Desertification: United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD): It was established in 1994, the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management. The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed every year on 17th June. Desertification poses a serious challenge to sustainable development and humanity’s ability to survive in many areas of the world. The UNCCD’s goal is a future that avoids, reduces, and reverses desertification . Our work paves the way for a land degradation neutral world, one that fosters sustainable development to achieve the goals set in the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Humanity needs productive land. Yet the desertification and the mounting losses of productive land ... Desertification is a type of land degradation in which an already relatively dry land area becomes increasingly arid, degrading productive soil and losing its bodies of water, biodiversity and vegetation cover. Desertification is the persistent degradation of dryland ecosystems by variations in climate and human activities. Home to a third of the human population in 2000, drylands occupy nearly half of Earth’s land area. Across the world, desertification affects the livelihoods of millions of people who rely on the benefits that dryland ecosystems can provide. In drylands, water scarcity limits the production of crops, forage, wood, and other services ecosystems provide to humans. Drylands are ...