UNEP LAUNCHES WORLD ATLAS OF DESERTIFICATION

9 October 1997

Press Release
UNEP/11

UNEP LAUNCHES WORLD ATLAS OF DESERTIFICATION

19971009 ROME/NAIROBI, 9 October (UNEP) -- Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), today launched the second edition of UNEP's "World Atlas of Desertification" during the First Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, under way this week in Rome.

The "World Atlas of Desertification" summarizes the current state of scientific knowledge on the drylands of the globe. The Atlas clearly shows that desertification is one of the world's most pressing environmental problems, and that it is a global issue which is accelerating.

"Most maps show land. Maps in this atlas show land that is lost, or is in the process of being lost", said Ms. Dowdeswell. "Around the globe we are literally 'losing ground'. About 130 million hectares can no longer be used for food production. This is about the land area of France, Italy and Spain combined", she added.

The global extent of the problem of desertification was indicated in the first edition of the "World Atlas of Desertification" published by UNEP in 1992. The new edition has been extensively revised and expanded to cover related environmental issues, including concerns surrounding biodiversity, climate change and the availability of water.

Social and economic conditions (poverty and food security) also have a major impact on the progress and control of desertification. Over 1 billion people are at risk -- they face malnutrition, or worse, through decreasing productivity of the soil on which they depend for food. The Atlas includes new estimates of population in the areas at risk and also includes a study of the impacts of desertification on migration and refugees.

Over 100 countries have ratified the Convention to Combat Desertification, which was negotiated following the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.

For more information, contact: Franklin Cardy, Director, Land Unit, UNEP, P.O. Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya; fax: 254-2-623284; tel: 254-2-623251, e-mail: dcpacinf@unep.org; or, Jim Sniffen, UNEP Information Officer, New York, tel: 212-963-8094, fax: 212-963-7341, e-mail: sniffenj@un.org

Copies (price 145 pound sterling) can be purchased from SMI (Distribution Services) Limited, P.O. Box 119, Stevenage, Herts SG1 4TP, UK, tel:+44 1438 748111, fax: 748844, e-mail: Anthony@smibooks.com

* *** *