WINDHOEK – Mining operations have become the key drivers of land degradation and pollution in dry lands, which now pose a critical challenge to food security, civil organisations said during the conference on land degradation and desertification underway in the capital.
Representatives of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) from about 40 countries attending the 11th session of the Conference of Parties (COP 11) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) says they have observed with concern that land degradation and desertification are on the increase, with local and indigenous communities being the hardest hit by the effects of these phenomena. In a presentation the Namibian representative of civil society organisations, Victoria Haraseb, said the effects include water and food insecurity, loss of livelihoods and income generation activities, conflicts over scarce natural resources, forced displacement of local and indigenous people from their lands, and migration of young people from their home regions for non-existent greener pastures elsewhere. “This situation is being exacerbated by the ongoing climate change, land grabbing and land tenure patterns,” she said.
Since the inception of the UNCCD, a number of valuable decisions and initiatives were put in place by some countries aimed at addressing the problem attending land degradation and to improve the livelihoods of peoples living in affected areas. These decisions include the National Action Programmes (NAPS) to combat desertification, financial mechanisms and a 10-year strategy, among others. Further, civil organisations say in spite of these decisions and initiatives by the parties and the convention, land degradation and its impacts continue to worsen in rural communities around the world, particularly in developing countries. “Implementation of decisions, plans and initiatives are slow on the ground. We are currently in the fifth year of the implementation of the UNCCD strategy (2008-2018). However, it is our observation that there is not enough tangible progress that is visible to reach at least the first strategic objective, which is to improve the livelihoods of affected communities,” they say in a note. Moreover, they charged that over the years, CSOs repeatedly drew the attention of the COP and other intersectional meetings of the convention to a number of ongoing actions such as agro-business, agro-fuels, land grabbing and mining, which are contributing to degradation of community lands. “These practices did not help achieve a land degradation neutral world,” they say.
Against this background, it is the CSOs expectation that COP 11 will take steps to address the above unsustainable actions in the convention process if the UNCCD is to make any positive impact. CSOs are trying their best to reverse the threat of land degradation and desertification by raising awareness, building the capacity of communities in soil and water management; sustainable land management; governance of lands; conservation and management of natural resources, as well as promoting indigenous knowledge.
By Albertina Nakale