Protect earth, restore land, engage people - World Day to Combat Desertification 2016
Message from Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the World Day to Combat Desertification, 17 June 2016
Protect earth, restore land, engage people.
These are the themes of the 2016 World Day to Combat Desertification.
Desertification is a global phenomenon, affecting resource availability and sustainability, impacting on the livelihoods of 900 million peoples across all continents, representing one third of worldwide threats to biodiversity.
This is a threat to both arid and non-arid regions, where land over-exploitation, including intensive farming, forest exploitation for fuel and timber and overgrazing, have turned fertile soils into sterile land.
Extreme weather events – like droughts, winds, floods and climate disruptions – are amplifying the effects and adding new causes to the degradation cycle.
The stakes are high – this is why the goal of achieving Land Degradation Neutrality is so important. This is set out in Target 15.3 of the new Sustainable Development Goals, to maintain and even improve the amount of healthy and productive land resources.
Reaching this new goal calls for engaging women and men.
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