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.
