Index Information about international project, funded by the European Union, to investigate the effects of desertification on land use in Mediterranean Europe. http://www.medalus.demon.co.uk/
Web Page Redirect Text and video reports about remote monitoring in the arid southwest region of United States. General Category Science Environment Global Change desertificationThis web page has moved. You will be automatically redirected in 5seconds. If this page does not redirect, or to redirect faster http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~arid/
Sunseed Desert Technology / Sunseed Trust Aims to improve the quality of life and of environment of people living in arid, neardesert areas of the world, by researching desertification and appropriate technologies. http://www.rodcuff.demon.co.uk/sunseed/
Extractions: About Sunseed Why deserts? Our way of working Our history ... Latest News The Sunseed Trust The Sunseed Trust aims to improve the quality of life and of environment of people living in arid, near-desert areas of the world. Sunseed Trust is the parent charity of the research establishment: Sunseed Desert Technology (SDT). Carol Biggs for more details. Carol Biggs SPECIAL NATURE/BIRD WEEKEND BOOK SOON VIA sunseedspain@arrakis.es 6 February 2003: 4 February 2003: One of our Trustees, Adrian Windisch , is now handling enquiries in the UK about Sunseed. He takes over from Xandra Gilchrist, who has carried out this task (and who handled the UK end of our booking system) for several years, and to whom we remain
CIDA: Combatting Desertification Introduction to desertification and ways to combat desertification, details of activities undertaken Category Science Environment Global Change desertificationMore than one billion people worldwide, most of them among the poorest inthe world, are affected by drought and desertification, which is land http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/desertification-e.htm
Extractions: Ghana as part of a CIDA-funded project. in Canada and around the world to combat desertification, within the framework of Official Development Assistance andas a Party to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Countries Seriously Affected by Drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa (the UNCCD).
WAICENT - World Agricultural Information Centre Portal Information management and dissemination on desertification, gender and sustainable development, food standards, animal genetic resources, postharvest operations, agro-biodiversity and food systems in urban centres. http://www.fao.org/waicent/
DESERTIFICATION OF ARID LANDS Reproduced, with permission, from Dregne, HE 1986. desertification ofarid lands. desertification OF ARID LANDS. By. HE Dregne. ABSTRACT. http://www.ciesin.org/docs/002-193/002-193.html
Extractions: Reproduced, with permission, from: Dregne, H. E. 1986. Desertification of arid lands. In Physics of desertification, ed. F. El-Baz and M. H. A. Hassan. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Martinus, Nijhoff. ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION Desertification of the arid lands of the world has been proceedingsometimes rapidly, sometimes slowlyfor more than a thousand years. It has caused untold misery among those most directly affected, yet environmental destruction continues. Until recently, few if any lessons seemed to have been learned from the past, in part because the problem was an insidious one that went unrecognized in its early stages or was seen as a local one affecting only a small population, and in part because new land was always available to start over again. As long as remedial action could be deferred by moving on to new frontiers, land conservation had little appeal. It was not until the 20th centurywhen easy land expansion came to an endthat governments and people finally realized that continued careless degradation of natural resources threatened their future. INTERNATIONAL DIRECTIONS The decade of the 1950's witnessed the first worldwide effort to call attention to the problems and potentials of arid regions. It started when the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched its Major Project on Scientific Research on Arid Lands in 1951. That project led to publication of a newsletter, the provision for funds for establishing and strengthening arid land research institutes, organization of conferences and symposia, and publication of a series of research reviews and special reports on a wide range of topics. The Major Project was terminated in 1962 and the arid land program was merged with the broader UNESCO natural resource program.
Homepage Frieder Graef Personal homepage about soils/agriculture research in Niger, Chad and Israel, including soil erosion and desertification. http://www.uni-hohenheim.de/~graef/
USC Canada Nonprofit international development organizations, establishing programs in food security/ biodiversity, desertification, climate change and poverty alleviation. http://www.usc-canada.org
Extractions: edited by Helen Hambly and Tobias Onweng Angura ORDER : IDRC 1996, 180 pp., ISBN 0-88936-794-9, $25 Grassroots environmental indicators should play a key role in the monitoring, evaluation, and reporting systems for sustainable development and, more specifically, in efforts to reverse desertification and other forms of land degradation. This is the central focus of Grassroots Indicators for Desertification , which documents research findings presented at a recent conference held in Uganda. Contents Foreword The Honourable David Pulkol Preface Introduction Helen Hambly Part 1: Context and Concepts Part 2: Methods and Approaches Part 3: Implications and Impact Changes in Environmental Conditions: Their Potential as Indicators for Monitoring Household Food Security Robert K.N. Mwadime
Extractions: IDRC Resources IDRC Reports IDRC Reports Archives Since April 1996, IDRC Reports has been published weekly on-line by the International Development Research Centre. Its aim is to keep an international readership informed about the work IDRC supports in developing countries as well as other development issues of interest. PREVIOUS ISSUES: July 1994 (Volume 22, Number 2) DRYLANDS AND DESERTIFICATION The path from the 1992 UNCED Conference in Rio de Janeiro to a global Convention on Desertification an initiative pursued with particular interest by African nations will have taken some two years of careful and, at times, painstaking negotiation. IDRC is pleased to have supported participation by African NGOs and other key players in the negotiating process. The importance of this convention can be measured alongside those on Climate Change and Protection of the Ozone Layer. Its great significance lies in the seriousness of the issue it addresses and its utility as a framework for action to protect the environmental integrity of arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. Success in this regard could help secure the livelihoods of all those who rely on the natural resources of the threatened areas and safeguard the food security of millions of vulnerable people. With the completion of the Convention comes the difficult work ahead: developing national action programs and securing sufficient funding to carry them out. If the Convention is not to become "just another document," in the words of Bo Kjellen, Chair of the intergovernmental negotiating committee, this work will require the further long-term commitment of resources and energy on the part of governments, NGOs, local communities and bilateral and multilateral donors.
IMPACTS - Desertification Increase in extent and severity of desertification. As a result, theprocess of desertification is likely to become irreversible. http://archive.greenpeace.org/~climate/science/reports/desertification.html
Extractions: climate science Climate Change and the Mediterranean Region Executive Summary Water shortages and poor harvests during the droughts of the early 1990s exposed the acute vulnerability of the Mediterranean region to climatic extremes. Against this backdrop, the prospect of a major climate change brought about by human activities is a source of growing concern, raising serious questions over the sustainability of the region. This report examines the potential implications of global climate change for the Mediterranean region. Drawing on the results of recent studies, it reviews possible changes in climate together with recent trends, the potential impacts of climate change and the implications for sustainable development. One key finding is that future climate change could critically undermine efforts for sustainable development in the Mediterranean region. In particular, climate change may add to existing problems of desertification, water scarcity and food production, while also introducing new threats to human health, ecosystems and national economies of countries. The most serious impacts are likely to be felt in North African and eastern Mediterranean countries. The report concludes that while there is some scope for adaptation, ensuring the long-term sustainability of the region requires urgent action to cut global emissions of greenhouse gases.
Wichí: Fighting For Survival In Argentina The 20,000 to 50,000 Wich living in southeastern Bolivia and northern Argentina, in a semiarid region known as the Chaco, are threatened by desertification. http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/wichi.html
Extractions: In 1991 the Indians, working with Survival International, an NGO based in England, prepared a land claim report that demonstrated that at least 162,000 acres spread over the two State Plots traditionally belonged to them. Later that year, the provincial Governor signed a decree (No. 2609/91) recognizing that the area was indeed Indigenous land, and pledging to recognize this in law. The succeeding Salta government failed to take any decisive action, and allowed the situation to deteriorate dramatically. Shortly before leaving office at the end of last year, the same government presented a draft land bill to the provincial parliament that is completely against the interests of the Indians and, if approved, would deprive them of huge tracts of their territory. Compiled with permission from publications of: Survival for Tribal Peoples; 11-15 Emerald Street; London WC1N 3QL; United Kingdom; phone: 0171-242-1441; fax: 0171-242-1771; email: survival@gn.apc.org For the Titling of Our Land: Takeover of the International Bridge Over the Pilcomayo River (La Paz) Many years have passed since we requested the government of Salta province, Argentina, to officially grant us title to the land that we have always inhabited. We have sent letters. Meetings take place, new laws and decrees are passed, and yet more topographic studies... We are now in the fourth administration. Yet they have not responded to our demands. Years pass and our lands become impoverished, because the people who have come from the outside to occupy them Know not how to manage them. Years pass and we become poorer.
IDRC Focus Collection: Grassroots Indicators For Desertification Experience and Perspectives from Eastern and Southern Africa. Documents why grassroots indicators should play a key role in the monitoring, evaluation, and reporting systems for sustainable development and, more specifically, in efforts to reverse desertification and other forms of land degradation (Online book IDRC Focus Collection). http://www.idrc.ca/books/focus/794/
Extractions: edited by Helen Hambly and Tobias Onweng Angura ORDER : IDRC 1996, 180 pp., ISBN 0-88936-794-9, $25 Grassroots environmental indicators should play a key role in the monitoring, evaluation, and reporting systems for sustainable development and, more specifically, in efforts to reverse desertification and other forms of land degradation. This is the central focus of Grassroots Indicators for Desertification , which documents research findings presented at a recent conference held in Uganda. Contents Foreword The Honourable David Pulkol Preface Introduction Helen Hambly Part 1: Context and Concepts Part 2: Methods and Approaches Part 3: Implications and Impact Changes in Environmental Conditions: Their Potential as Indicators for Monitoring Household Food Security Robert K.N. Mwadime
Tiempo Issue 8 Desertification The Scourge Of Africa desertification the scourge of Africa. Michael diminished. desertificationis the term that has recently been given to this process. http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/tiempo/issue08/desert.htm
Extractions: Michael Bernard Kwesi Darkoh discusses the complex factors underlying the threat to Africa's drylands. WITHIN THE LAST DECADE or so, 25 countries in Africa have faced drastic food shortages as a result of the extended drought. The reduced capacity for food production has brought a population of over 200 million people to the verge of calamity. Some have died of starvation, and among the survivors, especially the children and young people, many will suffer impaired health for the rest of their lives. The international community brought in emergency aid, both in the form of food supplies and of technical assistance in rehabilitating drought victims. However, the drought hazard in Africa can be expected to continue, recurring at unpredictable intervals. It cannot be overcome by one-time massive injections of emergency aid. A long-range strategy must be developed which is capable of being realized under the given constraints of these impoverished regions through sustainable development of their fragile environment. The droughts and famines that have swept over Africa in the past and which are likely to strike again are not sudden natural disasters. Nor are they simply caused by lack of rainfall. They are the end-results of a long deterioration in the ability of Africa to feed itself, a decline caused largely by mistakes and mismanagement - both inside and outside the continent.
Extractions: Climatic Research Unit Research and Projects MEDALUS is an international research project to investigate the effects of desertification on land use in Mediterranean Europe. It is funded by the Commission of the European Communities Directorate-General XII for Science, Research and Development under its Environment Programme