World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought
República Dominicana, Santo Domingo, 06/18/2011

The Ministry of Environment commemorated World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought with an event that called attention to how desertification can be confronted effectively with key solutions and tools as well as the effective participation of communities, governments and international cooperation.

Minister of Environment, Jaime David Fernández Mirabal, presided over the activity, which took place in the National Botanic Garden and was attended by environmental specialists, …

Minister of Environment, Jaime David Fernández Mirabal, presided over the activity, which took place in the National Botanic Garden and was attended by environmental specialists, educators and students from various Dominican schools and from neighboring Haiti who were invited to participate in a special Eco-Visit.

On behalf of the Ministry of Environment, deputy minister for Soil and Water, Rosa Urania Abreu, indicated that since 2007, the Dominican Republic has applied the National Action Program to Combat Desertification. “Within the framework of this program, different plans of action are being developed, one of which of the Promotion of Knowledge. Along these lines, we are developing an Environmental Education plan in the arid regions of the country where school directors, teachers and students from these dry areas are participating.”

This plan helped in the organization of the painting contest, “La Belleza de las Tierras Secas” (The Beauty of Dry Lands) in which Haitian and Dominican school children from the Artibonito River area participated and were also present at this event.

“Today we are awarding the winners and participants of the painting contest and we do so with great satisfaction knowing that we are promoting the struggle to preserve the natural resources of these dry land areas by contributing to the creation of guardians of today and tomorrow – the children of this Dominican-Haitian border region,” said Ms. Urania Abreu.

Dominican Republic

According to maps delineating aridity and land use conflicts in the Dominican Republic, 37% (17,936 square kilometers) is seriously threatened by desertification and 10% is in an advanced state of degradation.

The areas of dry land with the highest propensity toward desertification are are the developing regions of Enriquillo, El Valle, Valdesia and Cibao Northwest where around 2.2 million people live. These inhabitants of dry regions are directly affected by the degradation of the soil, which causes problems in several areas including food and sweet water shortages and unstable natural conditions that, in turn, provoke disproportionate rises in river waters, sedimentation and destruction to dams and surrounding infrastructure. All of this combines to make life difficult in these regions.

According to the maps, the DR has a total of 69% dry areas which, according to the definition adopted by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, these areas have a propensity for desertification. This land is mainly found in the Southwest and Northwest of the country. Twenty two percent of the dry land area is in land-use conflict areas; this amounts to a total of 7,358 square kilometers.
Worldwide, only 18% of dry land is covered by forests. However, in the regions where desertification is underway (El Valle, Enriquillo, Valdesia and Cibao Northwest), there is 36% forest coverage, corresponding to 16% of dryness in the forests. It can be confirmed that the situation is still manageable, however, it is necessary to continue with the efforts being made by the Environment Ministry to maintain and expand forest covering in our country and particularly in the driest areas.

In 1994, the UN General Assembly declared June 17th “World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought” (General Assembly Resolution A/RES/49/115) to promote raising public awareness of the issue in addition to the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those countries that are experiencing severe drought and/or desertification.

Since then, the countries which are part of the Convention along with international and non-governmental organizations and other interest groups, annually commemorate this special day by holding a series of activities that can be shared and participated in around the world.

Fernández Mirabal with Haitian and Dominican children being awarded as winners for their drawings of The Beauty of Dry Lands.