Protect the dryland environment by righting
poverty, urges UNEP
"Saving the Drylands" awards to
honor local success stories
RECIFE, BRAZIL / NAIROBI, 23 November 1999 - With one
fourth of the world's population still living in absolute
poverty, finding solutions to persistent poverty has assumed an
unprecedented urgency, United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) Executive Director Klaus Toepfer said here yesterday.
Addressing ministers and government
officials attending a two-week conference on the United
Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, Toepfer
emphasized the close links between poverty and the environmental
problems facing dryland regions.
"No long-term strategy of
poverty eradication can succeed in the face of environmental
forces that promote persistent erosion of the physical resources
upon which poor people depend, " said Toepfer. "At the
same time, no programme for protecting the environment can
succeed without alleviating day-to-day pressure of poverty.
The Convention to Combat
Desertification is the first international treaty to squarely
address poverty and environmental degradation in rural areas.
The direct beneficiaries of this Convention are the hundreds of
millions of predominantly poor and food-insecure people who
populate the drylands of the world.
According to "Global Environment
Outlook 2000", released by UNEP last month, land
degradation has affected some 1,900 million hectares of land
worldwide. In Africa, an estimated 500 million hectares of land
have been affected by soil degradation, including 65 % of the
region's agricultural land. GEO 2000 also demonstrates that
poverty is both a cause and a consequence of accelerating soil
degradation and sustainable use of land resources. Development
objectives cannot be dissociated from the environmental
considerations: they are at the very heart of the concept of
sustainable development.
"Effective action to combat
desertification requires an immediate response from the entire
international community," added Toepfer. "This
response must be equal to that demanded by global warming, the
destruction of the ozone layer, and the loss of biodiversity.
To highlight the connection between
dryland protection and sustainable development. UNEP, will award
its annual "Saving the Drylands" certificate to seven
projects that have demonstrated outstanding achievement in
protecting the environment while improving the livelihoods of
local communities. The following projects will be so recognized
today in the main plenary room immediately after the morning
session of the COP, around 12:45 or 13:00:
1. Mexico: The project " Centro Piloto de
consevacion de suelos y desarollo rural 'El Dexthi', Municipio
de lxmiquilpan, Hildago, Mexico" has shown success in the
fields of water harvesting, soil erosion control techniques,
afforestation, and capacity building that benefits both men and
women.
2. Cuba: The project "Lucha contra la
desertificacion y los desastres en Guatanamo" has
demonstrated success in implementing sustainable and highly
productive projects involving intensive afforestation,
agroforestry, livestock production and the development of
irrigation infrastructure that optimizes available water
resources.
3.
Kenya: The project "Wei Wei Integrated
Development Project, Kenya" has demonstrated success in
improving the livelihoods of local communities by integrating
traditional and modern technologies to increase water capacity
and water flows for irrigation and for biodiversity
conservation. This has improved year-round food security despite
increased human population.
4. Ghana: The project "Suntaa-Nuntaa land
degradation control project in the Upper West Region of
Ghana" has demonstrated success in creating
income-generating activities that enhance biodiversity and
environmental protection, including agroforestry, fodder banks
and the enhancement of traditional values of working together
for the common good of community. This has been achieved through
awareness arising using drama and through the creation of loan
schemes.
5. Peru: The project "Rehabilitacion de terrazas
y technologies conexas en la region andina del Peru" has
demonstrated success in reclaiming agricultural lands by
training community members on terrace and irrigation systems
restoration techniques based on a combination of modern and
indigenous knowledge. This has led to increased food production
and more equitable water distribution among users.
6. Ecuador: The project "Cercados biologicos de
opuntia y cultivos afines en la coservacion del suelo en laderas
en Loja, Ecuador" has demonstrated success in controlling
soil erosion on steep slopes. The project is drawn on indigenous
knowledge in natural resource management; the use of indigenous
plants of local economic importance, such as opuntia and
cochineal, to promote biodiversity; and the extension of
technologies to rural populations.
7. Chile: The project "Actividades de lucha
contra la desertificacion en la IV Region de Coquimbo" has
demonstrated success in introducing and optimizing techniques of
harvesting and using water and solar energy. This has lead to
sustainable self- sufficiency in water and energy for over two
hundred households in the project area.
Note to Journalists: For moreinformation on GEO 2000
see www.unep.org, or contact
Michael Williams in Recife on tel. +55-81-301-7379, email: michael.williams@unep.ch.
In Nairobi. contact: Tore J. Brevik, UNEP Spokesman on
tel: +254-2-623292, email: tore.brevik@unep.org,
or Robert Bisset on tel: 623084, tax: 623692, email: bissetr@unep.org
UNEP News Release 1999/131
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