Empowering women for land restoration and a sustainable future
June 17 marked ‘World Day to Combat Desertification’
Published: 05:06 PM,Jun 17,2023 | EDITED : 08:06 PM,Jun 17,2023
In Arab countries, desertification amounts to ‘about 88 per cent of the total land area which equals about 28 per cent of the total decertified areas in the world.’
This year, the theme of the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, “Her land. Her rights”, emphasises that investing in women’s equal access to land and associated assets is a direct investment in their future and the future of humanity. It’s time for women and girls to be at the forefront of global land restoration and drought resilience efforts.
Locally, the Sultanate’s participation in this annual celebration comes as an affirmation of the importance of combating desertification and drought and standing up for cases of land degradation as a result of changing land uses due to urban development, logging, overgrazing and climatic effects that the various regions of the Sultanate have witnessed in recent years.
On the official level, the government affirms that the initiatives of planting wild trees will contribute to improving the quality of pastures and restoring the vitality of vegetation in dry areas.
Therefore, the Environment Authority (EA) has adopted the ‘Ashgar’ initiative, which aims to raise awareness of the importance of afforestation and activate community partnerships to combat desertification.
The EA has implemented an action plan to combat desertification. This plan included updating data on natural resources (water resources, vegetation cover and soil). A project will be implemented using models and remote sensing systems to be able to monitor the condition of agricultural lands and water resources.
Among the most important activities carried out by EA to combat pollution, the Authority renewed the invitation to all individuals and institutions to participate in the national initiative to plant 10 million trees in various parts of the Sultanate.
An environment expert, Mohammed al Sheryani, in his academic research, emphasises that ‘the scarce natural resources are being affected by the concentration of socio-economic activities, which are concentrated around wadis and depressions, which tend to be better watered.’
Land degradation severity is variable and ranges from slight to severe, though this variability would change from one year to another depending on the climate. In addition, the impact of land degradation varies, both in terms of how fast the deterioration takes place and how difficult and expensive it is to alleviate it.
The mismanagement of natural resources caused by the various socio-economic pressures has led to increased degradation as well as to the loss of a high percentage of the plant cover, increased erosion, and the salinisation of cultivable soils.
The study areas are witnessing increasing aridity with minimal precipitation and frequent droughts. The soil has a weak disaggregated structure with a coarse texture and is poor in organic content and subject to aridity. Wind erosion increased tremendously after the introduction of cultivated agriculture, and the increase in human settlements.
Given the above results, the study recommends the need to promote biodiversity conservation and environmental awareness beyond the boundaries of the protected areas to sensitise the communities to the need to reduce land degradation. This will assist in encouraging proper management and wise use of environmental resources for sustained land productivity capacity, increase ecological integrity and enhance livelihoods.
This year, the theme of the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, “Her land. Her rights”, emphasises that investing in women’s equal access to land and associated assets is a direct investment in their future and the future of humanity. It’s time for women and girls to be at the forefront of global land restoration and drought resilience efforts.
Locally, the Sultanate’s participation in this annual celebration comes as an affirmation of the importance of combating desertification and drought and standing up for cases of land degradation as a result of changing land uses due to urban development, logging, overgrazing and climatic effects that the various regions of the Sultanate have witnessed in recent years.
On the official level, the government affirms that the initiatives of planting wild trees will contribute to improving the quality of pastures and restoring the vitality of vegetation in dry areas.
Therefore, the Environment Authority (EA) has adopted the ‘Ashgar’ initiative, which aims to raise awareness of the importance of afforestation and activate community partnerships to combat desertification.
The EA has implemented an action plan to combat desertification. This plan included updating data on natural resources (water resources, vegetation cover and soil). A project will be implemented using models and remote sensing systems to be able to monitor the condition of agricultural lands and water resources.
Among the most important activities carried out by EA to combat pollution, the Authority renewed the invitation to all individuals and institutions to participate in the national initiative to plant 10 million trees in various parts of the Sultanate.
An environment expert, Mohammed al Sheryani, in his academic research, emphasises that ‘the scarce natural resources are being affected by the concentration of socio-economic activities, which are concentrated around wadis and depressions, which tend to be better watered.’
Land degradation severity is variable and ranges from slight to severe, though this variability would change from one year to another depending on the climate. In addition, the impact of land degradation varies, both in terms of how fast the deterioration takes place and how difficult and expensive it is to alleviate it.
The mismanagement of natural resources caused by the various socio-economic pressures has led to increased degradation as well as to the loss of a high percentage of the plant cover, increased erosion, and the salinisation of cultivable soils.
The study areas are witnessing increasing aridity with minimal precipitation and frequent droughts. The soil has a weak disaggregated structure with a coarse texture and is poor in organic content and subject to aridity. Wind erosion increased tremendously after the introduction of cultivated agriculture, and the increase in human settlements.
Given the above results, the study recommends the need to promote biodiversity conservation and environmental awareness beyond the boundaries of the protected areas to sensitise the communities to the need to reduce land degradation. This will assist in encouraging proper management and wise use of environmental resources for sustained land productivity capacity, increase ecological integrity and enhance livelihoods.