“Sustainable Land Management for Global Benefits”
New York. March 29th, 2007.

Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD), attended the United Nations University briefing on the topic “Sustainable Land Management for Global Benefits. The briefing was held March 27th, 2007, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

This briefing was organizaed by the United Nations University Office in the New York Headquarters and the UNU Enviroment and Sustainable Development Programme (UNU-EDS). There were various speakers from different backgrounds: the first speaker was Michael Anthony Stocking.  Mr. Stocking is a professor of Natural Resource Development of the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom. The second speaker was Libor Jansky, Senior Academic Programme Officer of the Environment and Sustainable Development Programme of the United Nations University (UNU-ESD) in Japan. The last speaker was Nevelina Pachova, Programme Associate at the UNU-ESD in Japan.

The speakers explained that Land Degradation is the temporary or permanent decline in the productive capacity of land. It adversely affects the productive, physiological, cultural and ecological functions of land resources, such as soils, water, plants and animals.

What this means to the environment is that large patches of land have gone out of production because of its degradation.  This impacts humans and livelihoods by establishing insecurity in the food supply. There is a widening gap in the amount of produced needed and the amount that is being produced. Also, land that is degraded, not only produces less, but demands more resources for its management. So it becomes a larger cost for the farmers. This will increase their prices and lower their benefits.

There are many other important issues that are derived from this environmental effect. For more information, please visit: www.unu.edu.

The participation of GFDD in these briefings is part of the commitment to the promotion and dissemination of information on UN activities programs. In addition to DPI/NGO, GFDD is member of several other agencies within the United Nations as an institution with Consultative Status.