Desertification and arid zones – UNESCO’s work over the past 50 years

Thomas SchaafUNESCODivision of Ecological and Earth SciencesProgramme on Man and the Biosphere (MAB)

The beginnings of dryland research:

• 1951: UNESCO launches an international study on arid and semi-arid zones;

First organization within the UN system to address problems in drylands!

• 1965-1974: International Hydrological Decade1975: International Hydrological Programme (IHP)

• 1968: International Biosphere Conference at UNESCO 1971: Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme

• Integrated Project on Arid Lands in Kenya (IPAL-Kenya);• Integrated Project on Arid Lands in

southern Tunisia (IPAL-Tunisia);• Integrated Project on Arid Lands in Lesotho (IPAL-Lesotho);• Training and education on integrated pastoral management in the Sahel (FAPIS project);• Strengthening of scientific capacities in

the agro-silvo-pastoral domain (CILSS Member States, West Africa);• Cooperative Integrated Project on Savanna Ecosystems in Ghana (CIPSEG);• Strengthening of scientific capacities in West African biosphere reserves• Sustainable Management of Marginal Drylands (SUMAMAD);

MAB Projects: 1970s - today

1st generation type of project: “Natural sciences research”

Integrated Project on Arid Lands (IPAL) in Kenya (1975 - 1984)KALRES & TREMU follow-up projects (1985-1991)

Kenya

IPAL-Kenya:

Problem: increasing sedentarization of nomads and overgrazing threatening fragile arid ecosystem

Approach: Study of the natural environment to improve living conditions of dryland people

Focus on: carrying capacity of drylands

• health of camels and other livestock (quality over quantity)• growth dynamics of plants as fodder (e.g. Indigofera spinosa)

Elaboration of management guidelines for pastoralists

Ghana

2nd generation type of project: “Natural and social sciences research”

Cooperative Integrated Project on Savanna Ecosystems in Ghana (CIPSEG)

(1993 - 1997)

Problem: degradation of dry sub-humid savanna environment

Causes:• road construction;• spread of settlements;• agricultural expansion;• overgrazing;• bushfires;• deforestation.

Sacred Natural Groves often constitute the last remains of undisturbed natural vegetation and serve as sanctuaries for game and wildlife

The sacred natural groves have survived environmental degradation as they are embedded in traditional belief systems and cultural practices

(3) Training seminars for elders, women, scientists and school children.

(1) Species inventories in sacred groves

Project Activities:

(2) Botanists/zoologists collaborated with anthropologists (traditional knowledge, medicinal plants, taboos related to management/protection of groves

(4) The planting of trees and cash crops in a “buffer zone”around the sacred groves helped to better conserve the natural environment ... and to generate income, especially for women.

Buffer zone

Natural sacred grove(core zone)

3rd generation type of project: “Natural and social sciences research and information exchange”Sustainable Management of Marginal Drylands

(SUMAMAD), 2004 to ?

• 9 research sites in 8 countries involved: - 5 sites belong to scientific institutions- 4 biosphere reserves

• Sponsored by various partners:- Flemish Government of Belgium;

- Chinese Academy of Sciences; - UNESCO (MAB & IHP) - UNU - ICARDA

• Hunshandake Sandland / Xilon Gol Biosphere Reserve (HS), CHINA• Haihe River Basin (HRB), CHINA• Omayed Biosphere Reserve (OBR), EGYPT• Gareh Bygone Plain (GBP), IRAN• Dingarh/ Lal Sohanra Biosphere Reserve (D/LSBR), PAKISTAN• Dana Biosphere Reserve (DBR), JORDAN• Khanasser Valley Integrated Research Site (KVIRS), SYRIA • Zeuss-Koutine Watershed (ZKW), TUNISIA• Karnab Chul (KC), UZBEKISTAN

Omayed Biosphere Reserve (Egypt): solar-powered seawater distillation plant

Fars Research Centre for Natural Resources and Animal Husbandry (Iran): “UN-Habitat International Prize for Best Practices toImprove the Living Environment”

• Hunshandake Sandland / Xilon Gol Biosphere Reserve (HS), CHINA• Haihe River Basin (HRB), CHINA• Omayed Biosphere Reserve (OBR), EGYPT• Gareh Bygone Plain (GBP), IRAN• Dingarh/ Lal Sohanra Biosphere Reserve (D/LSBR), PAKISTAN• Dana Biosphere Reserve (DBR), JORDAN• Khanasser Valley Integrated Research Site (KVIRS), SYRIA • Zeuss-Koutine Watershed (ZKW), TUNISIA• Karnab Chul (KC), UZBEKISTAN

UNESCO’s Learning Experience in Dryland Studies:

From:• Natural sciences, to • Natural and social sciences, to• Natural and social sciences and exchange of expertise.

UNESCO’s Learning Experience in Dryland Studies:

From:• Natural sciences, to • Natural and social sciences, to• Natural and social sciences and exchange of expertise.

Enriched by environmental education:

Education Kit on Desertification

Teaching Resource Kit for Dryland Countries

THANK YOUMAB homepage: www.unesco.org/mab

MAB drylands website:www.unesco.org/mab/ecosyst/drylands.shtml