UNDP's
work on biodiversity:
project
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DRYLANDS DEVELOPMENT CENTRE
The Drylands Development Centre (DDC) is dedicated to fighting poverty in the dryland ecosystems of the world. Achieving sustainable development in drylands has significant implications for reducing poverty and hunger worldwide. Over forty percent of the world can be classed as 'dryland'. These areas are home to some 2.3 billion people, including approximately 1 billion poor people: roughly half of the world's poor.
Through its programmes of support to the Convention to Combat Desertification, DDC also works to protect biodiversity within these fragile yet often undervalued ecosystems.
The Drylands Development Centre's main activities can be summarised as follows:
>> Carrying out research and analysis of policies that affect communities in drylands in order to provide sound advice and policy-making support to decision-makers;
>> Helping countries to ensure that national policy and planning frameworks address the social and environmental concerns of dryland populations;
>> Building learning networks that link local-level actors with the international community;
>> Strengthening the capacities of individuals and institutions at the local level while working to ensure that national policy and legislation support local development.
Biodiversity in the drylands
The world's drylands are made up of a range of dynamic ecosystems that house a wide variety of genetic and species diversity. These unique ecosystems support large amounts of animal biomass and their contribution to biodiversity should not be underestimated. For example, the East African drylands support the largest assemblies of mammals in the world.
DDC is working with partners on a number of initiatives to address issues of drylands biodiversity. The following are a sample of the partnerships and initiatives that DDC is working on in this important area of drylands development:
>> Raising awareness of drylands Biodiversity issues through the Global Drylands Imperative / Challenge Paper Series for the CBD and CCD.
>> Integrating biodiversity issues into country programmes of the IDDP.
>> Supporting the CBD Dry and Sub-Humid Lands Programme of Work (a Memorandum of Cooperation has been signed with the CBD Secretariat).
>> Recognizing and sharing innovations for drylands biodiversity conservation by supporting community dialogue.
Further information:
Biodiversity in the Drylands: Challenges and Opportunities for Conservation and Sustainable Use
Online resources:
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