New Delhi: As global warming intensifies, numerous challenges loom large. The future of our land, water, and air is in jeopardy, presenting a formidable global issue. The responsibility to combat this escalating global warming is not solely on governments but also on international organisations. The increasing frequency of natural disasters, such as droughts, floods, and earthquakes, underscores the need to educate people about these pressing issues.
According to the United Nations, desertification, land degradation, and drought are not just environmental challenges but urgent crises that demand immediate attention. A shocking 40 per cent of the global land area is already considered degraded, serving as a stark and alarming reminder of the severity of the situation.
Every year, June 17 is observed as the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. This significant day serves as a platform to raise awareness about desertification and drought and showcase effective prevention and recovery methods, encouraging everyone to play their part in this global issue.
Every year, the day is observed with a different theme, and this year’s theme is “United for Land. Our Legacy. Our Future.”
World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought: Theme for 2024
World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought will focus on land stewardship this year. According to UN data, in almost every second, healthy land is degraded, the equivalent of four football fields – adding up to a total of 100 million hectares every year.
This year’s theme is “United for Land: Our Legacy. Our Future.” It seeks to mobilise all parts of society to support sustainable land stewardship.
Engaging present and future generations to halt and reverse these alarming trends has become essential. This will also help meet global commitments to restore 1 billion hectares of degraded land by 2030.
According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), land is the foundation of our food systems, with 95 per cent of the world’s food produced on agricultural land. However, one-third of these lands are currently degraded, affecting 3.2 billion people worldwide.
Climate change is another factor that poses a significant challenge to sustainable land management and agriculture. There is a need to protect and restore degraded land.
On the one hand, if sustainable land management is needed, soil and water resources are essential to increasing food production, conserving ecosystems, improving land, soil, and water quality, and strengthening the resilience of rural communities to extreme weather events.
Integrated land use planning, land governance, and tenure security are fundamental to achieving land degradation neutrality.
What should be the priority?
Over the past decade, the Food and Agriculture Organization has been at the forefront of technical programmes and activities supporting these initiatives. To restore and enhance ecosystem resilience and productivity, the following principles should be prioritised:
Land restoration becomes a legacy to future generations.
Land degradation can’t be tackled without unlocking the economic potential of degraded lands and dry lands and building back more resilient agrifood systems.
Large-scale land restoration for small-scale farming is crucial to combat land degradation.
There should be innovative monitoring and evaluation systems to measure progress towards achieving land degradation neutrality.
This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the Bonn-based United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). It is the sole legally binding international treaty on land management and drought, one of the three Rio Conventions on climate change and biodiversity.
Germany will host the day event in Bonn on June 17, 2024. It will bring together world leaders, youth, and prominent personalities from academia, civil society, sports, and entertainment to showcase a solid ambition to be united for land.
World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed on June 17 every year. The day helps raise public awareness of the issues linked to desertification, land degradation, and drought and showcases human-led solutions to prevent desertification and reverse intensifying droughts. Every year, there is a different theme, and this year’s theme is “United for Land. Our Legacy. Our Future.” knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
