Towards the World Summit on Sustainable Development - Rio+10 (summer 2002 in Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa).

As Task Managers, FAO and UNEP are responsible for reporting to the Commission on Sustainable Development 10 (CSD-10) on “Land, Agriculture and Desertification” - progress in achieving the objectives of chapters 10, 12 and 14 of Agenda 21, where:

Chapter 10 - “Integrated approach to the planning and management of land resources”

Chapter 12 - “Managing fragile ecosystems: Combating Desertification and Drought”

Chapter 14 - “Promoting sustainable agriculture and rural development-SARD”.

In order to better reflect the diversity and range of opinions and conditions worldwide, and enhance participation in preparation for Rio+10, the Task Managers have been promoting multi-stakeholder dialogue and contributions from multiple perspectives. As part of this process, an electronic conference was conducted in March to review the draft Task Managers’ joint report to CSD 10 on Land and Agriculture.

This brief extension of the dialogue is being organised to solicit additional contributions on "Land-related issues" to contribute to the finalisation of the report to go forward to the CSD Secretariat and to the participatory process and events leading up to Rio+10.

You are cordially invited to participate in this extended Electronic Conference entitled:

May 3 to 20, 2001

The Agriculture Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in partnership with:

other Technical Departments of FAO, including the Land Tenure and Rural Institutions and Participation Services of the Rural Development Division (SDA), and the Legal Office (LEG);

The Popular Coalition, hosted by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Rome.

International Partners for Sustainable Agriculture (IPSA), Washington D.C. (NGO Caucus);

the Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research Support Program (SANREM CRSP) of the University of Georgia, USA; and

UN Economic and Social Development Department (UNDESA), New York.

The scope of the Task Managers' (TM) report on Land, Agriculture and Desertification is very wide and allows little in-depth coverage of specific issues. In particular, it may not adequately address Land issues relative to their importance and the coverage reflected during the CSD-8 process. Moreover, upon analysing the recent dialogue some important points were made that may justify further discussion and others may have been missing in the debate.

We are therefore extending the dialogue that was initiated through the March E-Conference and subsequent SARD Forum, with the aim of soliciting more specific contributions from multiple perspectives on Land, taking into account the wide planning and management issues addressed under chapter 10, and with particular attention to environmental and desertification aspects and sustainable agriculture and rural development (SARD).

Even though the time is short for this event, it is hoped that the results will, in the immediate, better influence the TM report and, in the longer term, it will feed into a continuing dialogue and the consensus building and priority setting process in the preparations for Rio+10 and beyond.

More specifically, it will contribute to:

2. Identification of priorities and nexts steps, in terms of policies, processes and actions, for (i) mitigating land degradation, including desertification and impacts of drought, and rehabilitating degraded lands, (ii) achieving sustainable land resources management and (ii) promoting integrated approaches to land resources planning and management.

In addition, as part of the longer term process, it will help:

4. Mobilise contributions towards a global compilation and analysis of case studies and lessons learnt by different stakeholder groups at local, national and international levels; and,

5. Stimulate cooperation and action towards the future achievement of the goals of Chapters 10, 12 and 14 and of the wider Agenda 21 land cluster (ref chapters 11, 13 and 15).

In the immediate:

Adequate consideration of land related issues in the Final Task Managers' Report on Land, Agriculture and Desertification to be submitted to CSD-10 (June 2001); and

A summary report of discussions on land to be made widely available (June 2001) to stimulate further dialogue and cooperation, not only among scientists and institutions but among all concerned stakeholder groups, including during FAO events on food security.

In the longer term preparations towards Rio+10:

Contribution to the compilation of case studies on Agriculture and Land for analysis and use by stakeholders and as key background documentation to inform World Food Summit-five years later (November 2001) and Rio+10 (Johannesburg, 2002); and

Identification of the Next Steps for Land-related issues beyond Rio+10 (including priority actions and ways and means to make further progress).

The E-Conference is open to all individuals and institutions interested in sustainable land management drawing on Civil Society Organizations, Government, Non-Governmental Organizations, the Private Sector and International Institutions.

Participants will be able to access background information including the draft Task Managers' Report for Chapters 10, 12, and 14 of Agenda 21. The E-Conference Support Team will provide key questions to stimulate discussion. The Moderators will facilitate deliberations during the Conference.

The E-Conference will be held in English. Submissions in other languages will be welcomed and posted in the language in which submitted.

Previous participants to the Rio+10 e-conference in March 2001 (Rio10-L) are automatically subscribed. For newcomers there are two ways to subscribe:

Via the Web Page:

Via E-Mail: To subscribe to the e-conference by email, please send an e-mail with the subject header blank to:

In the body of the text write the line: subscribe RIO10-L

Additional information can be found on the FAO web page at:

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