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Media release 31 May 2006

Communities worldwide draw a line in the sand for desertification

Sydney, Australia - Tens of thousands of people across the world will take practical steps next weekend to combat desertification and prevent degradation of drylands as part of the global Clean Up the World campaign.

From Mexico to Morocco, communities will organise environmental clean ups, plant trees, protect water wells and hold educational activities to raise awareness of the dangers posed by desertification, which threatens the livelihoods of millions of people and accounts for billions of dollars in annual losses in food productivity worldwide. In recognition of these threats, the United Nations has adopted Deserts and Desertification as this year's World Environment Day theme.

"Drylands cover almost half of the planet's surface and are home to one-third of the world's population. The loss of these fragile ecosystems is often irreversible. While deforestation, bad irrigation practices and over-grazing all lead to desertification, its overriding cause is climate change, which exacerbates existing threats," said Ian Kiernan, Chairman and Founder of Clean Up the World.


Held in conjunction with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Clean Up the World is a community-led environmental campaign, which inspires an estimated 35 million volunteers from nearly 700 member organizations in over 110 countries each year to "clean up, fix up and conserve the environment."

Kiernan welcomed over 150 Clean Up the World members' activities held in conjunction with this year's World Environment Day: "Despite the enormity of the threats, practical steps taken by communities can and are making a difference. These actions will help draw a line in the sand for desertification," Kiernan said.

Practically every country of Africa is prone to desertification, but those on the fringes of the Sahara Desert are under the greatest pressure of all. The Center of Environmental Issues and Regional Development at Morocco's Alakhawayn University is spearheading a school awareness campaign, which will see some 300 volunteers clean up parks and waterways in the Middle Atlas resort town of Ifrane, plant trees and take part in an art competition and an interactive lecture on desertification.

In Burkina Faso, volunteers led by the local Association for Sustainable Development will plant trees to mark World Environment Day celebrated across the globe on June 5th.

And in Algeria, the host country of this year's World Environment Day celebrations, the Ettawassol scout group will organize a clean up of Remchi City, which is expected to attract the participation of some 100 scouts and schoolchildren.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a local NGO Centre d' Education pour la Recuperation Socio-Sanito-Nutritionnelle (CRESANU) is organizing a two-month tree planting program to help stabilize areas suffering from erosion due to deforestation in the town of Uvira, located on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. The Congo Basin, the second largest forest area in the world after the Amazon, has been experiencing relentless deforestation over the past decades.

In the heart of Mexico's Chihuahuan Desert, one of the most diverse and biologically rich deserts in the world, some 700 participants will gather for a three-day conference focusing on biodiversity, deserts and desertification. The conference, organized by the State of Chihuahua Department of Ecology (Direccion de Ecologia), a Clean Up the World member, will also highlight the differences between healthy desert ecosystems and degraded drylands that inevitably become wastelands.

In recent years, India has been experiencing some of the most severe droughts on record, which put unprecedented pressure on dwindling freshwater resources. The Muthamil Education and Rural Development Society, which works in India's southernmost State of Tamil Nadu, is organizing clean up activities around drinking water pumps in 20 rural villages throughout the month of June.

In Australia's remote outback areas volunteers will join in cleaning up carelessly discarded rubbish such as aluminium cans. These so-called "wide mouth" cans pose a deadly threat to local wildlife such as goanna lizards that get trapped after sticking their head inside a can in search of insects. Australia is the driest inhabited continent on the planet, and is becoming increasingly dry, which is widely attributed to climate change.

"All of us living in dry areas must respond to the United Nations call by taking action to protect these vital and vulnerable ecosystems from becoming barren," Kiernan concluded.

For more information, contact us

Detailed information about Clean Up the World activities held in conjunction with the 2006 World Environment Day is available online at: www.cleanuptheworld.org. Groups, organisations, businesses and communities around the globe are encouraged to register with Clean Up the World by visiting www.cleanuptheworld.org. Members receive information and materials to assist with the promotion and implementation of environmental activities.

Clean Up the World is a campaign held in conjunction with our Primary Partner United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Patron - Veolia Environnement. Sponsor - Brambles, Qantas. Global Media Partner - National Geographic Channels International. Supporter - The Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

NOTES TO THE EDITORS

About Clean Up the World

The Clean Up campaign started in 1989 when an Australian solo-yachtsman and builder Ian Kiernan, disgusted with the amount of rubbish he came across while sailing, organized a clean up of the Sydney Harbour, during which some 40,000 volunteers removed rusted car bodies, plastics, glass bottles and cigarette butts from the water.

The campaign went global in 1993, with Sydney becoming Clean Up the World's headquarters. Today it brings together nearly 700 members from around the world ranging from local community groups to national campaigns that carry out environmental projects throughout the year. The Clean Up the World Weekend held in September each year has the highest participation of all.

About 2006 World Environment Day - Deserts and Desertification

World Environment Day, commemorated each year on 5 June, is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. The World Environment Day theme selected for 2006 is Deserts and Desertification and the slogan is Don't Desert Drylands!

According to UNEP, the area which is prone to desertification worldwide is approximately 38 million km² of which 6.9 million km² (23 percent) are in sub-saharan Africa.

Drylands cover more than 40 percent of the planet's surface. This ecosystem is home to one-third of the world's people who are more vulnerable members of society.
It is estimated that desertification and drought account for a US$42 billion annual loss in food productivity worldwide.

The world's ten largest deserts are: Sahara - North Africa (9,065,000 km²), Takla Makan - Western China (1,600,000 km²), Gobi - Mongolia and China (1,295,000 km²), Kalahari -Southern Africa (582,000 km²), Turkestan - Central Asia (559,000 km²), Chihuahuan - Mexico and USA (455,000 km²), Great Basin - USA (411,000 km²), Iranian - Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan (390,000 km²), Great Victoria and Great Sandy - Australia (338,500 km² each).