More than 200 experts, academics and policymakers discussed how to counter desertification at an international forum in Seoul on June 10.
The Korea Forest Service and “People Planting Tree,” a research group consisting of National Assembly members, co-hosted the forum to mark the United Nations’ World Day to Combat Desertification, which is observed annually on June 17.
Participants discussed a wide range of challenges the global community is facing due to desertification and suggested ways to promote public awareness at the one-day event held at the National Assembly Members Office Building.
The Korea Forest Service hosts a forum to mark the United Nations’ World Day to Combat Desertification at the National Assembly in Seoul on June 10. (KFS)
Louise Baker, a senior adviser at the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification noted that land degradation is increasingly recognized as a global challenge and was a key discussion topic at the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012.
Land degradation has long been thought of as a regional environmental problem rather than a global one. But the U.N. official emphasized the importance of restoring degraded lands to avoid or soften the potentially disastrous impacts of global climate change.
She stressed that “land degradation should be a global norm,” which needs combined efforts to eradicate.
Meanwhile, Wu Bo, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Forestry in Beijing, described China’s recent efforts to hold back the deserts, which cover one-third of the country and produce seasonal sandstorms that plague Beijing and cities as far away as Seoul and Tokyo.
The state-run KFS also pledged that it would continue to lead global efforts to counter deforestation, which is the major contributor to desertification in developing countries.
Since 1984, the forest agency has been holding regular training programs targeting officials and policy makers from developing countries to share its tree-planting expertise and forestry practices.
More than 780 officials from 61 countries have benefited from the program as of the end of 2013, it said.
“We are looking for more opportunities to extend overseas development assistance projects to lead the global effort to combat desertification,” an official from KFS said.
By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)