Global level

DESIRE and zero growth

2011-10-27T13:58:36Z

As a contribution to the UNCCP COP10 (Changwon, October 2011) side event "Knowledge brokering models for UNCCD: approaches towards bridging policy science and practice" DESIRE prepared this briefing document on "DESIRE and zero growth".

We suggest that the UNCCD call to reduce land degradation rapidly to a state of zero growth is not dependent on advances in science and technology, but rather on the uptake of science by decision makers; those with power and finance. There are many issues such as non-enforcement of legislation or land tenure problems that often get in the way of the achievement of sustainable land management. However, DESIRE can help by identifying such issues and providing the methodology to select appropriate technologies.

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	DESIRE and zero growth [0.83MB]
	»UNCCD COP10 website (link expired)

Engaging with people affected by desertification

2011-10-27T13:53:07Z

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	Engaging with people affected by desertification [1.83MB]
	»UNCCD COP10 website (link expired)

Putting knowledge into action

2011-10-27T13:13:53Z

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	Putting knowledge into action [1.63MB]
	»UNCCD COP10 website (link expired)

DESIRE and the UNCCD 10 Year Strategic Plan

2011-09-28T15:22:58Z

To coincide with the United Nations General Assembly, 20th September 2011 at which desertification and land degradation was discussed in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, DESIRE compiled this response to the UNCCD's 10 Year Plan Strategic Objective 2.

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	Achieving the UNCCD 10 Year Plan [1.23MB]
	»2011 High Level Meeting on addressing desertification, land degradation and drought in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication.

White Papers for UNCCD CST 2009

2010-11-23T11:08:09Z

Under the leadership of the Drylandscience for Development Consortium (DSD), a series of scientific analysis papers were prepared for the first scientific conference of the UNCCD Committee on Science and Technology "Bio-physical and socio-economic monitoring and assessment of desertification and land degradation to support decision making in land and water management" held in conjuction with the ninth session of the UNCCD Conference of Parties, Buenos Aires, 22-24 September 2009.

DESIRE partners led, contributed to or commented on the following White Papers.

Integrated methods for monitoring and assessing desertification/land degradation processes and drivers. Working Group 1
Monitoring and assessing land rehabilitation and sustainable land management. Working Group 2
Monitoring and assessment of Desertification and land degradation: knowledge management and economic and social drivers. Working Group 3

More details ... visit the DSC conference website
	»DSD conference website (link expired) for further details of the conference and current versions of the White Papers

Is the UNCCD stuck in a knowledge traffic jam?

2009-02-10T17:20:07Z

DESIRE project members led the development of a discussion paper to lobby delegates to the UNCCD's CRIC meeting in Istanbul in November 2008. This document went to every national focal point and a range of other key stakeholders and was distributed at the CRIC.

Our goal was to influence the 2008-2011 work plan of the Committee of Science and Technology (CST) to achieve greater integration of knowledge from research and affected communities in the UNCCD policy process. One of our key recommendations was the establishment of an independent research synthesis process akin to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to regularly inform the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNCCD.

Although it is impossible to know the role our discussion paper played, this recommendation was adopted. The Dryland Science for Development (DSD) Consortium have been charged with developing this synthesis, which will be reviewed at a scientific conference immediately prior to the next COP and then feed directly to policy-makers via the CST.

One project member has been invited to join Working Group III that will write the synthesis titled "impacts of economic and social drivers and knowledge management on monitoring and evaluation of land degradation" and another now been commissioned to develop a Communication Strategy for the UNCCD Secretariat, and is working closely with colleagues across the DESIRE project on this work.

More details ... download the full report and visit the UNCCD website
	Is the UNCCD stuck in a knowledge traffic jam? (1.96 MB)
	»Official documents of the Seventh Session of the CRIC (link expired)

Framework for knowledge management

2011-06-09T11:16:30Z

For land degradation monitoring and assessment (M&A) to be accurate and for sustainable land management (SLM) to be effective, it is necessary to incorporate multiple knowledges using a variety of methods and scales, and this must include the (potentially conflicting) perspectives of those who use the land. This paper presents a hybrid methodological framework that builds on approaches developed by UN Food & Agriculture Organisation’s land degradation Assessment in Drylands (LADA), the World Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) programme and the Dryland Development Paradigm (DDP), and is being applied internationally through the EU-funded DESIRE project. The framework suggests that M&A should determine the progress of SLM towards meeting sustainability goals, with results continually and iteratively enhancing SLM decisions.

The framework is divided into four generic themes: (i) establishing land degradation and SLM context and sustainability goals; (ii) identifying, evaluating and selecting SLM strategies; (iii) selecting land degradation and SLM indicators and (iv) applying SLM options and monitoring land degradation and progress towards sustainability goals.

This approach incorporates multiple knowledge sources and types (including land manager perspectives) from local to national and international scales. In doing so, it aims to provide outputs for policy-makers and land managers that have the potential to enhance the sustainability of land management in drylands, from the field scale to the region, and to national and international levels. The paper draws on operational experience from across the DESIRE project to break the four themes into a series of methodological steps, and provides examples of the range of tools and methods that can be used to operationalise each of these steps.

This report is adapted from the following paper: Reed MS, Buenemann, M, Atlhopheng J, Akhtar-Schuster M, Bachmann F, Bastin G, Bigas H, Chanda R, Dougill AJ, Essahli W, Evely AC, Fleskens L, Geeson N, Glass JH, Hessel R, Holden J, Ioris A, Kruger B, Liniger HP, Mphinyane W, Nainggolan D, Perkins J, Raymond CM, Ritsema CJ, Schwilch G, Sebego R, Seely M, Stringer LC, Thomas R, Twomlow S, Verzandvoort S (2011) Cross-scale monitoring and assessment of land degradation and sustainable land management: a methodological framework for knowledge management. Land Degradation & Development 22: 261-271. An earlier version of the report was originally published as part of the Dryland Science for Development Consortium’s Working Group 3, presented at the first UNCCD CST Scientific Conference at COP-9, 22-24 September 2009 in Buenos Aires, Argentina

More details ... download the full report and access published article
	WP5.4 A methodological approach and modelling tool to evaluate desertification remediation options (Report 97 D5.4.2 May12) [0.43 MB]
	Land Degradation & Development 22: 261–271(2011) Published online 25 January 2011 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/ldr.1087 Cross-scale monitoring and assessment of land degradation and sustainable land management: A methodological framework for knowledge management

Food security in drylands

2011-01-20T11:18:25Z

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	Food security in drylands [814 kB]