Committee on Science and Technology

LADA Dryland Degradation Assessment Project

Item 10 of the provisional agenda

The LADA project will produce a GLADA.

Development of the global land degradation assessment (GLADA)

The request for an assessment of the extent of land degradation in drylands came from the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), out of which the Land Degradation Assessment in Drylands (LADA) project was conceived.

The secretariat continued to follow closely the activities of the Land Degradation Assessment in the Drylands (LADA) and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), including participation in meetings of the Technical Advisory Group of LADA, and the Executive Committee and Board of the MA.

Parties embarking in more detailed national land degradation assessments may wish to adopt the LADA methodological framework and to share their findings in order to refine the global LADA assessment.

Using more recent material, readily available, the GLASOD study has been improved by LADA.

The LADA methodological framework comprises the LADA approach and a set of tools for the different scales of land degradation assessment, from the global to the subnational.

As a result of the global land degradation assessment it will be possible to identify

At the regional and subregional levels, FAO has initiated and prepared the Land Degradation Assessment in the Drylands (LADA), used to develop tools and methods to assess and quantify the nature, extent and severity of land degradation.

(b) Land use, land degradation assessment and monitoring the use of remote sensing techniques, in June 1998

China has also contributed to improving the methodological framework by testing the VSA indicators for local assessment.

The sScience and ttechnology programme has continued to follow closely the activities of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) and Land Degradation Assessment in Drylands (LADA), including the provision of comments and input to related documents and participation in meetings.

However, irrigated land in desert areas does come under the umbrella of LADA.

In addition, the UNEP Division of Early Warning and Assessment is involved in other global environmental assessment activities, such as the Global International Waters Assessment and the Global Marine Assessment, for which UNEP provides leadership and coordination, and the Land Degradation Assessment in Drylands and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, in which UNEP is a key partner.

Recalling the provisions of decision 19 COP.6 on Land Degradation Assessment in Drylands (LADA),

(f) Assessment of environmental sensitivity and proper land use of coastal urban areas.

In response to decision 19 COP.6, the secretariat has continued to follow closely the activities of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) and Land Degradation Assessment in Drylands (LADA), including the provision of comments and inputs to documents prepared in the two processes, participation in the meetings of the Technical Advisory Group of the LADA, the Executive Committee and the Board of the MA.

5. Issues related to assessment and management of land and water resources on an integrated basis.

Data from GLASOD and the SOTER and the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) programmes will be used to produce a first updated global assessment.

The LADA project has also developed a local assessment tool, a set of simple and inexpensive assessment techniques which can be gradually learned by farmers and which are related to their needs for improving land conditions.

Participation and inclusion of different perceptions of land degradation Combination of expert assessment and local knowledge Use of adapted assessment tools for specific environments.

Review and synthesis of data and information of relevance to the development of land degradation assessment in drylands Development, testing and revision of integration of land degradation assessment approaches and methods

All three provided a national inventory of available information on land degradation and its assessment.

The LADA project has integrated available worldwide knowledge and expertise and proposes a flexible and comprehensive framework of land degradation assessment methods.

The results of these studies clearly indicate that the experience of LADA Argentina in assessing land degradation at local level is replicable in other participating countries.

It is recommended that in order to facilitate and validate the assessment, the COP should encourage Parties to exchange information with the LADA project on current national or regional activities relating to the assessment of land degradation in drylands.

UNEP, through GRID Bangkok UNEP Environment Assessment Programme Asia and the Pacific (EAP AP), continues to undertake land cover assessment and monitoring studies with national agencies.

The criteria include (a) assessment of land quality in areas of suspected mine contamination (b) assessment of population density of those areas (c) assessment of the importance of agriculture as a source of economic sustainability for the populations of those areas and (d) assessment of the political and security situation with respect to the return of refugees and internally displace persons (especially the return of ethnic minorities) to those areas.

LADA builds up national, regional and global assessment capacities in order to be able to design and plan interventions to mitigate land degradation.

The Minister of Justice indicated to the assessment mission that addressing land issues was a priority for the Government.

It would also help in a thorough evaluation of potential lands for sustainable desert development.

Four reports emphasize the involvement of local people in monitoring and assessing initiatives to combat land degradation.

(d) Use of remote sensing in the assessment of land degradation, drought and desertification monitoring, in March 1998

LADA Dryland Degradation Assessment Project

Indicators toolbox and visual soil assessment tool

The global land degradation assessment and the work of the six pilot countries will allow identification of ways in which the assessment can be done at different scales using harmonized methodologies.

(a) INDO 1 land use assessment and monitoring using ERS I SAR data

This study showed that the index can be used together with other parameters to assess land degradation.

The LADA approach further recognizes that land degradation assessments should (i) capitalize on existing initiatives, (ii) focus on the goods and services of the drylands, (iii) work with local stakeholders, and (iv) develop a standardized methodology that will monitor land degradation in time.

Rating the Raters

The effectiveness of state and territory measures is a matter for the states and territories to evaluate.

The LADA task force in China, led by the National Bureau to Combat Desertification at the State Forestry Administration, prepared a report on information and experience available on land degradation assessment at national level (available at the LADA virtual centre (http lada.virtualcentre.org pagedisplay display.asp).