land degradation News

Land degradation is intensifying in many parts of the world, according to a study using data taken over a 20-year period, FAO announced this week. Defined as a long-term decline in ecosystem function and productivity, land degradation is increasing in severity and extent in many parts of the world, with more than 20 percent of all cultivated areas, 30 percent of forests and 10 percent of ...

Jul. 2, 2008

By Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Improved varieties of the tropical, nutritious 'Sahel Apple' tree allied to the setting up of market gardens and community nature reserves are helping to turn the tide of land-degradation and desertification in some African countries, a new study shows. In other countries on the Continent, communities are testing the re-introduction of extinct grass species, the deployment of rainwater ...

Jun. 18, 2009

By United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

An informative video outlining the PRAIS initiative has been launched. Unique amongst the Rio Convention, PRAIS utilises an interactive online portal to collate information from 192 countries on quantifiable actions towards the UNCCD's 10 Year Strategy for poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. Desertification, land degradation and drought affect over one and a half billion people in ...

Mar. 4, 2011

By United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Conference "Land and soil degradation – post Rio+20", Brussels Ladies and gentlemen, As we approach the end of the first part of this morning’s session, allow me to start by welcoming you again to this Conference. It is a pleasure to see so many eminent experts present here today. We have a very important task. We are here to start painting the first layers of the “future we ...

Nov. 16, 2012

By European Commission, Environment DG

Climate change, tourism and population growth are all accelerating land degradation in the Mediterranean region, according to recent research. This can have severe impacts: the amount of available agricultural land per capita in the region could have dropped by half by 2020, compared with 1961, the study estimates. The Mediterranean region covers about 850 million hectares in 22 countries across ...

Oct. 30, 2014

By European Commission

Lack of data and poor communication by scientists may be keeping land degradation and desertification off the sustainable development agenda, experts warned the UN Convention to Combat Desertification's (UNCCD) 2nd Scientific Conference last week (9–12 April). The fear is that these challenges could cause land ...

Apr. 16, 2013

By SciDev.Net

In Indonesia, policy-makers and industry leaders are developing policies and practices in support of low-carbon palm oil production on “degraded land.” Such policies and practices have the potential to enable industry expansion while avoiding greenhouse gas emissions from ...

Apr. 20, 2012

By World Resources Institute WRI

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing a $2 million grant for the formulation, adoption and implementation of land degradation policies and strategies and to reduce the vulnerability to climate change of target developing member countries. The 12th Agriculture and Natural Resources Research at International Agricultural Research Centers is estimated to cost $2.863 million. Syria-based ...

Dec. 19, 2007

By Asian Development Bank

The European Commission recently granted Wageningen University and partners a 11 million euro international research project focusing on preventing and remediating soil degradation in Europe. The RECARE project is a joint initiative of 27 institutions and organisations in Europe. Wageningen University is lead contractor, with a.o. Alterra and ISRIC as partners. The cross-cutting aim ...

Nov. 28, 2013

By Wageningen University and Research Centre

Desert environments are characterized by poor vegetative cover, strong winds, dry, non-cohesive sandy soils, and hyper-arid conditions. In this context, the land resources of Abu Dhabi Emirate in the United Arab Emirates are subjected to various land degradation stresses, including wind erosion, salinization, waterlogging, landfilling, and overgrazing. To sustain the land resources of Abu Dhabi ...

May 7, 2009

By Harvard Apparatus

Human activities can have a multitude of different effects on rivers and streams, and it is difficult to identify those that have the biggest impact on aquatic populations. A newly developed method for assessing ecological degradation in waterways helps deal with this problem and could provide crucial information for water managers charged with tackling the root causes of degradation. In the EU, ...

May 2, 2013

By European Commission, Environment DG

Good morning Excellencies, representatives from the German Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development, the European Commission, UNCCD, Esteemed Experts, Fellow Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. We are having these discussions today to launch a new report, which points out, in no uncertain terms, the scale and complexities of land degradation, erosion and desertification in the world, ...

Sep. 24, 2015

By United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Global warming may dominate headlines today. Ecosystem degradation will do so tomorrow. To prepare businesses for this new landscape, three organizations today launched a set of guidelines designed to help companies proactively develop strategies to manage risks and opportunities arising from ecosystem degradation. The guidelines, called the Corporate Ecosystem Services Review ( 3.5 MB) were ...

Mar. 17, 2008

By World Business Council for Sustainable Development

During the presentation of case studies of Dr. Alvaro Fresno by the company Hera Tratesa, SST was presented to the speakers. The generated great interest and an interesting debate on the need for such systems. The course was held in the ...

Oct. 1, 2015

By Smart Sensor Technology

FAO has begun widespread consultations over the first ever international guidelines on governance of tenure to land and other natural resources such as water supplies, fisheries and forests. The consultations and negotiations, responding to requests from the international community and from governments, will take more than a year to complete. They will involve governments, the private sector, ...

Oct. 27, 2009

By Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Agriculture Research Service has tested cattle grazing on degraded soil to determine if the activity would have any effect on restoring depleted nutrients. During a 12 year period, 18 paddocks were used to monitor the soils response to different land management practices. In the end, the paddocks with medium to heavy grazing proved to be the best way to sequester nitrogen and carbon in the soil. ...

Mar. 3, 2011

By Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)

A growing world population has to deal with increasingly urgent issues of food security, flooding and drought, as well as soil pollution which threaten agricultural productivity and the environment. The answer to all these urgent issues could rest in the soil. Soil is vital to supporting food production as well as the filtering of water consumed by humans and plants. In addition, soil ...

Apr. 1, 2014

By Wageningen University and Research Centre

Environmental degradation is a significant factor that reduces the capacity of societies to deal with disaster risk in many countries around the world. This is the key message of the World Risk Report 2012, presented today in Brussels, Belgium by the German Alliance for Development Works (Alliance), United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and The Nature ...

Oct. 11, 2012

By The Nature Conservancy

Global warming may dominate headlines today. Ecosystem degradation will do so tomorrow. To prepare businesses for this new landscape, three organizations today launched a set of guidelines designed to help companies proactively develop strategies to manage risks and opportunities arising from ecosystem degradation. The guidelines, called the 'Corporate Ecosystem Services Review,' were developed ...

Mar. 11, 2008

By World Resources Institute WRI

Restoring lost and damaged ecosystems-from forests and freshwaters to mangroves and wetlands-can trigger multi-million dollar returns that generate jobs and combat poverty according to a new report compiled by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The report, Dead Planet, Living Planet: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Restoration for Sustainable Development, states that far from being a tax on ...

Jun. 5, 2010

By GLOBE SERIES