Background
Drylands are characterized by a scarcity of water, which affects both natural and managed ecosystems and constrains the production of livestock as well as crops, wood, forage and other plants and affects the delivery of environmental services. For millennia, drylands have been shaped by a combination of low precipitation, droughts and heat waves, as well as human activities such as fire use, livestock grazing, the collection of wood and non-wood forest products (NWFPs), and soil cultivation. Dryland soils tend to be vulnerable to wind and water erosion, subject to intensive mineral weathering, and of low fertility (due to the low content of organic matter in the topsoil) [...]
Highlights
The Rome Promise
| Global Dryland Assessment
A wide range of methods and tools exist for monitoring and assessment of different aspects of drylands, as well as emerging new technologies and tools including FAO tools: LADA and Collect Earth. These methods should be used as building blocks and for [...] | Action Against Desertification
Action Against Desertification is an initiative of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) to restore drylands and degraded lands in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific to tackle the detrimental social, economic and environmental impact of land degradation [...] |
At its 22nd session in June 2014, the Committee on Forestry (COFO) requested FAO to “undertake a global assessment of the extent and status of drylands forests, rangelands and agrosilvopastoral systems”. During the event, several international agreements and initiatives calling for restoration of degraded lands were highlighted. Participants also highlighted that an appropriate [
