Oman is making great strides to reduce land degradation and combat desertification by continuously increasing sustainability and reducing over exploitation of land resources.

To implement national plans to combat desertification and integrate programmes and projects to mitigate the effects of drought in line with the global goals, Oman, represented by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs (MECA), marked World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought on June 17. 

Oman has made efforts to use technologies to prevent land degradation and take advantage of the opportunities available under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in training, capacity building and technology transfer from developed countries, the ministry stated.

‘Desertification is one of the most dangerous phenomena that exposes the world to degradation and a change in its ecosystem by losing plant life and biodiversity due to drought and unguided human activities which, in turn, negatively affects the environment and human life on this planet,’ MECA said in a statement.

This year’s theme focuses on changing public attitudes towards desertification and land degradation, continuous non-stop human production and consumption, which is a unique moment to remind everyone that neutralising the impact of land degradation can be achieved through solving problems associated with desertification, strong community participation, and cooperation at all levels.

‘Oman has paid special attention to desertification within the framework of its strategic vision of the necessity of protecting the environment, preserving nature, preserving natural resources and areas of land suitable for agriculture and cultivation, and taking care of rationalising the use of limited water resources,’ MECA said.

Growing population and urbanisation constitute an increased demand for land to provide food, animal feed and fibre for the garment industry. “At the same time, the health and productivity of the current land for agriculture is declining as its condition is exacerbated by climate change. Therefore, the presence of enough productive lands to meet the needs of all the inhabitants of the earth requires changing our lifestyles, as the countries of the world seek, through this day, to educate individuals about how they contribute to the conservation and investment of agricultural lands in a wise and sustainable way,’ MECA said.