EXCLUSIVE: How do we prevent more land from turning into desert?

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

As populations grow and consumption increases, desertification is a major problem that in some cases is made worse by attempts at improving land management, writes Paul Horton of CIWEM

In case you missed it, the World Day to Combat Desertification happened in June this year and presented the perfect opportunity to stress that the scale of the issue is far greater than authorities have realised. It not only directly affects the lives of about 250 million and through broader land degradation threatens at least another billion people, including those in refugee situations, but the consequences of land becoming desert has wide social, ecological and health issues. It is thus a major problem that has wide ranging implications for all of us and more land is lost every year according to scientists and commentators.

The problems of encroaching deserts are many, people lose land, drought situations increase, sustainable economic activity begins to fail, flooding increases in downstream areas and not only do rivers dry up but the water quality worsens. Such situations radically change the local ecosystem, impacting on both the biodiversity of the land and possibly the carrying capacity. In extreme cases this can lead to forced migration due to the environmental conditions. In a world where the climate is changing at a pace that is difficult to keep up with, the very areas that are vulnerable to desertification are under the greatest threat, thus further undermining the situation of the local populations.

At the same time, the world is home to an ever increasing population, greater demand for water and higher consumption patterns which lead us to ever more intensive and damaging land management practices which exacerbate the situation. It is not just that people are forced to migrate to urban areas or indeed other countries, but they may have to change their patterns of social behaviour an in extreme cases conflict situations can develop over what water does exist, or over which parcels of land can be used for crops or grazing. These are not the only issues which are important, there are the health problems of malnutrition, respiratory problems, exposure to other diseases or parasites and the general health weakness of peoples under such conditions. These are the very people that are already marginalised because of where and how they live, often with few rights.

A key difficulty is that the problem is most acute in the countries that are already under pressure, particularly in Africa, where many of the countries are struggling to meet the targets set out in the millennium development goals and there are existing refugee situations such as in Darfur. It is often the most vulnerable countries that rely on the fragile ecosystems for a basic livelihood and yet it is these that are being damaged, and because they are extremely difficult to repair and restore, this further undermines the situation. It is equally difficult to restore the lives of the people who have been displaced and affected.

It is easy to list all the issues and problems related to desertification, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has been in existence for over 15 years but despite all the best efforts, the over-riding issue is still what do we do about the situation especially when there is the over-riding conundrum of available useful land shrinking but the population increasing.

For too long debate has centred around technological fixes, yet it is the political, social, population and economic issues that are key. At the heart of the debate is land management and the re-introduction of sustainable practices (such as crop rotation), alongside conservation projects (restoring wetland or forest areas), tree planting schemes and other initiatives. Unfortunately, bad land management is common because the drive for growth is defined purely in terms of economic development, so the emphasis is often on growing crops and animals in order to sell or export, not on using land in a sustainable way. This can often mean that the demand for water increases substantially and available sources become depleted and even valuable wetland areas are drained to augment supply, affecting the local ecosystems.

There are a number of global issues that need to be tackled together, water scarcity, water security, pollution, ecosystem management, halting the loss of biodiversity. The UN has conventions not just to combat desertification, but also for biodiversity, wetlands and of course climate change, but are all these conventions integrated? Surely they should not only be ratified but implemented in an integrated way, with proper environmental laws. Such a goal could sit alongside proper river basin management or catchment management regulation. Above all, in the year of Copenhagen and all the post Kyoto discussions there must be an agreement on limiting global greenhouse emissions. This is imperative if the issue of desertification is going to be tackled.

Equally it is essential that sustainability is brought into the solution not just for the countries affected who must conserve water, use sustainable farming practices and make more use of drought resistant seed crops, but also for all of us who consume products from countries affected by desertification. How sustainable are these products? Let us at the same time not forget the peoples who live in or alongside deserts, not only must they be fully recognised under law, they must surely be part of any long term solution to desertification. They have a knowledge of these ecosystems that should be utilised properly and perhaps these peoples could be the focal point of desert management plans.

Ultimately we must not forget that we are in an inter-linked world and our current path of consumption has a direct link to the many of the land management issues. Perhaps we need to take this into account when we seek to manage desertification.

Paul Horton is director, international development, at the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM)