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Desertification control bulletin is an international bulletin published in six monthly intervals by UNEP to disseminate information and knowledge on desertification problems and to present news on the programmes, activities and achievements in the implementation of the Plan of Action to Combat Desertification around the world. ( The bulletin is ceased in 2000. UNCCD library collection has most of…

In Mauritania, intense wind erosion threatens productive land and infrastructure and causes severe levels of land degradation. Rural poverty encourages migration to urban centres. In an attempt to alleviate these problems, a project was established which focused on sand encroachment control and the empowerment of communities to initiate and manage land protection and economic …

From its origin as a major development and environment issue following the Sahelian drought and famine in the early 1970s, desertification become a topic of great interest for the United Nations, governments of developing countries, and research scientists. Recent reviews of the desertification phenomenon, however, call into question the “conventional wisdom” regarding the extent of this…

Drylands, regions with an Aridity Index (i.e., the ratio of mean annual precipitation to mean annual potential evapotranspiration) below 0.65 , have a climate characterized by infrequent, highly variable, rainfall and intense solar radiation. Consequently, these areas experience conditions of chronic water shortage, and, unlike mesic ecosystems, do not sustain a continuous cover by vascular…

The authors aim is to follow Brundtland's lead on the need for a rapid transition to sustainability. The authors bolster Brundtland's case for the transition, because they feel that the need for this transition is not yet adequately recognized. The authors then go on to suggest specifics of what is needed to achieve the transition. They leave to others the more important task, namely how to…

This book focuses on the socio-economic aspects of desert communities such as balancing economic and ecological issues, new and renewable energy strategies and nonconventional energy plans. Systems approaches, applications and case studies in developing nations are discussed. Desert development /Part one: Desert agriculture, ecology and biology Part two: Socio-economic aspects and…