ISLAMABAD: The ‘World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought’ is being observed on Tuesday (June 17) to highlight the need to curb desertification and bring into limelight the issue of dry lands.
The theme for 2014 is: “Land Belongs to the Future – Let’s Climate Proof It”, which was chosen to increase awareness about the potential of ecosystem-based adaptation as a strategy for coping with the impacts of climate change, especially in the drylands.
Approximately 1.5 billion people globally depend on degrading areas for their livelihoods, and nearly half of the world’s very poor live in degraded areas. It is estimated that by 2020 some 60 million people will migrate from desertified areas in Sub-Saharan Africa towards Northern Africa and Europe.
