An Introduction to CCD • CCD offers new hope in the struggle against desertification-- INTRODUCTION TO CCD AND KEY ELEMENTS OF NAP promotes a new approach to managing ecosystem and development aid flows; • Desertification is caused by climate variability and human activities—over-cultivation, overgrazing, deforestation,poor Pacific Regional Workshop irrigation practice. These degradations are caused by eco-social pressure, ignorance, war and drought; Sustainable Land Management Project • Desertification undermines land’s productivity and contributes to by poverty--fertile soil, vegetation cover, health crops are the first victims of desertification; Yang Youlin • CCD is being implemented through NAP --the core of the OIC, Asia RCU/CCD Secretariat, Bangkok Convention; E-mail: [email protected] • CCD promises to dramatically reshape the international aid process--seeks to engage donors and agencies and recipient countries in a new partnership; • Another radical departure is the strong emphasis on a “Bottom- up” approach with strong local participation in decision-making-- 26-29 June, 2006 communities and leaders, NGOs, experts and officials work Apia Samoa closely together to formulate NAP; An Introduction to CCD (Cont.) Causes of Desertification • Sci. & tech. are vital tools in the fight against desertification--S&T • Desertification is the degradation of drylands--loss of biological or must respond to people’s real needs and degradation issues can be economic productivity and complexity in croplands, pastures, minimized with both new and Traditional Technology, ranging from minimized with both new and Traditional Technology, ranging from savanna, steppe and woodlands. 70% of world’s drylands or some satellite monitoring to terracing of steep hill slopes; 3,600 million ha are degraded; • Financial resources need to be channeled and invested more efficiently--Domestic funding raised by affected countries. GM has • Drylands respond quickly to climate fluctuations--fluctuations occur been set up to promote resource mobilization; over years and decades and frequently leading to drought; • CCD establishes a number of institutions and procedures for guiding • People must also adjust to these natural fluctuations--soil quality, international action--COP supported by Committee of Science and freshwater supplies, vegetation and crops are easily damaged. People Technology (CST), including all ratifying governments, totally 191 were skilled with age-old strategies to manage land, but these nations; strategies are less practical due to increasing social, economic and • Desertification is primarily a problem of sustainable development--a political issues, population growth; matter of addressing poverty and human well-being, as well as matter of addressing poverty and human well-being, as well as • The relatively low priority given to environmental protection often preserving the environment and protecting the resources human reply leads to poor land management decisions--Poor people, particularly on. Social and economic issues are closely linked to land degradation. leads to poor land management decisions--Poor people, particularly So are such environmental issues as climate change, biodiversity and poor women, often lack access to best land, depending instead on freshwater supplies. most fragile areas and resources. And often suffer from poverty due to scarce resources available to them; Causes of Desertification (Cont.) Consequences of desertification • International economic forces can encourage people to overexploit • Desertification reduces the land’s resilience to natural their lands--international trade patterns can lead to the short-term climate variability-soil, vegetation, freshwater supplies exploitation of local resources for export, leaving little profit at and other resources tend to be resilient. community level for managing or restoring the land; community level for managing or restoring the land; • Soil becomes less productive--exposed and eroded • Ignorance, errors, and natural and man-made disasters can also topsoil can be blown away by wind or washed away by contribute to land degradation--mistakes in the choice of policies or rainstorms; technologies have led to land degradation in many countries, both developed and developing. Disasters of wars and national emergencies • Vegetation becomes damaged--edible plant species may also destroy productive land by displacing its managers or causing be lost and invasion of inedible plant species will be heavy concentrations of migrants to overburden an area;area occurred when pastures are overgrazed; • What role do increasing population density play?--expanding • Some of the consequences are borne by people living population is the ultimate driving force behind desertification. More outside the immediately affected areas--downstream people in an area inevitably exert a greater pressure on that area’s flooding, reduced water quality, sedimentation in rivers resources; sometimes this pressure is indirect, as when growing urban and lakes, silt sediment in reservoirs and navigation populations place demands on food production in uncrowded rural channels, dust storms and sand drifting; areas. 1 Consequences of desertification (Cont.) National Action Programmes (NAP) • CCD is being implemented through NAP to Combat Desertification-- NAP should be possible to initiate specific projects and activities and • Food production is undermined--if desertification is not stopped • Food production is undermined--if desertification is not stopped must be developed with the full participation of local communities; and rehabilitated, food yields in many affected countries will • Programme should start with long-term strategies and priorities--NAP decline. Malnutrition, starvation and calamity may result; • Programme should start with long-term strategies and priorities--NAP must address the underlying causes of desertification and pay • Desertification contributes to famine--famine typically occurs in • Desertification contributes to famine--famine typically occurs in particular attention to preventive measures; areas that also suffer from poverty, civil unrest, or war. Drought • Local communities play a key role in formulating programmes-- and land degradation often help to trigger a crisis, which is then • Local communities play a key role in formulating programmes-- Ongoing discussions and effective communication between the local made worse by poor food distribution and the inability to buy Ongoing discussions and effective communication between the local and national level are vital; what is available; and national level are vital; • National governments commit themselves to providing an “enabling • Desertification has enormous social costs--wars, drought, • National governments commit themselves to providing an “enabling environment”--communities can only play a leading part in carrying freshwater conflict, land degradation and movement of people; environment”--communities can only play a leading part in carrying out programme if the national government removes obstacles and • Desertification is a huge drain on economic resources--annual • Desertification is a huge drain on economic resources--annual provides support; foregone in the areas immediately affected by desertification amounts to approximately US$42 billion each year. NAP (Cont.) NAP (Cont.) • NAP also specify the practical steps and measures to be taken--such measures including improvement of economic environment, financial Programmes must specify the resources available and those instruments, introduction of drought-resistant crops, development of still needed--including national budget, mobilization of alternative energy sources and the promotion of research activities, substantial financial resources from external sources and drought mitigating plans and improvement of early warning system; priority and identification of requirements for technical cooperation; • Efforts to combat desertification should be fully integrated into national strategy--incorporation into land management master plan, food security plan, education plan, community capacity building plan, Sub-regional and regional action programmes can help to NGOs’ workplan, and national social and economic development harmonize and strengthen national programmes--in addition plan. NAP needs to be integrated into the programmes dealing with to boosting the efficiency of national programmes, issues of biodiversity, climate change and global warming; subregional and regional action programmes can promote joint programmes for sustainable development and promote better cooperation among scientific and technical institutions. Partnership arrangement between donors Participatory Development: and affected country Parties A Bottom-up approach to combating desertification • What role do local communities have under CCD?-- • CCD aims to improve the channeling and investment of • What role do local communities have under CCD?-- official development aid; traditional development planning has too often been “top-down”. Outside experts start the process by • CCD expresses a consensus on the lessons of the past; “top-down”. Outside experts start the process by definingdefining objectives,objectives, activities and expected outputs. TheyThey • Partnership arrangements should improve communication visit the area to consult local authorities, inform them and coordination between donors and recipients; visit the area to consult local authorities, inform them the plan and invite