On this world date to combat desertification - and when considering the great mountain ranges in Morocco as well as desert - we point to conditions replete with prosperity-potential, as well as systemic poverty and serious risk to the region and nation that will come with delayed action.

My twenty years of not being able to walk away from transformative project possibilities in rural Morocco arises from precisely this dichotomy - between real development opportunities that would sustainably multiply the economy and engine social change, and the current subsistence conditions that see schools without a running water, education cut short for most and the multitude of dreams left hardly spoken.

1111_2919_June 17 Desertification blog.pdf

Nearly all aspects of human life, such as the provision of food and feed, fiber, fuel and firewood, infrastructure and housing development, as well as carbon sinks, oxygen production, and a multitude of ecosystem services, fundamentally depend on soil. However, previous soil management and use, resource misuse, exploitation of water and nutrient sources, as well as soil sealing and compaction have all led to a sharp decrease in nutrient rich soils. With this loss, fundamental requirements for development, the eradication of poverty and hunger, and intact ecosystems are being destroyed.
We call for
 By 2030, zero net land degradation by prioritizing the preservation of fertile soil, improvement of water-holding capacity, restoration of degraded soils, and through measures that prevent land conversion for agricultural use, while simultaneously ensuring the right to food and prioritization of local communities’ rights and usage forms as well as their involvement in measures aiming at soil fertility improvement.

 By 2020, the prevention of land- and water-grabbing; the binding implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security agreed by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) to safeguard land rights; the establishment of human-rights-based mechanisms to control investors in their home countries; and equitable access to fertile soil favoring small-scale producers.

1111_1076_The Ecological Dimension in the Post-2015 Agenda_German NGO Forum on Environment and Development.pdf

Rob Wheeler from the Global Ecovillage Network at the 5th session of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals.

In this video, Mr Wheeler highlights the issue areas of desertification, water scarcity, the use of chemicals and fertilizers and how local knowledge could contribute to the solution of these problems.

Rob Wheeler on development within planetary boundaries - YouTube
Rob Wheeler from the Global Ecovillage Network at the 5th session of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals. In this video, Mr Wheeler highl...

The Rio+20 outcome document The Future We Want requested the Secretary-General of the United Nations to ensure all necessary input and support to the Open Working Group from the United Nations system, including by establishing an inter-agency technical support team.

This UN System Technical Support Team (TST) consists of over 40 UN entities and works under the umbrella of UN System Task Team on the post-2015 development agenda. More information at http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/index.php?menu=1549

Please provide your comments on the Issues Brief.

Download: Issues Brief - Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought

The post-2015 agenda should reflect the importance of water, energy and land and their interrelatedness, the resource nexus. Goals of a new development agenda have to mirror the different dimensions of sustainable development, accomplish coherence across the goals and be universal in nature.

1111_829_Post2015_DIE_BP 3.2013.pdf