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The 1996 Report opens with a fundamental statement: "Human development is the end - economic growth a means." The Report argues that economic growth, if not properly managed, can be jobless, voiceless, ruthless, rootless and futureless, and thus detrimental to human development. The quality of growth is therefore as important as its quantity; for poverty reduction, human development and…

This report describes the extent of soil degradation, its bio-physical and socio-economic causes and macro- and micro-economic impacts. The causes behind the failure of soil conservation projects are analyzed. The book aims to prove that it is not just because land users lack efficient technologies that they do not protect the soil better; the major causes are insufficient participation in…

UNEP officials have called for $480 billion to be spent on 'anti-desertification' measures over the next twenty years.The claim, used by officials at UNEP in support of their demands for funds, that the Sahara is expanding, inexorably southwards, is based on evidence of dubious scientific validity. More rigorous scientific studies show no such desert encroachment. It is untrue that peasants and…

The land is our most valuable resource. It is indeed much more than this: it is the means of life without which we could never have existed and on which our continued existence and progress depend. The resources of the land are neither inexhaustible nor indestructible, as many men and women have already found to their cost. Resources that had taken many millions of years to accumulate have been…

Desertification or the problem of intense land degradation is an old concept. Through time, historical awareness has been fluctuating with periods of more environmental concern and moments of less attention. The UN Convention on Desertification has brought to a first level of consideration the global dimension of the issues. There is a common link between a wide variety of places that can be…

As the global community looks for ways to move to a greener economy, it is increasingly clear that forests, forestry and forest products must play a central role. This tenth edition of State of the World’s Forests explores the role of forests in human history, finding strong links between forest use and economic and social development and between unabated forest destruction and economic decline…