Losing Ground

The battle against land degradation, desertification and drought

Produced by National Capacity Self Assessment Project

Copyright 2006 ISBN 0000000000 First Edition, January 2006 Cover Art and Book Design -Charles Chavannes

This book is funded through the National Capacity Self Assessment Project (NCSA) with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Published and Printed by BRC printing.

Introduction It is no accident that our planet is called Earth. All life depends on the fragile, thin crust of soil that coats the continents. Without it living organisms would never have emerged from the oceans: there would be no plants, no crops, no forests, no animals - and no people. If mistreated, it can be blown and washed away in a few seasons. The earth is rapidly vanishing. It is estimated that each year continents lose 24 billion tonnes of topsoil. Nowhere is the degradation more acute than in the drylands which cover more than a third of the earth’s surface. It is here that *desertification takes hold and although **land degradation occurs everywhere it is only defined as desertification when it occurs in drylands. Nobody knows how many people have already had to abandon their homes as it turns into dust, but it runs into the millions. While the newly landless follow their soil as it blows away in the wind, areas and countries far distant are affected by their migration. But the poor know more than anyone else about the fragile ecosystem from which they have made a living for so long. They should be the key to combating desertification. The Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) adopts the definition of desertification agreed by the world’s leaders at the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 - which blames both climatic variations and human activities. It adds that “desertification is caused by complex interactions among physical, biological, political, social, cultural and economic factors”. Four human activities are usually the immediate causes: over cultivation, overgrazing, deforestation and poorly drained irrigation. * Desertification: Land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors including climatic variations and human activities.(UNCCD-1992) ** "Land Degradation" means the reduction or loss of the biological or economic productivity and complexity of rain fed cropland, irrigated cropland or range, pasture, forests and woodlands resulting from unsustainable land use practices.

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National Capacity Self-Assessment Belize's rich ecosystems of forests, wetlands, mountains, lakes, rivers, and agricultural landscapes, while providing us with the goods and services that sustain our lives, are vulnerable to environmental disasters and impacted by increased human activities. Recognizing this, Belize became a part of a global effort to protect our natural resources when it joined other countries in ratifying the three Rio Conventions: the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Convention on Desertification/Land Degradation and Drought, as well as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. These three Rio Conventions call for an integrated approach towards the development and sustainable management of Belize's natural resources and ecosystems. Like many developing countries, Belize is faced with some fundamental challenges in meeting its commitments under these Conventions, particularly to mainstream conservation and sustainable development goals across all sectors of the national economy, as well as building capacity to meet our obligations under these Conventions. To meet its national and global environmental management commitments, Belize launched the National Capacity Self Assessment (NCSA), with funding from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) through the UNDP. This one-year project was launched in February 2005 and allowed Belize to thoroughly self-assess and strategically analyze its national capacity priorities and needs to meet its commitments to these global Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), known as the Rio Conventions. Over the past months, the NCSA project assessed Belize's current capacity to address the coordination of all activities taking place in-country on issues of Environmental and Natural Resource Management.

As a country driven project, the NCSA also produced several outputs,

particularly towards the development of a comprehensive national strategy and action plan, developing synergies between the three conventions, strengthening cooperation among stakeholders and enhancing public awareness. By taking the cohesive approach, attracting individuals at all levels to become involved in the project, the NCSA has also stepped up coordination and communication towards a common agenda. The project has unveiled two final reports, namely the NCSA National Report and the NCSA Action Plan, which are based on the stock-take and thematic assessments, as well as an assessment on the legal and cross cutting issues on these Rio Conventions. These reports will map the way forward for Belize to build its capacity to eliminate the various constraints to meeting its obligations under these three Multi-lateral Environmental Agreements (MEAS). This comic book is published to create awareness on the main articles of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (Land Degradation and Drought) focusing on the youth.

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The coming

Terror Of land degradation, drought and desertification

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The Cast

“Gingy”fly “Anansi” spider

And a host of characters too numerous to mention

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Of the more 450 million people living in Latin America and the Caribbean close to 110 million live in poverty. Hmph! I wonder where we’re going now?

It is sad to see farmer Cowoh and his family leave their land.

They had been struggling for sometime now.

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Nature has its effect on the land.

Winds blow away drytop-soil.

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Drought dries the land.

Rains wash away anything that can be washed away.

Everybody in Belize knows me, Anansi, to be a trickster.

But listen to me now, this is no joke!

In many parts of the world “drylands” are becoming degraded and are in danger of becoming deserts.

Drylands under proper management are quite capable of sustaining crops, vegetation and human settlement.

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But close to 40% of the world’s land surface is drylands.

These drylands are important for agriculture in the world.

...However poor farming practices are causing... ...My yield to be less and less each year.

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Deforestation, agricultural growth, land development, and cattle farming, big and small...

...Has put added pressure on the land.

Hi there.

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...Too much burning of firewood to make white-lime....

...Cutting down hillsides to plant crops.

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...Milpa farming without adequate soil replenishment...

These are some of the things that destroy the watershed...

...And cause the land to be less productive.

Unproductive land is a root cause of poverty.

...Even famine.

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How is it that deforestation leads to hunger and famine?

...If all the wood had been cut for burning in fire-hearths.

Well ,just imagine what would happen...

Like white lime kilns?

Guys, guys, cutting down all the trees for firewood is causing us all a problem.

They found serious problems.

So they held a Summit.

The developed countries began to study the practices of the under developed countries.

No silly, they studied how people’s lives and practices can cause land degradation.

Like on a hill?

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...And desertification?

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Yes, poverty causes people to squeeze every ounce of yield from the land.

Education enables people to find better ways of doing things ...

Like cooking with the LORENA stove or the SOLAR-BOX cooker.

Sure you not interested in a

veggie diet?

The women in many poor countries shoulder the weight of that country’s poverty.

They are also the ones who know best what is really needed to relieve their poverty.

Fooh! Fooh!

So a bottom-up approach, in which women are asked to participate in solving their problems,is wise indeed.

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Teaching people about changes in their climate and how to recognize early warning signs...

...Helps them prepare for and so defend against the sometimes unavoidable forces of nature like flooding.

Like all the hurricaines in 2005...all the land loss and loss of life?

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...Are you a force of nature, Anansi?

Weh yu tink?

But I am no match for drought...

Can we talk about this?

...Or hurricane...

...Or disregard for the land.

Don’t eat me! I'll be your friend! I’ll...I’ll help you catch more flies! WAAAAAAA!

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Now there’s a proposition I can live with.

Developed countries dialogue with the poor countries and find out the best way for help to be rendered.

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See, with dialogue we can solve everything.

Hey... I’m that kind of guy.

Belize seems less affected by the poverty driven issues that cause desertification...yes?

I guess we can relax then?

Well..., not like those parts of the world where deserts are being formed constantly.

You know...I don’t really think so.

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Children’s coloring page You can color outside the line...

...But don’t destroy our land or waste water.

“Gingy” fly Anansi

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Glossary -DESERTIFICATION:

Land degradation in arid, semi-arid and sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities.

-LAND DEGRADATION:

Signifies the temporary or permanent decline in the productive capacity of the land.

(UN/FAO)

-DROUGHT:

A prolonged, abnormally dry period when there is not enough water for users' normal needs.

-DEGRADED:

Formerly forested lands severely impacted by intensive and/or repeated disturbance (such as mining, repeated fires or overgrazing) with consequently inhibited or delayed forest regrowth.

-DESERTIFIED: -DRYLANDS:

Land that has been rendered unproductive due to over cultivation, overgrazing and urbanization.

The definition of drylands most commonly used by FAO is of lands having less than 120 growing

days per year.

-SEMI-ARID:

Areas in which the ratio of annual precipitation to evapotranspiration fall within the range 0.05" to

0.65".

-SUB-HUMID CLIMATE:

Fairly dry and characterized by short hot summers but long, cold winters.

-WATERSHED: All the land area that drains to a given body of water. We live in a watershed that ultimately drains into the Caribbean sea. -DEFORESTATION: -YIELD:

The conversion of forested areas to non-forest.

The production rate per cycle of production.

-"LORENA" STOVE :

From the Spanish words "lodo" and "arena" meaning mud and sand respectively is the name given to an economic and efficient wood burning stove made from mud bricks.

-"SOLAR BOX" COOKER:

A simple device using reflective material to harness solar energy to produce heat for

cooking.

-BOTTOM-UP APPROACH: The opposite of a top-down approach to problem solving where solutions are provided for a group of people in need of assistance, in contrast these people are recruited to provide inputs to solve their own problems.