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A New Confidence, inspired by
Science, in Combating Land Degradation
Inhabitants of poor communities situated in the wetland around
Jabbul Salt Lake in northern Syria, until recently, had little
reason for optimism about the fate of the fragile ecosystem that
supports their livelihoods. It was difficult for them to imagine
how they or anyone else could repair the damage caused by decades
of pollution from nearby industry and agriculture.
 Delighted with the new dynamic
Yet, to their delight, they now play a central role in a new
forum that brings together all the groups that have a stake in the
future of this environment - including villagers, NGOs, government
policy makers, scientists and others. Under the auspices of local
government, forum participants are working together to build a
shared vision for improved local management of natural resources,
and they are formulating practical recommendations aimed at
realizing their vision.
Stones used as a low cost mulch
around olive trees. Photo: ICARDA.
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As a result of this new dynamic - uniting groups that previously
interacted little or not at all - local stakeholders have built
trust and agreed to a set of concrete measures for strengthening
human nutrition and livelihoods and for rehabilitating the degraded
ecosystem.
The forum lies at the center of a holistic, interdisciplinary
approach for sustainable management of natural resources in
marginal areas, designed through years of collaborative research
under the coordination of the International Center for Agricultural
Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), with headquarters at Aleppo,
Syria. Developed with support from the German and Belgian
governments as well as other CGIAR Members, the approach is also
being implemented through ICARDA-led projects in Iran and
Tunisia.
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A tragedy in the making
The Jabbul saline wetland (termed sabkhah in Arabic,
meaning a lake that dries up in summer) is the most important
wetland in Syria. The lake figures among 300 around the world that
are designated as internationally important under the Ramsar
Convention. Jabbul Sabkhah was included in this list because of its
unique function as a breeding site for many species of Middle
Eastern water birds.
Salt collection is
becoming more difficult because of changing water levels and
pollution. Photo: ICARDA.
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Over the last several decades, however, pollutants from urban
industries and from agriculture have gradually seeped into the
wetland. This has drastically reduced the quality of salt
production - a mainstay for some communities - to the point that
salt from the lake has been declared unfit for human consumption.
Other likely consequences of pollution are an unexplained rise in
the death of young birds and reports of increased disease among
children.
Further threats to human livelihoods and ecosystem health
include poaching, unregulated fishing and grazing, the introduction
of invasive fish species and fluctuating levels of water and
salinity. Some of these and other pressures on natural resources in
and around the lake have resulted from a longstanding "tragedy
of the commons" syndrome, in which local people have little or
no voice in the management of an environment that is government
owned.
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Science for local decisions
The new multi-stakeholder forum has made a sharp break with that
pattern by proposing 33 recommended actions through four task
forces, each focusing on one of the following challenges:
biodiversity conservation, water management, pollution control and
livelihood enhancement.
Among the forum's recommendations are that the steering
committee be empowered, that wetland governance be decentralized
and that rigorous efforts be made to monitor and assess the various
processes and driving forces that underlie land and water
management in the wetland. The results will provide forum members
with a firmer basis for improved joint decision-making about
natural resource management. The process is underpinned by research
on multi-stakeholder analysis of rural livelihoods, local
knowledge, biodiversity, lake salinity, water balances and nutrient
flows in irrigation water.
The work of the forum is already getting results. For example,
an agreement has been reached to enforce a previously ignored ban
on hunting, through monitoring by local residents. In addition,
government authorities are considering inclusion of the area in a
large-scale development project, and agreement has been reached on
the exact borders of the wetland area that will be treated as a
reserve. Efforts are also under way to develop local eco-tourism as
an alternative livelihood.
"Our research on this multi-stakeholder process is
precisely the kind needed to strengthen the scientific component of
the UNCCD," (United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification), says Richard Thomas, who leads efforts to combat
desertification within ICARDA's Integrated Water and Land
Management Program. "Because the CGIAR is at the forefront of
research on land degradation and strongly supports the convention,
we can help apply science to combat desertification, which is
severe land degradation in drylands."
"Desertification is a complex process," he explains,
"which usually results from a mixture of biophysical and
socio-economic factors. So, solutions to land degradation in unique
and valuable dryland environments like the Jabul Sabkhah must also
feature a mixture of biophysical and socio-economic
interventions."
Mobilizing science to combat desertification
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The UNCCD is well aware of the need for such an approach and in
pursuing it, has emphasized the critical role of rural people in
building the knowledge and capacity needed to achieve sustainable
development in drylands. Such participation lies at the heart of
the convention's efforts to develop national, subregional and
regional action plans through collaboration between rural
communities, civil society organizations (CSOs) and donors.
Unlike the UN conventions on climate change and biodiversity,
however, the UNCCD has not yet placed this work on a sound
scientific basis - a shortcoming that it soon expects to
remedy.
During the Eighth Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNCCD,
held last month at Madrid, Spain, participants made a strong appeal
for efforts to strengthen the convention's scientific
component. In response, a new 10-year strategic plan was developed,
under which the UNCCD's Committee on Science and Technology
will change the way it operates, putting more emphasis on the
creation of strong ties with scientific organizations and
networks.
The COP elected ICRISAT director general William Dar to chair
the committee; he was nominated by a group of representatives from
various Asian nations and will serve in this capacity as an
independent expert. ICRISAT works closely with ICARDA in CGIAR
efforts to combat desertification worldwide.
As part of its new program, the committee will organize within
the next 2 years a major scientific conference on biophysical and
socio-economic monitoring and assessment for improved
decision-making in land and water management. No doubt, researchers
from ICARDA, ICRISAT and other CGIAR-supported Centers will be
there. Perhaps, they'll have new chapters to share from the
story of sustainable development in Jabul Sabkhah as well as new
insights from the science that is inspiring confidence there and in
other places.
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Children in the Jabbul Sabkhah collect
water from all available sources. Photo: ICARDA.
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