LADA Dryland Degradation Assessment Project

The film, My Blueberry Nights , opened for the 2007 Cannes Film Festival as one of the 22 films in competition.

Desertification can also be avoided by reducing the stress on dryland ecosystems.

TPN 2 on agroforestry has completed its draft manual on dryland agro forestry.

Viable alternatives must be provided to dryland people to maintain their livelihoods without causing desertification.

First, by the introduction of alternative livelihoods that have less of an impact on dryland resources.

Therefore, joint implementation of major environmental conventions can lead to increased synergy and effectiveness, benefiting dryland people.

The UNU dryland programme focuses on improving capacity building and the sharing of experience between developing countries.

A second publication highlighting UNEP activities in dryland environmental management is to be launched in September or October 2006.

Current activities of the Desert Net include the creation of a Dryland Research Center at the University of Hamburg.

The secretariat has continued to promote a project targeting dryland rehabilitation through the provision of employment and resources to youth.

The aim of the project is to identify the peoples' adaptation techniques and traditional knowledge in coping with dryland conditions.

The project fosters community led approaches, training, capacity building, interaction of landowners and farmers, and sustainable and dryland indigenous management practices.

Strengthening parliamentarians' role in the fight against poverty in dryland areas by placing UNCCD related activities on the agenda of their national parliaments

Since the GEF also served as the financial mechanism for the UNFCCC, some dryland projects were designed primarily to address climate change related issues.

It occurs because dryland ecosystems, which cover over one third of the world's land area, are extremely vulnerable to over exploitation and inappropriate land use.

The new kit, labelled A creative approach to environmental education in drylands and highlands , will be targeted at primary and secondary schools in dryland and mountainous countries.

The new kit labelled A creative approach to environmental education in drylands and highlands will be targeted at primary and secondary schools in dryland and mountainous countries.

PAIA provides a forum for exchange of information, and liaises with other regional and subregional offices of FAO as well as the FAO representatives in dryland countries.

In the course of 2004, a 10 country project on the use of gum arabic for land rehabilitation and economic development in dryland areas in Africa was prepared.

Based on these rough estimates, about 1 6 per cent of the dryland people live in desertified areas, while a much larger number is under threat from further desertification.

The pressure is increasing on dryland ecosystems for the provision of services such as food, forage, fuel, building materials, and water for humans and livestock, for irrigation, and for sanitation.

Tailored to the degree of aridity, interventions and adaptations are available and used to prevent desertification and to restore, where needed, the capacity of the dryland ecosystems to provide services.

Furthermore, UNEP is planning a scientific conference on the theme Dryland environmental management and the Millennium Development Goals , expected to be held at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, in September October 2006.

Israel had carried out cutting edge research projects in dryland sustainable development, and its international cooperation agency, MASHAV, was working with other national bodies to provide desertification training and assistance to other countries.

Even before the decision to make land degradation a focal area, the GEF informed on assistance provided to African countries in meeting the biodiversity conservation and climate change objectives through dryland management projects.

Persistent, substantial reduction in the provision of ecosystem services as a result of water scarcity, intensive use of services and climate change is a much greater threat in drylands than in non dryland systems.

Furthermore, UNEP is planning the organization of a Sscientific Cconference on the theme Dryland Environmental Management and the Millennium Development Goals , to be held tentatively at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, in September October 2006.

I showed Obama a map from my book Common Wealth, which depicts the overlap of dryland climates and conflict zones. I noted to him that the region urgently requires a development strategy, not a military approach.

At the fifth World Parks Congress (WPC) in Durban, South Africa in 2003, the IUCN, together with the UNCCD, sought to integrate some recommendations concerning the participation of local communities in the management of dryland natural resources.

In 1996, FAO established an ad hoc Interdepartmental Working Group on Desertification (IDWG) with the aim of facilitating the coordination of relevant FAO programmes and other mechanisms in the area of dryland development, desertification control and drought mitigation.

Furthermore, rural and dryland development programmes need to be implemented through integrated approaches that have due regard for societal factors such as the security of land tenure, level of decentralization of planning and governance of land resources, and potential for developing alternative livelihoods.

It would seem that the CCD Committee on Science and Technology, and the Dryland Degradation Assessment Project (LADA) coordinated by the FAO could play a major role here, by helping these countries to harmonize their desertification monitoring and assessment methods in line with established standards.

The festival will attempt to raise the awareness of the general public about the issue of desertification and its social and cultural implications, promote cultural identities and local capacities of dryland communities, and identify and launch concrete actions in support of affected developing countries, particularly in the field of arts and culture.