Living Land

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Living Land: an introduction

Wagaki Wischnewski, Focal Point, United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force

of the United Nations Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification

iving

and

lobal understanding of climate change has under-

gone a sea change since 1992, when the public

became aware of the issue. Worldwide, policymak-

ers, the public and the private sector, all the way down

to the household-level are taking measures to secure their

assets against the impacts of climate change. Less noticed,

until recently, is the sea change taking place on the issues

of desertification, land degradation and drought.

In 1992, governments began international negotiations on

a convention to combat desertification, land degradation

and drought. This was never viewed as an issue facing all

developing countries, much less a global community. Most

negotiators understood it as an African problem, primarily,

and gave it an apt title to signify this fact: the United Nations

Convention to Combat Desertification, in those Countries

Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification,

particularly in Africa (UNCCD).

This perception has shifted dramatically over the last 20 years.

In a 2011 review by the UNCCD, 169 of the 194 countries that

are party to the convention claim they are now affected by deser-

tification, land degradation or drought.

Living Land

presents a

range of initiatives from around the world on the fight against

desertification, land degradation or drought. They stretch from

Australia in Asia, through the Middle East, Western Europe and

Central and Eastern Europe, all the way down to Chile and the

Cuban islands in Latin America. Underlying this is an important

lesson: land degradation is not a threat to Africa alone. It is a

global threat that manifests itself in a variety of ways.

The land’s vulnerability to degradation on a global scale is

driven by a coincidence of two factors — one is human and the

other is climatic. On the climatic side are the weather condi-

tions that expose the land to conditions — harsh wind and

water effects — that erode the soil. The science shows that

erratic and extreme weather events are becoming more regular

and intense. But governments cannot control these climatic

conditions on their own; it requires global collaboration.

On the human side are the inappropriate land use practices

that make the soils fragile. Governments can limit the damage

done to the land by creating the incentives that promote the

take-up of sustainable land use practices. Thus, it should come

as no surprise that most of the authors present sustainable land

management practices as their key interventions. They reveal a

wide range of approaches being used in different parts of the

world, a wide range of the actors involved and the roles they play,

as well as a wide range of tools available and in use to support

these efforts; some of which are highly sophisticated, such as

satellites, while others are as basic as the manual installation of

stone bunds. This publication highlights some of the challenges

national governments that are parties to the convention face in

their efforts to combat land degradation and manage drought.

Why another publication?

Clearly, these dimensions have all been covered before. So

what is the valued added of

Living Land

It responds to a knowledge gap that is vital in the mobiliz-

ing of the global public in the efforts to combat desertification,

land degradation and drought.

Living Land

provides technical

knowledge on the subject of land degradation in a language that

is accessible to the general public, policymakers and activists that

do not know the subject. Unlike many publications that focus on

the problem or assessment of desertification, land degradation or

drought,

Living Land

is about implementation. It is about experts

showing what governments are doing, how they are doing it,

where they are doing it and why they are doing it. Simply put,

through

Living Land

, the technical experts that implement

sustainable land management are reaching out to the public.

The first assessment of land degradation on a global level

was carried out in 1991.

Known as the G

lobal Assessment

of Human-induced Soil Degradation

, the study was based

The land’s vulnerability to degradation is driven by human and climatic

factors, and global collaboration is required to address the issues

Image: Chetan Soni & UNCCD 2009 Photo Contest