Arid zones

At the close of a 15-year regional programme to build institutional capacity for wetland resources management in West Africa, it was deemed essential to extract and review the lessons learned through this experience. This publication stems from the findings of a study carried out to analyse the experience as a whole and shed light on the successes, shortcomings, strengths and weaknesses of the programme as implemented.

This publication aims to contribute to planning and management approaches that minimize land degradation and desertification in arid and semi-arid zones as a result of extractive industries operations. Both operational and policy guidance are included to help those government departments responsible for the licensing, planning and monitoring of extractive industries activities to take account of environment and development issues in their decision-making.

This publication aims to contribute to planning and management approaches that minimize land degradation and desertification in arid and semi-arid zones as a result of extractive industries operations. Both operational and policy guidance are included to help those government departments responsible for the licensing, planning and monitoring of extractive industries activities to take account of environment and development issues in their decision-making.

In West Africa, desertification threatens the living conditions of over 250 million people. The results of projects to combat desertification undertaken over the last 40 years or so have been mixed. One reason for this is probably that technical or technological approaches have taken precedence over the sociological approach.

En Afrique de l'Ouest, la désertification menace les conditions d'existence de plus de 250 millions d'individus. Cependant, les résultats des projets de lutte contre la désertification entrepris depuis plus de 40 ans ont été pour le moins mitigés. Une des raisons à cela est probablement que la démarche technique, voire techniciste, a été privilégiée par rapport à l'approche sociale.

This publication aims to contribute to planning and management approaches that minimize land degradation and desertification in arid and semi-arid zones as a result of extractive industries operations. Both operational and policy guidance are included to help those government departments responsible for the licensing, planning and monitoring of extractive industries activities to take account of environment and development issues in their decision-making.

The most important agro-ecological problem confronting the steppe regions of Southern Russia is desertification, in large part due to pasture degradation. This publication provides an overview of the status of the various regions in Russia, and studies the connection between desertification and the state and history of agriculture and stockbreeding in each region.