The “ World Day to Combat Desertification ” is celebrated every year on June 17. That day, in 1994, the “Convention to Combat Desertification” was promulgated in Paris. That is, a quarter of a century ago.
This 25th anniversary of the Convention will be organized by the Government of Turkey, in the city of Ankara. This year's theme will be " Let's build the future together " and in English " Let's grow the future together ".
The numerals for the trends will be:
In Spanish: # WorldWorldFightingDay # 2019WDCD # Desertification # Drought # SDG15 # Agenda2030 # Biological Diversity # Earth Degradation #ClimaticChange
In English: #WorldDayToCombatDesertification # 2019WDCD # SDG15 #Desertification #Drought # Agenda2030 #Biodiversity #LandDegradationNeutrality #ClimateChange
This year's themes
The UN, on the occasion of the celebration of these 25 years, has chosen three major themes for its development:
“By 2025, 1.8 billion people will experience an absolute water shortage. Furthermore, two thirds of the world population will not have sufficient water resources. ”
"In 2045 around 135 million people worldwide may have been displaced as a result of desertification."
"Restoring soils in already degraded ecosystems can lead to the absorption and storage of up to 3 billion tons of carbon each year."
2030 Agenda
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in its Goal 15, includes the determination to stop and reverse land degradation.
The origins of the Convention
The problem of desertification was addressed for the first time, formally, at the Rio Summit, 1992, when it was already taking on alarming characteristics. In Rio, it was advanced, in theory, about how to deal with the problem and a new integrated approach was supported, which entered into force on December 26, 1996. For more details, see the document “Convention of the United Nations to combat desertification in countries affected by severe drought or desertification, particularly in Africa ”.
This detailed document covers most aspects related to desertification and drought. However, in practice and in light of these 25 years, not only has there been no progress in this area, but it has regressed as a consequence of several factors, among which the deforestation of forests and the effects of drought stand out.. The latter, partly as a consequence of deforestation itself, and partly due to other factors related to the advance of global warming and climate change.
For example, half a century of hostile deforestation in the Borneo rainforest is ending. During this time, the lung of Southeast Asia was practically destroyed, first to supply the logging industry with logs, and then by the massive planting of oil palm, known for its negative effects on the soil. In Borneo, the first scientifically proven human local climate change on the planet took place. But in addition, there are another dozen forests on Earth that are being depleted, including the Amazon rain forest, known as the lung of the world.
Desertification in numbers
"Desertification is a global problem that directly threatens more than 250 million people and a third of the earth's surface or more than four billion hectares. Likewise, the livelihood of some one billion people in more than one hundred countries is at risk. These depend on the land for most of their needs and are usually the poorest inhabitants of the planet.
Although desertification affects the African continent to a greater extent, two thirds of which are deserts or drylands, the problem is not limited to the drylands of that continent. More than 30% of the land in the United States is affected by degradation. A quarter of Latin America and the Caribbean are deserts and drylands. In Spain, a fifth of the land is in danger of desertification. In China, since the 1950s, sandstorms and desert growth have swept nearly 700,000 hectares of cultivated land; 2.35 million hectares of grassland; 6.4 million hectares of forests, wooded extensions and bush lands. Worldwide, approximately 70% of the 5.200 million hectares of dry land used in agriculture are degraded and threatened by desertification. "
UN opinion piece
Dedicated to the World Day to Combat Desertification, we find the article “The wear of the earth”. Here we leave a few paragraphs for consumption by our readers:
"Desertification is the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. It is mainly caused by human activity and climatic variations.
This process does not refer to the advance of the existing deserts. Desertification is due to the vulnerability of dryland ecosystems that cover one third of the planet's surface, to overexploitation and inappropriate use of land. Poverty, political instability, deforestation, overgrazing, and poor irrigation practices negatively affect soil productivity.
Every June 17 we celebrate the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought in order to raise awareness about international initiatives to combat these phenomena.
This date provides us with a unique opportunity to remember that land degradation can be neutralized by seeking solutions, with strong community participation and cooperation at all levels. ”
