Celebrating World Environment Day 2024: Focusing on Land Restoration, Desertification, and Drought Resilience
World Environment Day, celebrated annually on June 5th, is a global platform to raise awareness and inspire action for the protection of our environment. The theme for 2024, “Land Restoration, Desertification, and Drought Resilience,” sheds light on critical issues threatening the health of our planet and the well-being of its inhabitants. Addressing these challenges is essential for sustainable development, biodiversity conservation, and climate change mitigation.
Land Restoration: Reversing Degradation
Land restoration involves reversing land degradation to restore its ecological integrity and functionality. Degraded lands, often characterized by reduced soil fertility, biodiversity loss, and impaired ecosystem services, pose significant challenges to food security, water availability, and climate resilience.
According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), over 2 billion hectares of productive land are degraded globally, affecting the livelihoods of over 3.2 billion people (https://www.unep.org/resources/factsheet/land-degradation-factsheet). This translates to a loss of 12 million hectares of productive land every year (https://press.un.org/en/2019/sgsm19680.doc.htm).
Key Approaches to Land Restoration
- Agroforestry: Integrating trees and shrubs into agricultural landscapes enhances soil health, increases biodiversity, and sequesters carbon. A World Bank study found that agroforestry practices can increase crop yields by up to 25% (https://projects.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/project-detail/P077822).
- Reforestation and Afforestation: Planting trees in deforested areas and establishing forests on previously non-forested lands helps restore ecosystem services and combat climate change. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration aims to restore billions of hectares of degraded land by 2030, contributing to climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation (https://www.unep.org/explore-topics/ecosystems-and-biodiversity/what-we-do/decade-ecosystem-restoration).
- Soil Conservation Techniques: Implementing practices such as terracing, contour plowing, and cover cropping prevents soil erosion and enhances soil organic matter. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that soil erosion costs the global economy at least US$ 44 billion per year (https://www.fao.org/soils-portal/soil-degradation-restoration/en/).
- Wetland Restoration: Rehabilitating wetlands improves water quality, supports biodiversity, and provides flood protection. A study by the Ramsar Convention Secretariat found that restored wetlands can provide economic benefits of up to US$8,000 per hectare per year (https://www.ramsar.org/).
Desertification: Combating Land Degradation
Desertification is the process of land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities. It leads to the loss of productive land, negatively impacting agriculture, livelihoods, and ecosystems.
The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) reports that one-third of the world’s land is already degraded, and desertification is affecting over 3.6 billion people (https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2018/2/towards-a-gender-responsive-implementation-of-the-un-convention-to-combat-desertification). This translates to a loss of fertile land equivalent to the size of the entire continent of Africa over the past 70 years (https://www.unwomen.org/en/how-we-work/intergovernmental-support/climate-change-and-the-environment/united-nations-convention-to-combat-desertification).
Strategies to Combat Desertification
- Sustainable Land Management (SLM): Optimizing the use of land resources for the benefit of present and future generations while maintaining the land’s productivity and environmental functions. Implementing SLM practices can increase agricultural productivity by up to 50% in degraded lands (https://www.unccd.int/land-and-life/land-management-and-restoration/why-sustainable-land-management-matters).
- Water Management: Techniques such as rainwater harvesting, efficient irrigation systems, and constructing check dams improve water availability and reduce soil erosion. The World Bank estimates that rainwater harvesting has the potential to provide up to 80% of a household’s water needs in rural areas (https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/video/2022/10/18/rainwater-harvesting-in-yemen).
- Drought-resistant Crops: Developing and promoting the cultivation of crops resilient to dry conditions ensures food security in vulnerable regions. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has developed several drought-resistant crop varieties that can help farmers adapt to changing climatic conditions… (continued in next post)
