Thirsty lands: past and future

UNESCO's Major Project to promote scientific research on the world's vast arid lands is to be brought to an end this year after six years of operation. This period has seen the amazing growth of national and international activities for the development of arid lands in which the training of new arid land scientists and basic research have received a new impetus. The end of UNESCO's Major Project will not mean the end of this work. On the contrary, it will now be carried forward as part of UNESCO's regular programme and on an even wider scale than before by direct action made possible through the Technical Assistance programme and the United Nations Special Fund. In a recent UNESCO booklet, Professor Gilbert F. White, head of the Department of Geography of the University of Chicago, has reviewed the situation of Science and the Future of Arid Lands, which we strongly recommend to our readers. From this authoritative study the Special Report on the following pages has been adapted.

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