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The
relevant to desertification characteristics of the Mediterranean region
The Mediterranean region is a complex
mosaic of diversified landscapes and uneven relief. It consists of many
poor and highly erodable soils, prone to develop surface crusts. Its very
high climatic variability is characterised by frequent relatively long
periods of drought and short periods of heavy rainfall. The Mediterranean
climates comprise hot dry summers and warm wet winters. These semi arid
climatic conditions are unfavourable natural parameters enhancing soil
degradation and desertification in the area. Scientists have warned us
about eventual natural climatic changes resulting either to a declining of
rainfall of the order of 10-15% during the coming decades in some parts of
the Mediterranean or/and a fluctuation of rainfall between unprecedented
extremes. In such cases desertification is becoming an alarming and
visible threat and the sustainable management of water resources and soil
becomes an urgent need. Human pressures are of equally great importance.
Almost 80% of cultivated Mediterranean soils have become in the second
half of the 20th century rather fragile and more vulnerable because of
unsustainable agricultural practices involving agrochemicals, use of heavy
machinery etc, despite the fact that 22% of them have been cultivated for
many millennia. Another significant feature related to desertification,
are the widespread in the Mediterranean region forest fires. Fires find
favourable ground in the area because of inflammable vegetation, the
topography, summer droughts and strong winds that favour their spreading.
Even though forest fires are considered as a natural component of the
Mediterranean woodland ecosystem, their frequency and impact have become
recently much higher due to negligence, accidents and mainly intentional
arson. Thus fires deemed to be of truly natural origin represent as little
as 5% of the fires occurring each year. A common feature of the northern
part of the region, and increasingly of almost every part of the
Mediterranean basin, is the high concentration of economic activities in
coastal and adjacent riverine areas as a result of rapid urban growth,
industrial activities and tourism. Since the economy of most countries
around the Mediterranean rely to a large extend on tourism, a complex
relationship between socio-economic demands and interests, on the one
hand, and natural and cultural resources, on the other, has been
developed. For example water resources, as one of the prerequisites for
development, have been reduced dramatically in some regions because of
tourism. Increasing number of tourists visiting areas with limited water
resources quite often contribute directly or indirectly to soil
degradation and desertification.
Pressures causing
desertification
The root causes of desertification are
highly complex as well as site specific. However the driving forces often
involve a mixture of unfavourable natural (geomorphological geochemical
and biological) conditions in combination with social, political, economic
and cultural factors that affect in a negative, and in most cases
irreversible, way mainly marginal lands. The following list includes most
of the direct or indirect causes of desertification: 1. forest fires and
deforestation 2. overgrazing and over tilling 3. non-sustainable
agricultural practices 4. irrational management of water resources -
construction of dams - canalisation of rivers - overexploitation of
groundwater - drainage of wetlands To the indirect root causes one could
include: - climate change leading to droughts and floods - highly
competitive economies and most of the current intensive international
trade patterns.
Impacts
Desertification has a number of negative
consequences and it is linked to a number of impacts on: 1. loss of land
productivity 2. reduction of agricultural yields 3. impoverishment of
natural vegetation 4. reduction of biodiversity 5. favorisation of
expansion and eventual invasion of alien plant species 6. receding of
groundwater levels 7. water scarcity The aforementioned consequences may
further lead to poverty and starvation of the affected populations,
increase of "environmental refugees", deterioration of the
quality of life in directly or indirectly impacted areas.
NGO initiatives on
the issue of desertification
Already from the early seventies, a number
of NGO's have raised the issue as a crucial one, leading to complex and
frequently underestimated consequences. In the Mediterranean, since 1987
(see Athens Declaration on Forest Fires), and in a series of international
meetings, the urgency of the matter was recognised, in relationship with
water management and even highly political issues such as security and
international peace. Important points directly or indirectly linked with
desertification are found in many major NGO political documents, such as
those of Athens (1991), Cairo (1992), Rome (1992), Tunis (1994), Barcelona
(1995) etc and Declarations of major Mediterranean Conferences. NGO's
played an important role in stimulating the interest of the international
community for the desertification issue in Rio (1992) and the conclusions
of the negotiation for UNCCD (Paris 1994). At that time an international
NGO network on desertification (RIOD) was set up. The network has focused
on the exchange of experience obtained mainly through experimental-pilot
field projects and practices held by various national and local NGO's
mainly in third world countries. Its action plan deals with organising of
awareness raising campaigns, the setting up of mechanisms for community
consultations and the organisation of NGO fora in each country. As rather
very few NGO's in the Mediterranean are specialised exclusively on
desertification, active national fora on the issue are rare or do not
exist. Instead, MIO-ECSCE and its member organisation APNEK have organised
in Kairouan, in 1996, an International Mediterranean Conference, which
agreed also a "Chapter for the realisation of the CCD. The
establishment of a small Mediterranean NGO "clearing house" on
desertification in Kairouan was also considered. Its operation was
conditional on availability of funds to be raised to a considerable degree
within Tunisia. As a follow-up, MIO-ECSDE established a permanent Working
Party on the issue. The present publication is one of its products in
order to facilitate those who are interested or work already on the issue.
UNCCD
The question of how to tackle
desertification has been a major concern for several governments and
international bodies since the mid seventies. In 1997 the U,N. Conference
on Desertification (UNCD) adopted a Plan of Action to Combat
Desertification (PACD) which unfortunately ended up in 1991 with the
conclusion of UNEP, that the problem of land degradation had intensified.
The U.N. Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED - Rio de Janeiro
1992) supported a new integrated approach to the problem and called upon
the U.N. General Assembly to establish an Intergovernmental Negotiating
Committee on Desertification (INCD) to prepare a Convention to Combat
Desertification (UNCCD). The Convention was adopted in Paris in 1994. Its
main objective is to combat desertification in countries experiencing
serious drought or other phenomena linked to desertification, through
effective actions in the framework of Agenda 21. It has also adopted
regional implementation Annexes, two of which are relevant to the
Mediterranean viz the one for Africa (ANNEX I) and particularly the one
for northern Mediterranean (ANNEX IV) recognising the particular
conditions of each area. Most of the Mediterranean Countries have National
Commissions to Combat Desertification Most of them have an active NGO
participation. Recently, the presidency of Annex IV of UNCCD has been
preparing a Regional Action Plan (RAP) for the member countries (Greece,
Italy, Portugal, Spain and Turkey). The RAP shall be aiming towards the
harmonisation of national and regional programmes as well as the
elaboration of regional or sub-regional joint action programmes. The
significant role of NGO's in the implementation of the RAP is also
acknowledged.
Initiatives within
the EU
The European Community has developed a
variety of tools and instruments facilitating the efforts of the
Mediterranean countries to combat desertification. The diverse nature of
desertification reflects in the interest of seven Directorates General of
the European Commission (DG VIII-Development, DG IB-External relations, DG
VI-Agriculture, DG XI-Environment, Nuclear safety and civil protection, DG
XII-Science, Research and development, JRC-Joint Research Centre and DG
XVI-Regional Policy and Cohesion) being responsible directly or indirectly
for the issue. The EU programmes and activities aiming mainly to the
accurate recording and description of the problem and the better
understanding of the root causes as well as their interactions. These
objectives have been accomplished through scientific projects such as the
"MEDALUS (Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use) project",
"Archaeomedes", "EFEDA" and "DeMon" (which
adopted a multidisciplinary approach to the issue of desertification and
provided numerous useful conclusions towards the understanding of the
phenomenon. The EEA in its headquarters in Copenhagen and through its
European Thematic Centre on soil has been also involved. In the framework
of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP), a number of bilateral
Mediterranean Agreements have been made. During the last decade, many
scientific projects in cooperation with institutions from both sides of
the Mediterranean basin, have been implemented with financial contribution
by the MEDA Fund. The EU support is also significant in the Mediterranean
Environmental Assistance Programme (METAP), which was created in 1989 by
the EC, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the UNDP and the World Bank.
The role of NGO's
The need for "?effective
participation at the local, national and regional levels of NGO's and
local population, both women and men, particularly of users of resources,
in policy planning, decision making, implementation and review of national
action programs" is specifically acknowledged in the UNCCD(1994)(art.
10(f)) NGO's interested in undertaking actions to combat desertification
must articulate their positions and act through organised networks and
international partnerships by adopting specific principles and by
organising activities related to the following aspects: 1. organising
awareness raising campaigns and encouraging round table discussions and
meetings e.g. between local authorities and the population, 2. informing
through publications(regular or not) and press releases as well as
newspaper articles on the dangers associated with the root causes of the
issue and the appropriate measures, 3. organising of and participating in
seminars, workshops, consultations etc with international attendance about
the issue, 4. carrying out scientific research projects as well as
monitoring specific desertification processes, depending on the
infrastructure, the level of know how and, of course, the available
scientific and financial resources, 5. organising and undertaking
campaigns relative to reforestation, 6. promoting sustainable management
techniques and eventually alternative ones assisting in all possible ways
the authorities and bodies responsible for combating desertification and
competent for land and water resource management 7. contributing to the
formation of appropriate national or regional policies and modifying
existing environmental and other legislation relevant to desertification
and its causes, 8. promoting agro-ecological and other sustainable
pastoral practices inhibiting overgrazing, 9. assisting indigenous
communities to maintain or adopt local sustainable development strategies
and eventually alternative livelihoods which reduce desertification
pressures, 10. developing income generating capabilities in rural areas in
order to reduce the abandonment of land, 11. replacing wood-fuels with
alternative and much more efficient sources of energy, 13. improving the
understanding and changing mentalities through education for environment
and sustainability and training schemes for adults and special groups such
as farmers.
A tip about
available funding mechanisms
The UNCCD visualised a multi-source and
multi-channel instrument for finance to avoid the fate of its predecessor
(UNCD). As a result of this envision, the first Conference of the Parties
(COP) of the CCD (Rome 1997) selected IFAD (International Fund for
Agriculture and Development) to house its Global Mechanism (GM) acting as
an innovative and effective promoter of funding opportunities mainly for
affected third world countries. In collaboration with UNEP, IFAD has
established the GM database including the best practices for land
conservation. GEF (Global Environment Facility) focusing on areas such as
biological diversity, climate change and international waters, is
supportive to programs of its interest. IFAD, using the resources of GEF,
has been developing a pipeline of investment projects in dry lands to be
co-financed with GEF. The COP has also invited other bodies and agencies
of the United Nations (UNDP, FAO, etc) as well as regional and
sub-regional development banks, to support actively the GM. The above
agencies are already collaborating with the World Bank in the preparation
of investment projects for natural resources management in drylands. The
significant economic role of the World Bank is also pointed out through
the financial contribution to projects involving international
partnerships between NGO's. Additionally, the private sector and other
non-governmental sources are encouraged to contribute economically to
activities to combat desertification NGO's active in the field of
desertification in non-EU countries could be supported through the
aforementioned schemes. NGO's who wish to deal with the desertification
issue in the Mediterranean EU countries, could operate programs ranging
from the protection of land from erosion to the development of fire
protection systems with the financial support of the LIFE Programme. The
LIFE funds have been supportive, directly or indirectly to actions against
desertification. Finally SMAP (Short and medium-term priority
environmental action program) is open to proposals for the combat against
desertification. This significant programme is the environmental component
of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership and is considered by the European
Commission as the major tool for combating desertification in the region.
A considerable amount has been foreseen for the implementation of projects
held by NGO's from the 27 Euro-Med Partners (15 EC Member States and 12
non-EC countries).
Useful addresses
and relevant WebPages.
UNCCD - Secreteriat of the Convention to
Combat Desertification
Martin-Luther-King-Strasse 8, D-53175 Bonn, Germany
Tel. (+49-228) 815-2802, Fax. (+49-228) 815-2898/99
e-mail: secretariat@unccd.de
Website: http://www.unccd.de
UNDP Office to Combat Desertification
and Drought (UNSO)
One United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017, USA
Tel: +1 (212) 906-6497 Fax: +1 (212) 906 6345
E-mail: unso@undp.org
Website: http://www.undp.org/seed/unso
RIOD - International Network of NGO's on
Desertification Environment Liaison Centre International (ELCI)
P.O. Box 72461 Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: (254-2) 576114/25/54 Fax: (254-2) 562175
E-mail: riod@iconnect.co.ke
Website: http://riod.utando.com/
IFAD - International Fund for
Agricultural Development
107, Via del Serafico, Rome 00142 - Italy.
Tel:(3906)54591 Fax:(3906)5043463
E-mail: ifad@ifad.org
Website: http://www.ifad.org
FAO - Food and Agriculture Organisation
of the U.N.
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 00100 Rome,Italy
Tel.: +39.0657051 Fax: +39.0657053152 Telex: 625852/625853/610181 FAO I
e-mail: ??@fao.org
website: http://www.fao.org
EEA - European Environment Agency
Kongens Nytorv 6 DK-1050 Copenhagen K, Denmark
Tel: +45 3336 7100 Fax: +45 3336 7199
e-mail: eea@eea.eu.int
website: http://www.eea.eu.int/
SMAP Homepage
http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/smap/home.htm
LIFE-Environment Homepage
http://europa.eu.int/comm/life/envir/index.htm
LIFE 3rd countries Homepage
http://europa.eu.int/comm/life/3countr/index.htm
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