DSD Working Groups

The Conference was prepared through 3 thematic Working Groups, each drafting its own White Paper (see topics below). The White Papers were open for a Global Online Consultation between May-October 2009. The final Working Group White Papers can be downloaded from the DSD website.

UNU-INWEH, together with DesertNet International, are co-leaders of Working Group 3.

The final WG3 White Paper can be downloaded here:

Part 1 (1.3 MB)

Part 2 (1.6 MB)

The 3 Working Group are as follows:

1. Integrated Methods for Monitoring and Assessment of Desertification/Land Degradation Processes and Drivers

WG I will deliberate on the fast-advancing field of methodologies aiming at integrating biopyhysical monitoring and assessment with socio-economic information for a coherent analysis. This is essential for understanding and quantifying the state of current land health and the causal factors behind degradation. Only with such understanding can rational scientific-based solutions be devised. The integration of the biophysical with economic models is critical to assess the economic impacts of the desertification process and provide the quantitative information necessary to build robust scientific support for policy-making.

This WG will provide critical scientific proposals for closing identified gaps in methodologies, data and information access, as well as data collections systems. It will further provide improved baselines and knowledge on indicators from biophysical and economic models of monitoring of desertification and land degradation.

2. Monitoring and Assessment of Sustainable Land Management

Rehabilitation to achieve a state of SLM requires a number of stepwise human and social interventions that interact with biophysical conditions, with interdependencies and feedback loops among these steps and conditions. Thus, supporting these efforts requires monitoring and assessment tools suited to the analysis of development pathways. As intervention steps progress, the recovery of system capital needs to be effectively monitored and assessed, e.g. improvements in soil resource, biodiversity, livelihoods, human and social capital, knowledge capital etc. Land-user motivation and incentives are key in rehabilitation, so monitoring and assessment of these drivers is required to understand why certain actions are or are not taken. Examples are the need for community collaboration to overcome the "tragedy of the commons" situations, the drivers behind soil nutrient mining, and individual/community responses to incentives and policies.

This WG will provide a synthesis of the most important principles and lessons learned from past experience in monitoring and assessing degraded-land rehabilitation and SLM; and recommendations of approaches, tools, methods and indicators most likely to lead to actionable science-based improvements in such monitoring and assessment.

3. Monitoring and Assessment of Desertification and Land Degradation: Knowledge Management, Institutions and Economics

Inadequate access to data and its harmonisation and dissemination together with institutional constraints such as unclear responsibilities and legalities, plus insufficient public finances all limit local and national capacities to monitor and assess land degradation. Monitoring and assessment is often hindered by a lack of inter-departmental and sectoral communication and insufficient information on the costs associated with prevention and reversal of land degradation. Insufficient incentives result in little or no involvement of local people and agencies in monitoring and evaluation processes.

This WG will provide a synthesis of such bottlenecks, and apply that learning to identify scenarios and options for a more favourable economic and social environment, including greater sharing of accumulated knowledge on local and national monitoring and assessment programmes. Potential financial pathways and resources need to be identified to address funding constraints.

Last updated: 18 May 2010