests to deserts every day.   •    For every million kilos of beef exported from South America some 45,000 hectares of rainforest are cleared.  •    And in many low-income countries fuel wood is still the most important forest product - it represents 93% of the total harvested wood.  The 300 million people who live in forests worldwide are counting on us to break the spiral of forest loss and degradation while allowing people to eat and have access to the energy, water and incomes the forest provides.  So, how might we approach this?  In my mind, we can manage the trade-offs better - in particular, getting the choices right where land use, water and energy collide. The time for small scale “pilot project” is coming to an end. We know that sustainable, efficient technologies and alternatives - to charcoal and fuel wood – work if they are in the hands of consumers.  Our bio-fuels and hydro-electric strategies, while well-meaning, can sometimes be low carbon but not truly sustainable or friendly to the forests or the land.  We can reflect a little more perhaps on these unintended consequences and revisit how we approach these strategies.  While, if we shift our consumption patterns and sustainably manage and rehabilitate the degraded land we have outside forests; there will be less pressure for agricultural expansion into forests.  I would like to see techniques like agroforestry go mainstream, for example. Above all, a new integrated way of doing business is something that would benefit everyone.  The 105 countries participating in the Land Degradation Neutrality Target Setting Programme with UNCCD account for example represent more than 54 percent of global forest cover.  Just these 105 countries have lost 64 million ha of forest between 1990 and 2015.   Most of these countries will include specific forest-based targets such as increasing the amount of forested area or its productivity in their LDN targets. We would love to be working with you, indeed with all forestry stakeholders, to get the land, forest and energy communities working together. To get SDG 15 and SDG 7 delivered together.   Man-made deserts should not follow mankind’s “so-called” civilization.   I very much welcome the day the forest community will put me out of a job.  Thank you.

The effects of the El Nino drought of 2015-2016 are barely over and we have a new emergency. More than 20 million people in northern Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen are currently at risk of starvation. It could become the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of United Nations in 1945.

According to the Kenyan Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, over 80% of land in Kenya is classified as arid and semiarid. These areas are home to approximately 10 million people, 50% of Kenya’s livestock, and 70% of wildlife.As stated by the Principal Secretary in the State Department of Environment in Kenya, Mr. Charles Sunkuli, “land Degradation, which is driven by harsh ecological conditions and unsustainable land management practices, is a threat to food security and sustainable development, and continues to threaten livelihoods countrywide”.In order to address this issue, Kenya is currently among 105 countries committed to set national Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets. The inception workshop to set Kenya’s targets for LDN was held in Nairobi 22 - 23 February 2017, with over 50 participants from various institutions nationwide. During his opening speech, Mr. Sunkuli also announced that: “Kenya has prioritized the issue of halting land degradation across sectors, in order to enhance the attainment of food security through sustainable land management practices, water harvesting and land based initiatives”.Kenya has been playing a leadership role in forging action on LDN: In October 2016, Nairobi hosted the fifteenth session of the Committee of the Review of Implementation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (CRIC 15). The issue that was deemed particularly important at CRIC15 was to move forward with LDN.During the 2016 Africa Regional Negotiators meeting in Nairobi, it was pointed out that Kenya is promoting Sustainable Land Management as a means of addressing desertification, land degradation, biodiversity and climate change.Kenya has mapped the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), where some of the specific key areas of focus include: environment, agriculture, food security, and halting land degradation. In line with this, Kenya has embarked on integrating the SDGs into its Development Plan.Land Degradation Neutrality calls for securing enough healthy and productive natural resources by avoiding degradation whenever possible and restoring land that has already been degraded. Better management practices and better land use planning can improve economic, social and ecological sustainability for present and future generations. In the following months Kenya is set to work on establishing the national LDN baseline and targets. Subsequently this achievement will greatly contribute to advancing national sustainable development priorities, such as the National Climate Change Action Plan and the Green Economy Initiative.  For more information: Simeon Hengari The Global MechanismTel: +49 177 52 663 17SHengari@unccd.int

International Women’s Day this year focuses on economic empowerment in the changing world of work. The vision is to achieve gender equality and empowerment of women and girls by 2030. Girls’ aged three will become adults with a legal right to work in 2030. Together, with those aged up to 10, these girls are the prime target for gender equality by 2030.