Desertification Affecting Millions and Growing

The UN has issued a warning about the effects of desertification, reports the BBC.

According to the report issued by the UN, the expanding deserts are of great concern and over the next ten years could affect millions of people. The areas that are of the highest concern are Central Asia and Sub Saharan Africa.

One reason given in the UN report for the increasing desertification is climate change. The report says that the climate issues are causing desertification to be "the greatest environmental challenge of our times."(BBC) The UN stresses the need for fast action to prevent to devastating effects the growing desert could have on the people living there.

The report said, "Desertification has emerged as an environmental crisis of global proportions currently affecting 100 to 200 million people, and threatening the lives and livelihoods of a much larger number." The report also stated that, "The loss of soil productivity and the degradation of life-support services provided by nature pose imminent threats to international stability." (Reuters)

The report on world desertification was the result of a detailed investigation that included over 200 experts from around the world.

The reports does not try to hide the seriousness of desertification could have saying that if nothing is done about the situation as many as one third of the people in the world could be affected by it. It stressed that the governments of countries around the world needed to put aside their differences and try and find a solution to this serious problem

Besides the changes occurring within the climate a number of other reasons for the growing desert were given in the UN report. These reason included irrigation practices that could not be sustained, overuse of land and schemes such as tree planting that strained already scare resources such as water.

Tree planting is currently being used in some countries such as China as a way to stop the desert growing. However, the report pointed out that these programmes may be doing more harm than good as the tree being planted required large amount of water.

The head author of the UN desertification report, Zafar Adel said, "It says to dry land dwellers we need to provide alternative livelihoods- not the traditional cropping based on irrigation, cattle farming, etcetera-but rather introduce more innovative livelihoods which don't put pressure on the natural resources. Things like ecotourism or using solar energy to create other activities." (BBC)

Sources

BBC report on UN desertification warning
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6247802.stm

Reuters story about UN report
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L2722410.htm