The international community should endorse bold moves at the
upcoming Rio+20 conference to achieve zero net land degradation,
UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Executive
Secretary Luc Gnacadja told Xinhua in a recent interview. "I
really look forward to seeing the international community commit
itself to a land degradation neutral world," Gnacadja said.
Twenty years after the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and
Development in Rio de Janeiro, where the UNCCD was born, "the
time has come for us to set up targets that are measurable and
achievable to overcome desertification and land degradation," he
said. Established in 1994, UNCCD is the first and only legally
binding international agreement linking environment and
development to sustainable land management. The Convention's 194
parties work together, through national action programs that
incorporate long-term strategies supported by international
cooperation and partnership arrangements, to improve the living
conditions for people in drylands,