The Future of Drylands

The Future of Drylands
Author: Cathy Lee
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 816
Release: 2008-10-29
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1402069693

Drylands have been cradles to some of the world’s greatest civilizations, and contemporary dryland communities feature rich and unique cultures. Dryland ecosystems support a surprising amount of biodiversity. Desertification, however, is a significant land degradation problem in the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions of the world. Deterioration of soil and plant cover has adversely affected 70% of the world’s drylands as a result of extended droughts as well as mismanagement of range and cultivated lands. The situation is likely to worsen with high population growth rates and accompanying land-use conflicts. The contributions to The Future of Drylands – an international scientific conference held under the leadership of UNESCO – address these issues and offer practical solutions for combating desertification along with conserving and sustainably managing dryland ecosystems. Major themes include the conservation of dryland biological and cultural diversity and the human dryland interface. This volume documents how our improved understanding of drylands provides insight into the health and future prospects of these precious ecosystems that should help ensure that dryland communities enjoy a sustainable future.

Historical Dictionary of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Historical Dictionary of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Author: Lin Lin
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 769
Release: 2022-07-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1538169053

Established in the aftermath of World War II, UNESCO succinctly states its peace mission as well as its peaceful resolution to peace in its Constitution—constructing the “defenses of peace” in the minds of peoples on the “intellectual and moral” grounds. For more than seven decades, UNESCO has been consistently positioning peace as its unwavering core and ultimate goal through promoting international understanding and cooperation in and across its five major sectors of competence in education, natural sciences, culture, communication and information, and social and human sciences. Historical Dictionary of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Second Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 700 cross-referenced entries on UNESCO’s initiatives, programs, projects, normative instruments, and partners over the past 76 years. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about UNESCO.

Dryland Opportunities

Dryland Opportunities
Author: Michael Mortimore
Publisher: World Conservation Union
Total Pages: 100
Release: 2009
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Drylands cover 41 percent of the earth' s terrestrial surface. The urgency of and international response to climate change have given a new place to drylands in terms both of their vulnerability to predicted climate change impacts and their potential contribution to climate change mitigation. This book aims to apply the new scientific insights on complex dryland systems to practical options for development. A new dryland paradigm is built on the resources and capacities of dryland peoples, on new and emergent economic opportunities, on inward investment, and on the best support that dryland science can offer.

Sustainable Development of Dryland Agriculture in India

Sustainable Development of Dryland Agriculture in India
Author: R.P. Singh
Publisher: Scientific Publishers
Total Pages: 561
Release: 2011-01-01
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 9386102226

There are chapters on varied topics covering the major gamut of dryland agriculture. The topics covered by eminent-scientists are : Dryland agricultural research in India - a historical perspective. The eminence of authors and the institutions they represent gives credence to the contents of the book. Research and development workers, all would like to possess this book for ready reference and use.

Sustainable Land Management Sourcebook

Sustainable Land Management Sourcebook
Author: World Bank
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2008-06-17
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0821374338

Policies promoting pro-poor agricultural growth are the key to helping countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals especially the goal of halving poverty and hunger by 2015. The public sector, private sector, and civil society organizations are working to enhance productivity and competitiveness of the agricultural sector to reduce rural poverty and sustain the natural resource base. The pathways involve participation by rural communities, science and technology, knowledge generation and further learning, capacity enhancement, and institution building. Sustainable land management (SLM) an essential component of such policies will help to ensure the productivity of agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and hydrology. SLM will also support a range of ecosystem services on which agriculture depends. The 'Sustainable Land Management Sourcebook' provides a knowledge repository of tested practices and innovative resource management approaches that are currently being tested. The diverse menu of options represents the current state of the art of good land management practices. Section one identifies the need and scope for SLM and food production in relation to cross-sector issues such as freshwater and forest resources, regional climate and air quality, and interactions with biodiversity conservation and increasingly valuable ecosystem services. Section two categorizes the diversity of land management systems globally and the strategies for improving household livelihoods in each system type. Section three presents a range of investment notes that summarize good practice, as well as innovative activity profiles that highlight design of successful or innovative investments. Section four identifies easy-to-access, Web-based resources relevant for land and natural resource managers. The 'Sourcebook' is a living document that will be periodically updated and expanded as new material and findings become available on good land management practices. This book will be of interest to project managers and practitioners working to enhance land and natural resource management in developing countries.

Managing Soils and Terrestrial Systems

Managing Soils and Terrestrial Systems
Author: Brian D. Fath
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 665
Release: 2020-07-29
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1000067742

Bringing together a wealth of knowledge, Environmental Management Handbook, Second Edition, gives a comprehensive overview of environmental problems, their sources, their assessment, and their solutions. Through in-depth entries and a topical table of contents, readers will quickly find answers to questions about environmental problems and their corresponding management issues. This six-volume set is a reimagining of the award-winning Encyclopedia of Environmental Management, published in 2013, and features insights from more than 400 contributors, all experts in their field. The experience, evidence, methods, and models used in studying environmental management are presented here in six stand-alone volumes, arranged along the major environmental systems. Features The first handbook that demonstrates the key processes and provisions for enhancing environmental management Addresses new and cutting-edge topics on ecosystem services, resilience, sustainability, food–energy–water nexus, socio-ecological systems, and more Provides an excellent basic knowledge on environmental systems, explains how these systems function, and offers strategies on how to best manage them Includes the most important problems and solutions facing environmental management today In this third volume, Managing Soils and Terrestrial Systems, the general concepts and processes of the geosphere with its related soil and terrestrial systems are introduced. It explains how these systems function and provides strategies on how to best manage them. It serves as an excellent resource for finding basic knowledge on the geosphere systems and includes important problems and solutions that environmental managers face today. This book practically demonstrates the key processes, methods, and models used in studying environmental management.

Water Resources Management VIII

Water Resources Management VIII
Author: C.A. Brebbia
Publisher: WIT Press
Total Pages: 583
Release: 2015-06-15
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1845649605

Water Resources Management VIII contains papers presented at the eighth conference in a biennial series organised by the Wessex Institute. First held in 2001, the Conference includes the work of scientists, practitioners and other experts regarding the sustainable management of water resources. It is predicted that population growth and irregular precipitation due to climate change may lead to more restrict ed access to water in certain regions of the world. The problem will be aggravated by human activities that affect the quality of available water. In order to improve strategies for dealing with a scarcity of potable water, it is important to review and compare the performance of current technologies and practices in order to select those that will provide the most effective approaches. It is also important that technologies and practices be able to respond with agility to changing conditions. New ways of thinking are required in order to successfully predict future trends and prepare adequate sustainable solutions. The papers included in this book cover such topics as: Water Management and Planning; Water Rights and Accessibility; Water Markets and Policies; Climate Change; Irrigation; Urban Water Management; Hydraulic Engineering; Water Quality; Pollution Contaminants and Control; River Basin Management; Flood Risk Management; Geo-politics of Water; Water Resources and Economics; Governance and Regulations; Desalination; Water Services.

Strengthening the Environmental Dimensions of the Sustainable Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific Tool Compendium

Strengthening the Environmental Dimensions of the Sustainable Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific Tool Compendium
Author: Asian Development Bank
Publisher: Asian Development Bank
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2019-01-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9292615033

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment), prepared this tool compendium to help address the issues, challenges, and barriers faced by developing countries from Asia and the Pacific in the successful implementation of the environmental dimensions of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The tools presented here can help policy makers gain a better understanding of SDG interlinkages, establish horizontal and vertical policy coherence, and select appropriate guidelines, indicators, and institutional arrangements for effective integration into national policies, plans, and programs. This publication reflects the high-level commitment of ADB and UN Environment to support efforts to accelerate progress in implementing the environmental dimensions of the SDGs.