Desertification and drylands development: what can be done?

Mainguet, Monique; Silva, G. G. Da

doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-145x(199809/10)9:5<375::aid-ldr304>3.0.co;2-2

Cited by 43 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…But their main targets were images that UNEP added to 'polish' the boundary object to improve its salience to governments, e.g. unidirectional and irreversible frontier expansion of desert fringes (Mainguet and Da Silva, 1998), and overestimates of the extent of the problem (Thomas and Middleton, 1994). They could be forgiven for confusing the two, since UNEP's elaborations contradicted the views of its experts and UNCOD.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of science in implementing international environmental agreements: The case of desertification

Grainger

2009

Land Degrad Dev

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A preliminary framework for evaluating the effectiveness of international environmental agreements (IEAs) is described, and applied to the UN Plan of Action to Combat Desertification (PACD) and UN Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD), both of which have proven ineffective. There is good correspondence between the framework's nine criteria and official explanations of the reasons for poor implementation. Most of the criteria were identified in previous studies but opinions are divided on one of them-access to scientific knowledge. Its inclusion does, however, receive support from experiences in the desertification regime. Successive organizations of science-policy communication in the CCD have lacked many of the ideal features of boundary organizations, with access to scientific knowledge impeded mainly by formal institutions, compared with informal institutions in the PACD. Yet while applying the boundary organization model in a descriptive manner diagnoses the particular deficiencies in science-policy communication in this regime it cannot explain why they occur. Linking the CCD to a large and diverse scientific network, similar to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, could improve matters. But this may not be politically feasible, as new knowledge could undermine the viability of the CCD by unravelling its initial rule system. Progress in combating dryland degradation may therefore only be possible in another regime, e.g. in the successor to the Kyoto Protocol, or by devising a new interdisciplinary conceptualization of desertification which does not rely on ambiguity, as is the case at present.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of science in implementing international environmental agreements: The case of desertification

Grainger

2009

Land Degrad Dev

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“…This earlier emphasis on 'desert-like conditions' has since shifted towards a more specific descriptor in which desertification is now considered to be "land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors including climatic variations and human activities" (UNCCD, 1994: Article 1). Expansion of desert fringes constitutes only a small part of desertification (Glenn et al, 1998) and the perception of desertification as a process of desert enlargement has now been rejected (Mainguet and Da Silva, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross‐sectoral and participatory approaches to combating desertification: The Iranian experience

Amiraslani

Dragovich

2010

Natural Resources Forum

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Anti‐desertification planning in Iran operates at the national level through the Five Year Development Plans, the National Plan to Combat Desertification — a long‐running scheme for which the Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Management Organisation (FRWO) is responsible — and the recently developed National Action Programme to Combat Desertification (the NAP). The Iranian NAP was formulated following the country's ratification of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and drew heavily on the experience, expertise and collaboration of personnel in FRWO. Development and implementation of the NAP has had major policy impacts in Iran in the two main areas of generating cross‐sectoral cooperation between government instruments at the national planning level and by community participation in local projects to combat desertification. Documenting the evolution of cross‐sectoral and participatory approaches to desertification in Iran shows that the NAP provided impetus towards a transformation of previous procedures, a policy impact that is continuing to generate change.

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“…However, the degradation processes associated with desertification affect several subsystems as well as their interactions at multiple spatial and temporal scales. For instance, adverse effects on soil quality involve depletion of soil fertility, but also reduce soil-water storage (Mainguet and Da Silva, 1998), which, in turn, can constrain seed germination and vegetation reestablishment, modify climax vegetation, disrupt biogeochemical cycles, alter water and energy balances, and conse-quently lead to a loss of ecosystem resilience (Lal, 2001). This cascade of disturbances may result in a reduction of the C sequestration capacity of a given ecosystem, which is clearly a symptom of the loss of biological productivity, resulting in a positive feedback to global warming.…”

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confidence: 99%

Reply to referee #1

López‐Ballesteros¹

2017

Preprint

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Desertification and drylands development: what can be done?

Cited by 43 publications

References 4 publications

The role of science in implementing international environmental agreements: The case of desertification

The role of science in implementing international environmental agreements: The case of desertification

Cross‐sectoral and participatory approaches to combating desertification: The Iranian experience

Reply to referee #1

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