Deputy minister urges urgent action to combat desertification and land degradation

The Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Bernice Swarts, has welcomed the need for members of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) to do more in addressing Desertification, Land Degradation, and Drought (DLDD) while continuing to build strong partnerships for integrated solutions.

On Tuesday, on the first day of the four-day conference, the deputy minister delivered her keynote address to various member states and dignitaries gathered at the Radisson Blue Hotel in Sandton.

"In the next four days, we will deliberate on issues relating to desertification, land degradation, and drought. I am pleased to confirm that many faces here are not new to me, as I had an opportunity to meet many of you during the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification 16th Session of the Conference of the Parties in Saudi Arabia.

"As you may recall, the UNCCD COP16 underscored the need to mobilise additional and innovative resources to support Parties in accelerating actions and interventions on the ground to address desertification, land degradation, and drought, and synergies with other environmental issues."

Swarts said desertification, land degradation, and drought form part of the priority focus areas for South Africa’s Presidency of the G20 Environment, Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG).

"For the first time in the history of the G20 Presidency, South Africa has made a bold commitment by including DLDD issues among its G20 priorities. This commitment fosters global solidarity in addressing the drivers of DLDD while promoting the mainstreaming of Sustainable Land Management practices and approaches across key sectors.

"The main focus under the G20 ECSWG priority on DLDD is on the implementation of Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets and their deliverables," she said.

Speaking on the importance of Integrated Land Use Planning (IDN – ILUP) and target setting programme of the UNCCD, Baron Jospeh from the UNCCD Secretariat stressed the need for vertical and horizontal integration strategies.

"I embrace the need for vertical and horizontal integration strategies, and the key thing is that once you fully embrace this approach, you are going to be linking various data sets. You are going to be able to better position cross collaborations," he said.

siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za