-fao-ifad-wfp-michael-tewelde46abf9e2c0d94a14ac7b4be79b55ae75.jpg?sfvrsn=cd72b383_0 "Africa, Ethiopia - IFAD/WB supported Pastoral Community Development Programme (PCDP III) ©FAO/IFAD/WFP/Michael Tewelde")
What are drylands?
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).
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) defines drylands according to an aridity index (AI), which is the ratio between average annual precipitation and potential evapotranspiration; drylands are lands with an AI of less than 0.65. Drylands are further divided, on the basis of AI, into hyper-arid lands, arid lands, semi-arid lands and dry sub-humid lands.
Drylands are found in most of the world’s biomes and climatic zones and constitute 41 percent of the global land area.
The world’s drylands and subtypes. Prepared using spatial data from UNEP-WCMC (2007)
Trees and forests are essential to the lives of people and animals in drylands. They can supply many of the basic needs of human communities, such as food, medicine, wood, energy, and fodder for livestock. In drylands more than in most other biomes, however, the demands of human communities have been much higher than the capacity of ecosystems to deliver sustainably, resulting, in many places, in the rapid depletion of these resources, leading to land degradation and desertification.
Many dryland tree species are emblematic because of their key ecological and cultural functions and the important environmental services they provide:
 Provisioning services
Forests and trees in drylands provide products for day-to-day livelihoods and to generate income, including a large variety of non-wood forest products such as fodder, fruits, seeds, flowers, cork, gums, resins, honey, tannins, colorants, aromatics and medicines. They offer a safety net against poverty to millions of people living in the drylands. |
 Regulating services
Trees and forests in drylands facilitate the infiltration of water into the soil, redistribute water upwards – thereby improving nutrient cycling and the water balance – and help maintaining air humidity, reduce soil erosion by wind and water and moderate local climates by acting as windbreaks and providing shade for soils, animals and people. They constitute a buffer against drought and desertification. |
 Habitat and supporting services
Dryland forests and landscapes play a crucial role in providing habitats for fauna and flora. Although the absolute number of species in drylands is lower than in more humid environments, the rate of endemism is high. Drylands are also characterized by species that are highly specialized and adapted to the extreme dryland conditions including drought, salinity, temperature extreme variations and heat. Many dryland species, therefore, potentially have great value in efforts to adapt to climate change. Furthermore, the biodiversity of drylands forms the basis of diverse livelihoods, and its conservation and sustainable use is a key to improving livelihoods. |
 Cultural services
Dryland trees, forests and other wooded lands contribute to cultural identity and diversity, cultural landscapes and heritage values, and spiritual services (Le Floc’h and Aronson, 2013). In many countries, sacred forests and sacred or totem plant species have served to protect emblemic trees. |
FAO, together with technical and financial partners across sectors–government bodies, international, regional and national organizations, UN sister organizations and bodies, local communities and authorities, NGOs, research institutions and networks – is working to:
- Raise awareness on the importance of dryland forests, trees and agrosilvopastoral systems and their contribution to building resilience, sustainable livelihoods and food security and nutrition.
- Mobilize investments for scaling-up good and proven practices in conservation, sustainable management and restoration of dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral systems,
- Advance monitoring and assessment of forests and agrosilvopastoral systems and the understanding of their users in drylands worldwide
- Develop and implement strategies, guidelines, tools and lesson learnt for the sustainable management and restoration of drylands, combating desertification and adapting to climate change
- Enhance collaboration and dialogue with a wide range of partners and actors and countries through the organization of events and workshops and stimulating collaborative action
- Develop and implement projects for the sustainable management and restoration of dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral systems.
At its 22nd session in June 2014, the Committee on Forestry (COFO) requested FAO to “undertake, within the framework of the FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) and contingent upon the availability of extra-budgetary funding, a global assessment of the extent and status of drylands forests, rangelands and agrosilvopastoral systems”.
To speed-up the implementation of the COFO request
above, FAO organized in January 2015 with partners inside and outside
FAO a first drylands monitoring week under the theme: “Monitoring and
Assessment of Drylands: Forests, Rangelands, Trees 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 and
sustainable monitoring and assessment system, including a comprehensive
baseline and participatory approaches, is necessary for effective
management and restoration of natural capital in drylands.
In their conclusion of the event, participants committed to the “Rome Promise on Monitoring and Assessment of Drylands for Sustainable Management and Restoration” and corresponding actions including to:
- Form an open-ended collaborative network or community of practice to advance monitoring and assessment of drylands, including an understanding of their users; communicate the value and importance of drylands monitoring to relevant stakeholders, including policy makers and resource partners; and
- Develop a dynamic road map.
The full text is available here.