UN International Year of Deserts and Desertification Opens

NEW YORK, New York, January 2, 2005 (ENS) - To raise global public awareness of advancing deserts as a major threat to humanity, the United Nations has declared 2006 to be the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Desertification is the loss of the land’s biological productivity, caused by human activities and climate change.

Activities planned for this year will explore ways to safeguard the biological diversity of the arid lands that cover one-third of the planet and to protect the knowledge and traditions of the two billion people affected by the phenomenon of desertification.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, "I look forward to working with governments, civil society, the private sector, international organizations and others to focus attention on this crucial issue, and to make every day one on which we work to reverse the trend of desertification and set the world on a safer, more sustainable path of development."

A shepherd with his flock in arid northeastern Morocco, where livestock and locust are in competition for available vegetation. (Photo courtesy FAO)

“It is widely recognized that environmental degradation has a role to play in considerations of national security, as well as international stability. Therefore, desertification has been seen as a threat to human security," said UNCCD Executive Secretary Hama Arba Diallo.

At the same time, these natural habitats with their incredibly diverse animal and bird life have been home to some of the world's oldest civilizations and the Convention's Secretariat hopes the Year will also celebrate the fragile beauty and unique heritage of the world's deserts, which deserve protection.

The Convention's 10th anniversary will be marked in December 2006. Currently, the Convention counts 191 states parties, making it one of the most representative treaties on environmental protection stemming from the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.

The honorary spokespersons for the year are Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai of Kenya, who made the desert bloom by planting trees, Environment Minister Cherif Rahmani of Algeria, and Bulgarian international football star and Golden Boot winner Hristo Stoitchkov.

"We want to raise awareness at the international, regional, national and local level about the deserts," said Rahmani, "Desertification is a transnational issue and a global problem."

Stoitchkov committed himself to "promoting the message amongst future generations and particularly through soccer, probably the single most powerful and fraternal sport in the world that resonates among nations and brings people together." In this regard, a major football match is being planned between players from Europe and affected countries, particularly from Africa.

Among the international activities planned for this year is a weeklong film festival in June in Rome, called “Desert Nights.”

Under the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, the film festival will take place from June 12 to 17, showcasing documentaries and feature films on people in the drylands. The best fiction films from countries affected by desertification within the five regions of the convention – Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Northern Mediterranean and Central and Eastern Europe – will win awards.