World Environment Day: COMSTECH International Seminar on “Land Degradation” and Launching Ceremony of COMSTECH Forum on Environment and Ecosystem Restoration (CFEER)
Date and Time: June 06, 2022, from 12:00-15:00 (Pakistan Standard Time)
Venue: COMSTECH Secretariat, Islamabad
Overview:
Land degradation has socioeconomic and environmental repercussions impacting food and water security and the livelihoods of agricultural communities. Induced climate change, and particularly the dynamics of extreme events (including floods and droughts) is expected to accelerate the rate of degradation, and, at the same time, posing a real risk of desertification. Over the past few decades, as a result of the multiple drivers, including rapid population growth and socio-political changes and conflicts, increased demand for natural resources, poor land-use planning, agricultural intensification and climate change. Various local key drivers of degradation relate with local and historical management, super-imposed by natural or anthropogenic triggered events.
This rampant degradation has lead to unsustainable agricultural systems, increased rural to urban migration, and eventually to the loss of ecosystem services. Some of the problems are erosion, reduced soil fertility, loss of biodiversity and habitats, water quality degradation for surface flow and groundwater, salinization, wildfires. In particular, dry lands, where water is scarce and in many cases not available during summer, it is difficult to maintain a cover crop to prevent erosion, and in many rural areas it may be costly to acquire new technologies for reduced tillage or precision agriculture. Erosion and loss of topsoil will further result in losses in food production capacity.
Soil and water management practices (SWMP) have been developed for the prevention of further degradation and suggested for the restoration of degraded land. These best practices include cropped land and forests and include soil and water management as well as agro-ecological practices. However, restoration and adoption are slow for several natural and anthropogenic reasons, both of which differ across geographies and economies. Further, incentives and policies are lacking in many instances to drive the needed change. Thus, the challenge is to broaden the adoption of GMPs through demonstrations, leading-by-doing, and bridging science to practice.
Various Sustainable Land and Water Management (SLM) practices have been developed around the globe. SLMs are often tailored to specific agro-ecologies including agroforestry, agro-pastoral, rainfed and irrigated agriculture. These SLMs have a potential to halt land degradation within their context of application. However, combatting land degradation and desertification at certain scales reaches beyond the locally applied biophysical adaptation or mitigation measures. It requires integration and a robust linkage of well targeted interventions and management across heterogenic socio-ecological settings.
Key Topics to be covered in this seminar:
- Evaluation of land degradation based on watershed modeling and monitoring
- Sustainable Land and Water Management (SLM) practices in arid and semi-arid regions
- Induced climate change on the hydrology and landscape and crop production
- Socio-hydrology and land management
Target Audience:
The webinar is open to students, researchers, scientists, policy makers, independent think tanks, government officials and academicians from the OIC member states, and other countries.
For Registration please visit:
- For physical participation (Participants from Islamabad and Rawalpindi only: Accommodation will not be provided) register at the following link: https://forms.gle/578fqHs4uju4LpBQA
- For virtual participation register at the following link: https://forms.gle/UAKWCBq8juDe9CBe6
- Read instructions in the application form carefully and submit a properly filled form along with your CV.
- Selected candidates will be notified through email; hence, applicants are required to check their emails regularly.
Venue:
The workshop will be held at the COMSTECH Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan. The city with the backdrop of Margalla Hills and National Park was purpose-built as the capital of sixth largest globally and second most populous (in OIC) country Pakistan in the year 1966. Pakistan, according to the Forbes magazine, is a hidden treasure for tourists with rich cultural diversity, ancient history, diverse landscape, cuisines, modern cities, and locally produced items.
Workshop Coordinators:
- Muhammad Haris Akram
Program Manager
COMSTECH, Islamabad.
Email: haris@comstech.org
Phone: +92 51 9220681 - Muhammad Haseeb Ahmad
Program Officer
COMSTECH, Islamabad.
Email: Haseeb.ahmad@comstech.org
Phone: +92 51 9220681
