“Each second, round 4 soccer fields of wholesome land are degraded,” mentioned UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
“The safety, prosperity and well being of billions of individuals depend on thriving lands supporting lives, livelihoods and ecosystems, however we’re vandalising the Earth that sustains us.”
Desertification, land degradation and drought are presently among the many most urgent environmental challenges.
United for land
The Day’s theme is United for Land. Our Legacy. Our Future, spotlighting the way forward for land stewardship, which is the planet’s most valuable useful resource to make sure the soundness and prosperity of billions of individuals all over the world.
Wholesome land not solely supplies us with virtually 95 per cent of meals eaten all over the world, however a lot extra. It garments and shelters folks, supplies jobs and livelihoods and protects communities from the worsening droughts, floods and wildfires.
“As the main focus of this yr’s World Day reminds us, we should be ‘United for Land’,” he mentioned. “Governments, companies, lecturers, communities and extra should come collectively and act.”
‘We all know what we have to do’
Rising populations coupled with unsustainable manufacturing and consumption patterns gas demand for pure sources, placing extreme strain on land to the purpose of degradation.
On the similar time, desertification and drought are driving compelled migration, placing tens of tens of millions of individuals every year susceptible to displacement.
Of the world’s eight billion inhabitants, over one billion of younger folks below the age of 25 years reside in growing international locations, notably in areas immediately depending on land and pure sources for sustenance. Creating job prospects for rural populations is a viable answer that offers younger folks entry to eco-entrepreneurship alternatives and on the similar time to scale up finest practices.
“We all know what we have to do,” the UN chief mentioned. “It’s set out clearly within the UN Conference to Fight Desertification (UNCCD). As we mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Conference, the world should dramatically decide up the tempo of implementation.”
To do that, he pointed to constructing momentum in the direction of UNCCD Convention of States Events (COP16) in Riyadh and guaranteeing younger individuals are heard within the negotiations.
“Collectively, let’s sow the seeds for a thriving future for nature and humanity,” he mentioned.
Quick information
![Women in Senegal work in tree nurseries created as part of the Great Green Wall initiative to improve living conditions, biodiversity conservation and the sustainability of the land in the Sahel region. Women in Senegal work in tree nurseries created as part of the Great Green Wall initiative to improve living conditions, biodiversity conservation and the sustainability of the land in the Sahel region.](https://global.unitednations.entermediadb.net/assets/mediadb/services/module/asset/downloads/preset/assets/2019/05/21-05-2019_-BI_Biodiversity-Day2.jpg/image1024x768.jpg)
NOOR for FAO/Benedicte Kurzen
Girls in Senegal work in tree nurseries created as a part of the Nice Inexperienced Wall initiative to enhance residing situations, biodiversity conservation and the sustainability of the land within the Sahel area.
- Each second, an equal of 4 soccer fields of wholesome land turns into degraded, including as much as a complete of 100 million hectares every year
- Every greenback invested in land restoration can yield as much as $30 in return
- In lots of international locations affected by desertification, land degradation and drought, agriculture represents a excessive share of financial income
- Underneath UNCCD, over 130 international locations have already pledged to attain land degradation neutrality by 2030 in the direction of a world the place human exercise has a impartial, and even constructive, affect on the land
- The UN helps progressive efforts worldwide, together with the newly launched Great Green Wall Observatory, which tracks progress of Africa’s largest land restoration initiative to fight land degradation, desertification and the detrimental impacts of local weather change within the Sahel area
- The UN Instructional. Scientific and Cultural Group (UNESCO) established a rising national and global networks of “Geoparks” combining conservation and sustainable growth, with 213 UNESCO Global Geoparks working in 48 international locations and counting
- Study extra about how the UN helps here