New Trends in Land Degradation and Desertification Research and the Role of the Association DesertNet International in Sharing Knowledge and Promoting Sustainable Land Management

Abstract

Efforts of the international and national organisations to halt or reverse land degradation have produced mixed results. Problems are much accentuated in the drylands due to their natural fragility coupled with human-induced pressures and further exacerbated when land degradation is combined with naturally occurring drought. The recent terminology adopted by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) involves desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD). However, confusion still exists to distinct between them, and this hampers actions from decision-makers as often maps and databases do not make a clear distinction between the potential risks or status of degradation. Soil information could remedy these shortcomings, but soil information must be supported by new surveys to update obsolete soil data. The recommendations of the First Scientific Conference of the Committee on Science and Technology (CST) of the UNCCD held at COP9 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in September 2009 suggest that desertification research and mitigation should be based on ten priority areas, and the trend is to support sustainable land management rather than focusing only on combating land degradation. The positive outcomes of this paradigm shift emphasise the role of soil as a nonrenewable resource and endorse a biophysical and socio-economic ecosystem-based approach for assessment and monitoring. The Association DesertNet International (DNI) formed on the grounds of the former European DesertNet is aiming to translate scientific knowledge for improved land management of the drylands. As a non-governmental scientific entity, DNI is open to all of them who have interest in land degradation/desertification research.