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Combatting Drought and Desertification

16 June 2015
<br /><br /> Ensuring the Health of Land and Water<br /> Combating Drought and DesertificationThe preservation of our planet’s resources is not simply an environmental objective, but a human necessity. By protecting soils, we help to protect ourselves from the hazards of food insecurity, poor health, and climate change. <br> <br> Each year on 17 June, we’re reminded of this necessity through the observance of World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, and the theme this year is “Invest in healthy soils.”Fertile soil is a precious and limited resource, and desertification has a major impact on soils in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions. This can result from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities. <br> <br> Each year, over 12 million hectares of land are degraded, which cuts into the soils capacity to feed the 1.5 billion people who live on deteriorating lands. As the rate of desertification rises around the world, the phenomenon is increasingly affecting access to food and water. The IAEA supports global efforts to combat desertification by aiding Member States through technical and research programmes and projects to develop and deploy nuclear technologies. Using isotopic techniques, among others, the IAEA helps countries to rehabilitate degraded soils and prevent the loss of productive, healthy lands. Amidst intensifying desertification, our population is expanding and along with it the need to adjust our consumption habits. Mauritania, a dry land with more than 90 per cent of its territory within the Sahara desert, is significantly affected by desertification. <br> <br> Today, Mauritania is implementing monitoring and conservation measures to ensure the sustainability and cleanliness of the country’s sparse water resources. Following requests from the Government of Mauritania, the IAEA launched a technical cooperation project in 2012 to equip and train personnel in the use of isotope hydrology, a discipline which uses isotopes to identify and track the age, origin and movement of water. Equipped with current, detailed data about their underground aquifers and catchment areas, Mauritanian officials are now better positioned to develop and enforce water-use policies. These policies help to guarantee that everyone — from farmer to livestock herder — has adequate access to potable water. IAEA projects to improve soil and water management are currently being carried out in more than 40 countries, reflecting the global nature of this challenge. While the projects vary — from improving irrigation to measuring soil degradation — they share a common objective: ensuring the health of our land and water. All aspects of life are intimately linked to the health of the Earth’s soils. As more than 50 per cent of the planet’s land is now considered ‘moderately degraded’, the need for action is clear and urgent. <br> <br> By facilitating knowledge and technology transfers in soil conservation in countries around the world, we can help stop the tide of desertification, and support investment in healthy soils. <br> Credit Information: <br> <br> <strong>Photos:</strong> Omar Yusuf (IAEA); Picture 10, Gary Edenfield/Flickr. <br> <br> <strong>Text:</strong> IAEA Technical Cooperation Department <br> <br> IAEA Office of Public Information and Communication, © 2015
Last update: 15 February 2018

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