Climate and Land Degradation

Abstract

Land degradation is a threat to natural resources with consequences on food security, poverty, and environmental and political stability. The increasing occurrence of climate extremes (for example heat waves, droughts, heavy precipitation) is having an impact on land degradation processes, including floods, mass movements, soil erosion by water and wind and salinization in all parts of the globe. Climate variability, climate change and land degradation are intimately linked and are generating unexpected effects, for example, an increased occurrence of weather conditions that are suitable for a fire to start, or to propagate in the wild, in large parts of the globe. Sustainable development of countries affected by drought and desertification can only come about through concerted efforts based on a sound understanding of the different factors including climatic variations that contribute to land degradation around the world. To address these key issues, experts from around the world were brought together at an International Workshop on Climate and Land Degradation which was held in Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania from 11 to 15 December 2006. The workshop focused on how climate induces and influences land degradation and what measures need to be taken to enhance the application of weather and climate information to combat land degradation. The workshop was organized by the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Tanzania Meteorological Agency and was co-sponsored by the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Specific objectives of the Workshop were: z To survey the status of, and summarize the information on, trends in land degradation at national and regional levels; z To review and assess the extent to which weather and climate data and information are currently used at the national and regional levels in order to adequately monitor and assess land degradation and to develop sustainable land management practices to combat land degradation; z To provide recommendations on appropriate strategies for reducing land degradation through more effective use of weather and climate information and applications; z To assess the historic loss of terrestrial carbon pool due to land degradation, and estimate the potential of carbon sequestration in soil/terrestrial ecosystems