UN chief’s message for World Day to Combat Desertification
(June 17, 2011) Noting that the inhabitants in the world’s arid lands are among the
poorest and most vulnerable to hunger, the United Nations chief has urged for the
development of these dry lands. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon made the appeal
in his message for the World Day to Combat Desertification, observed on Friday. This
year’s observance took place in the current International Year of Forests, declared
by the United Nations General Assembly to educate the global community about the value
of forests and the extreme social, economic and environmental costs of losing them.
The UN chief noted that 42% of the Earth’s tropical and subtropical forests are dry
forests, where productivity has shrunk to below subsistence levels. “The challenges
facing the “forgotten billion” men, women and children who live there deserve special
attention,” Ban urged. He blamed the depletion, degradation and desertification of
these lands on unsustainable land management and agriculture. “The management, conservation
and sustainable development of dry forests are central to combating desertification,”
Ban said, calling for rewarding “those who make drylands productive, so they will
prosper and others will seek to emulate their example.” “Too often,” he noted “investing
in drylands has been seen as unproductive or risky, instead of a necessary avenue
for improving the well-being of local communities and national economies.” “Our
challenge is to change market perceptions so drylands cease to be investment deserts,”
the UN chief added.