“United for the land: Our heritage. Our future” is the theme chosen by the United Nations for the 30th anniversary of the International Day Against Desertification and Drought (June 17, 1994 - June 17, 2024) to emphasize the paramount importance of collective action to conserve land resources.
Urgent challenge
Desertification, land degradation, and drought are among the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. According to the latest United Nations figures, every second, the area of healthy land degraded is equivalent to four football fields, and every year, the area of degraded land reaches 100 million hectares.
Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), stated: “Up to 40% of the world’s land has been degraded, affecting nearly half of humanity. However, solutions are still on the table. It is time to unite for land and raise awareness about the loss and degradation of land worldwide.”
Population growth coupled with unsustainable production and consumption patterns fuels demand for natural resources, putting excessive pressure on land and leading to land degradation. Desertification and drought are driving forced migration, putting tens of millions of people at risk of displacement each year. Climate change further exacerbates these problems, posing significant challenges to sustainable land management and agriculture , while undermining ecosystem resilience.
According to data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), this decline affects 3.2 billion people worldwide, particularly impacting rural communities and smallholder farmers who depend on the land for their livelihoods, leading to increasing hunger, poverty, unemployment, and forced migration.
Sustainable management
To prevent and reverse these alarming trends and meet global commitments to restore 1 billion hectares of degraded land by 2030, it is necessary to create jobs for rural people, give young people access to eco-business opportunities, and scale up the best practices.
Of the world's 8 billion people, more than one billion young people under the age of 25 live in developing countries, particularly in areas that depend directly on land and natural resources for their livelihoods.
This is also why this year's chosen theme focuses on mobilizing all sectors of society to support sustainable land management, working together so that future generations can access vital natural resources. Sustainable management of land and water resources is essential to enhance food production, conserve ecosystems, improve soil and water quality, and strengthen the resilience of rural communities to extreme weather events.
According to the FAO, in efforts to restore and enhance ecosystem resilience, priority should be given to women and youth. These groups play a crucial role in protecting soil health and suffer significant losses due to land degradation. This principle also ensures that land restoration is based on science and is people-centered, striving for a world free from land degradation for present and future generations.
Compiled by Hanh Chi
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/vi-mot-the-gioi-khong-suy-thoai-dat-post744910.html
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