2020 Volume 30 Issue 3 Pages 19-26
In the memorable first year of Reiwa, which was the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Japanese Association for Arid Land Studies, we planned a symposium to reconsider how to deal with desertification. As the keynote speech, the author gave a review on 1) the definition of desertification, 2) the outline and current status of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, and 3) the current status of desertification. 1) The definition of desertification was completed Agenda 21 in the United Nations Coference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992, and is used as it is in the Convention to Combat Desertification. It is said that desertification occurs as a result of the decrease in productivity and complex systems of each ecosystem due to the accumulation of desertification processes caused by climatic and human activity factors. Desertification processes such as erosion themselves are direct results, at the same time, it can be said to be a factor of desertification. 2) The outline and organization of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, which came into effect in 1996, and the history of the Conference of the Parties were introduced. Based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as recent major movements of the treaty, two major concepts; land degradation neutrality (LDN) and sustainable land management (SLM) were introduced, and “Global Land Outlook” was issued. 3) As for the current state of desertification, there are not many conclusive estimates recently compared with 60,000 km2/year, which was once well used. The 3rd edition of the World Desertification Map published in 2018 evaluates desertification from various factors including socio-economic factors, suggesting that it is difficult to capture the desertification phenomenon. On the other hand, the author also introduced a report that greening is progressing mainly in China and India. Is desertification progressing? Both of pros and cons were mentioned to this question. Desertification and treat with desertification are one of the main points of the activities of this society, so the Commission of Agriculture Development for Arid Lands will continue to follow up. A constant implementation is required to deal with desertification. In order to maintain Japan’s presence, it is necessary to maintain the base of arid land research and desertification coping research, especially to promote research including industry, academia and government on desertification coping and to promote international cooperation.
