© Environment News Service (ENS) 2000
October 20, 2000

WASHINGTON, DC, October 20, 2000 (ENS) - The U.S. Senate has ratified an international agreement to combat soil degradation and erosion around the world. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification commits participating nations to researching, preventing and reversing the transformation of fertile farm and pasture lands into arid deserts.

On Wednesday, the Senate passed legislation by voice vote to ratify the treaty, which carries a full title of "United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought/Desertification, Particularly in Africa (UNCCD)."

The U.S. is one of 167 countries that have signed the treaty, which entered into force in 1996 after 50 countries had ratified the agreement.

Desertification is the process of soil erosion and land degradation that occurs when lands are over-cultivated, overgrazed, deforested, or otherwise stripped of their vegetation. Climate change also contributes to vegetation changes and the loss of arable lands.

Desertification can trigger "dust bowls" like the one that struck the Great Plains states of the U.S. in the 1930s.

All over the developing world, desertification is deepening rural poverty and fueling large migrations to crowded urban slums and to the richer countries of North America and Europe. The number of these refugees is growing quickly.

Of the global refugee population, a record 25 million, or 58 percent, are now environmental refugees according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. That figure surpasses even the number of refugees that are fleeing war.

"Much of the illegal immigration to the U.S. from Mexico - the first country to ratify the UNCCD and where more than 60 percent of the land is severely degraded - is from Mexico's driest, most eroded, impoverished areas," said Michelle Leighton, who authored a report on the crisis to the U.S. Congressional Commission on Immigration Reform.

Between 1971 and 1995, natural disasters, many made worse by clearcut logging, caused an average of more than 128,000 deaths a year and affected 136 million people. The clearing of forests can lead to soil erosion and disasterous flooding and mudslides like those witnessed after Hurricane Mitch struck Central America.

Dwindling land and water resources resulting from desertification have played a role in sparking at least 10 recent armed conflicts in arid lands, including Somalia.

The desertification treaty attempts to defuse these problems before they arise by addressing the factors that force the rural poor to adopt unsustainable land use practices. Funded programs will focus on long term solutions, and will involve input from local communities.

Most of the world's basic food supply is grown in dry regions. Each year, ten million acres of arable lands in these regions become unproductive, or desertified. This loss of soil productivity affects one billion people in more than 90 countries, but is particularly acute in parts of Africa.

"African countries are proving their full commitment to combating desertification and drought," said Hama Arba Diallo, executive secretary of the Convention. "Cooperation partners will need to ensure top priority to this same goal, and establish constructive partnerships with affected countries, in order to achieve timely and concrete progress towards the sustainable development of Africa's drylands."

Given current world population projections - Africa alone is expected to increase by almost one billion people in the next 50 years - the outlines of a major food crisis in the new millennium looms large, the United Nations has warned.

The United States and other counties have spent millions of dollars for disaster relief and humanitarian aid in arid regions. The Treaty promises to dramatically reshape the international aid process by coordinating the efforts of donor nations and agencies.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that an effective 20 year global effort would cost between U.S. $10 billion and U.S. $22 billion per year. To put this estimate in perspective, UNEP also calculates that desertification now costs affected countries about U.S. $42 billion in lost income each year.

Under the treaty, developing counties affected by desertification are expected to allocate resources to combat the problem based on their circumstances and capabilities. Developed member countries are required to provide "substantial financial resources and other forms of support," including grants and loans.

Member countries will also seek funding from private sector and non-governmental sources, including debt swaps and other innovative means to reduce external debt burdens.

Local communities and their leaders, as well as non-governmental organizations, experts and government officials will work closely to formulate action plans suited to each region. Error: Unable to read footer file.