TEHRAN – Agriculture Minister Gholamreza Nouri Qezeljeh has appointed Ali Teimouri, the natural resources and basin management agency, to represent the nation of the United Nations treaty to combat desertification (UNCCD).
Desertification is a phenomenon that ranks among the biggest environmental challenges facing the world.
Currently, drought and desertification are imposed on the world, including Iran, as part of a common phenomenon known as climate change.
Iran is home to approximately 3.8% of the world’s total desert regions. Approximately 61% of the country’s regions are covered in arid and semi-arid land, which is 3.1 times the global average.
Sand and Sandstorms (SDSS) are one of the factors that contribute to desertification. The country has adopted a variety of measures to mitigate the impact of SDSS. Enhance collaboration between different organizations to effectively manage the sandstorms generated by internal dust zones. It will hold bilateral and multilateral meetings with officials in Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, Qatar and Kuwait, implementing agreements concluded with these countries to address SDSS.
Desertification
Desertification can include the invasion of land dunes, but that does not refer to desert advancement. Rather, it is the sustained decomposition of arid land ecosystems through climate change and primarily human activity. Unsustainable agriculture, mining, grazing (animals eat grass, grazing with string, erode topography) and clear cuts of land, trees and plants cover the land, land is removed when the land is covered. It happens when trees and bushes are peeled off for fuel wood or wood, or when they clean up the land for cultivation.
Wind and water erosion exacerbate damage, bringing away the topsoil and leaving a highly infertile dust and sand mixture. It is a combination of these factors that turn degraded land into deserts. It poses a serious challenge to sustainable development and human capacity to survive in many parts of the world.
During the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, desertification was identified as the biggest challenge for sustainable development, along with climate change and biodiversity losses.
Two years later, in 1994, the General Assembly established the UNCCD. The 197 countries and the European Union are currently parties to the treaty.
The UNCCD goal is a future that avoids, reduces and reverses desertification. It paves the way to a world of degradation neutrality in the land. This promotes sustainable development to achieve the goals set in the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
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