With more lands around the world facing increasing deterioration and degradation, the
United Nations General Assembly declared the United Nations Decade for Deserts and the Fight Against Desertification
Global Value
Drylands are home to 2.1 billion people; for every three people,
one calls drylands home. Drylands meet the basic needs of a significant
proportion of the world, but are under threat.
Why Now?
Drylands take up 41.3% of the land surface.
This is a significant proportion of our land as is evident
from in the map on drylands that is included in this kit.
So would it matter if drylands did not exist?
The Decade Launch
To promote actions that will protect the world's drylands from further deterioration and degradation into deserts, the United Nations will launch the Decade for Deserts and the Fight Against Desertification on 16 August 2010 and it will run from January 2010 to December 2020.