Although several institutional and management approaches that address the degradation of the rangelands have been tested in the dry areas of Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA), impact has been limited. Nonetheless, the development of National Action Plans to combat desertification highlights the interest of governments to tackle this issue. Payment for Environmental Services (PES) may be a viable policy option, though, to date, most PES programs have focused on the management of different resources (forests, watersheds).

Attention to land degradation and environmental pollution has increased significantly in the past 25 years, largely due to greater levels of international cooperation and recognition that local changes in land resources have global impacts. As the world’s focus on climate change increases, so, too, does the attention being paid to drought and its rise in frequency and severity.

Documento final de la Conferencia de las Naciones Unidas Rio +20 llevada a cabo en Rio de Janeiro - Brasil del 20 al 22 de junio de 2012.

El documento explica y analiza los impactos de los cambios climáticos en Sudamérica reflejados en el retroceso de los glaciares, la agricultura. los ecosistemas, la salud y las iniciativas de mitigación existentes en la región.

La agricultura resiliente al clima está en vigencia hoy más que antes debido a los constantes cambios que experimenta nuestro planeta. Al comprender los orígenes de las investigaciones sobre la agricultura y el cambio climático, el autor busca unir la tecnología y los saberes ancestrales de los pueblos para la producción alimenticia más eficiente. Como parte de una serie de artículos cortos de opinión, este texto llega a plantear una postura sobre la agricultura resiliente al clima.

El autor del presente artículo establece como punto de partida para su análisis que es mejor hablar de Cambio Ambiental Global, es decir, aquellas modificaciones que se vienen produciendo en  los sistemas Tierra, Atmósfera, Océanos y Biosfera, que resulta ser más amplio y complejo que el cambio climático.
Cambio climático, comunidades y desarrollo
Fernando de la Cuadra*

Elizabeth Vargas Solá (*)

Morocco is one of the African countries in which implementation of the UNCCD has progressed the furthest. In the Moroccan National Action Programme, integrated rural development, poverty reduction, drought mitigation and conservation of natural resources are the four cornerstones of effective desertification control.The country has succeeded in building up strong partnerships with most of its bilateral and multilateral development partners.

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is one of the three conventions agreed at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. But from the very outset it has led a marginal existence, because industrialized countries feel far less concerned with desertification than developing countries. Moreover, the Convention?s targets are not binding and are open to a variety of interpretations by the Parties.The conflicting interests of environmental and
development policy are weakening its position further.

If legal instruments are not fully implemented, there is a risk they remain in the domain of virtual reality and wishful thinking.The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has come a long way since it came into force in 1996, with current membership standing at 191 Parties. 2006 was a landmark year.

In the ten years since it came into being, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has had little or no effect on the further encroachment of deserts. More than 80 countries have submitted National Action Programmes to combat desertification, but they appear to lack the financial and political commitment to implement them. What are the causes behind the UNCCD's weakness? How can the Convention be incorporated more effectively and efficiently into the architecture of international development?