Our Planet, Volume 17, Number 1, 2006 Page: 8
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Our Planet
be done to defend and protect mountain areas against
pests, diseases and damage arising from drought and
other adverse climatic conditions.
Water policy
Water policy combats desertification by mitigating the
effects of drought, and managing groundwater and
the salinization of soils by irrigation systems. River
basin authorities have prepared special action plans
for emergencies and possible drought, and a global
system of water resources indicators. The Ministries of
Environment and Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, have
established a National Drought Observatory as a centre
of knowledge to forecast, mitigate and monitor its
effects. The Agrarian Administration provides drought
insurance cover for the main arid area crops.
Managing and protecting groundwater is to be
incorporated into water resource planning, while a
Groundwater Action Plan should be prepared for each
river basin to facilitate sustainable use. Under the Water
Act, every basin plan must contain planning for water,
forestry and soil conservation, and should include
protective action for catchment areas and for regulating
the water cycle. The National Water Plan incorporates
this, while the National Irrigation Plan contains
environmental criteria for land and water management
to prevent land degradation, restore aquifers and
reduce the processes of desertification. There is also a
programme for environmental monitoring of irrigation,
to track the changes in its effects and possible remedial
measures.
Research and development
Spain has a large and varied research community
studying desertification. The main studies were first
undertaken in the 1970s: manywere part of the LUCDEM E
Project while others were carried out by universities
and the Higher Council of Scientific Research. Since
1986, all these efforts have been incorporated into the
National Research and Development Plan. Autonomous
communities and the European Union also devote
attention to these matters.
Various instruments for assessing, monitoring and
making inventories of areas affected by desertification
are outlined in the working document of the National
Action Plan. The Department of Biodiversity is
responsible for:
The soils maps of the LUCDEME Project, which help
plan restoration or rehabilitation in areas affected by
desertification, and are essential for preparing maps
showing the capacity of use and vulnerability of any
given territory. They have been drawn up since 1985
in collaboration between the universities and the
Higher Council for Scientific Research. 142 maps now
cover13.93 per cent of the country and will be expanded
in the medium term to cover all affected provinces.
More than 450,000 euros will be spent on mapping anddigitalization in 2006-2007.
The network of experimental monitoring and
assessment of erosion and desertification (of the
LUCDEME Project) has 46 experimental stations,managed by universities and research centres under
agreements with the Department of Biodiversity. It was
established in 1995 to coordinate and better use studies
by various research since the 1980s, and provides
'in situ', continuous and detailed monitoring of the
essential mechanisms of desertification. One and a half
million euros will be allocated to its maintenance in
2006-2008.
Assessment of action to combat desertification,
demonstrating useful techniques to apply to affected
areas, and disseminating available strategies and
restoration methods in Spain and other member
countries of Annex IV of UNFCCD. Its allocation will be
380,000 euros.
The National Soils Erosion Inventory, which updates
the map of the state of erosion in the entire country
drawn up between 1986 and 2002. Maps of 13 provinces
have been published, six more are being prepared, and
work is about to begin on a further four provinces. The
allocation will be 3 million euros.
Establishing a system of indicators of desertification
in Spain. Once their selection and definitions are
completed, they will be applied to specific cases.
A register and database describing all the sectors
linked to combating desertification is being prepared
and meetings and workshops arranged to promote their
assimilation and technological improvement. Materials
are being published, and exhibitions held. A network
of demonstration projects is being set up to cover
restoration and sustainable management of the affected
areas: this identifies, formulates and develops a group
of projects, and shows the technical, environmental
and economic feasibility of proposals for managing,
using and/or restoring Land involved in combating
desertification.
Spain is to hold two major meetings to study all
aspects of desertification in greater depth. The Second
International Symposium on Desertification and
Migrations will be held in Almeria from 25 to 27 October
2006, marking the International Year of Deserts and
Desertification. And in autumn 2007 we will host the
UNCCD's eighth Conference of the Parties
Cristina Narbona is Minister of the Environment, Spain.
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United Nations Environment Programme. Our Planet, Volume 17, Number 1, 2006, periodical, 2006; Nairobi, Kenya. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc28523/m1/8/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .