Land degradation, over-irrigation and desertification in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and other semi-arid areas of the Earth are adding further stresses to regions already under pressure from global environmental change.
This workshop, co-sponsored by the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and the Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT), provided a forum for local and international researchers to highlight land- and water-related problems in semi-arid regions, and to propose adaptation and mitigation strategies.
The workshop aimed to refine IGBP’s scientific agenda for applied Earth System science and sustainability in the MENA region, and to identify where IGBP and MENA researchers can better contribute to addressing mitigation, innovation and adaptation, large-scale pilot projects and institutional networking.
Sessions focused on the main pressures in the area; drought, water use and management, land degradation and desertification, and impacts on humans and ecosystems.