17 June – World Desertification Day

Today is the thirteenth anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The theme of this years World Day is "Desertification and Climate Change - One Global Challenge."

World Desertification Day is held to highlight the problem of desertification around the world – areas affected by land desertification are increasing at an alarming rate, and it has been an issue which is often ignored by governments (possibly because of it is most serious in the developing world rather than the first). It is hoped that more joint international action can be undertaken before the situation becomes unmanageable.

A second significant environmental issue which is growing in urgency is that of climate change, and it is reflected in the theme of this years World Day to Combat Desertification - bringing world attention to the distructive synergy that exists between desertification and climate change.

Kofi Annan, the previous United Nations Secretary General, state that "Drought and desertification threaten the livelihood of over one billion people in more than 110 countries around the world."

Desertification has had a greatest impact in Africa, where an estimated two-thirds of the continent can be classified as desert or drylands. At least 33 countries in Africa are seriously affected by the problem.

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