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Drylands and arid zones were long considered “barren”, with few water resources, extreme climates and poor soil. Often distant from governing bodies, these zones have been neglected by policy- and decision-makers.
長期以來，旱地和干旱地帶因其缺水、極端氣候條件和土壤貧瘠等特點而被視為“荒漠”。干旱地帶往往遠離決策中心，所以一直被政策制定者和決策者所忽視。
They are nonetheless important ecosystems that are home to 100 to 200 million people. They are also home to unique species that have adapted to difficult environments and act as barometers of global climate change. As a result of climate change and unsustainable agricultural practices, the desertification and degradation of these regions, which are some of the most vulnerable on the planet, are endangering vast territories and the livelihoods of millions of people.
然而，干旱地區卻是養育著1億到2億人口的重要生態系統，那里還棲息著適應嚴酷環境并發揮世界氣候變化晴雨表作用的特有物種。作為地球上最為脆弱的地區之一，干旱地區因氣候變化以及不可持續的農耕方式的影響而出現荒漠化以及土地退化問題，這使廣袤的地區岌岌可危，數百萬人的生存遭受威脅。
On this World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, we reaffirm the urgency of implementing solutions for the sustainable management of arid zones. These solutions are useful to people outside these areas, too, as sustainable land management is an issue everywhere. UNESCO’s arid zones programme is an exemplary initiative that has accelerated scientific research on these ecosystems and has shown that sustainable arid-zone management is the best way to adapt to the effects of climate change.
在防治荒漠化和干旱世界日，我們重申應緊迫地實施干旱地區可持續管理解決方案。這種解決方案對于生活在干旱地區之外的人們也有價值，因為土地的可持續管理是一個世界性的問題。教科文組織的干旱地帶計劃是一個加快相關生態系統科學研究的范例。該項計劃表明，干旱地區的可持續管理是幫助人們適應氣候變化影響的最佳方式。
Climate change is no general or abstract phenomenon; it has a real impact on the daily lives of millions of people who depend directly on these fragile resources for survival and can see their environment deteriorating gradually. By sharing the experiences of those on the front line and by understanding the genuine impact of climate change on their daily lives, we can help them to adapt and raise global awareness. Such is the objective set for the Project on Sustainable Management of Marginal Drylands (SUMAMAD) led by UNESCO since 2002 in partnership with the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH). With the support of the Flemish Government of Belgium, the project is designed to combat desertification in project sites in nine countries, namely Bolivia, Burkina Faso, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Jordan, Pakistan and Tunisia, by rehabilitating degraded drylands, improving agricultural yields through better water management, formulating policy guidelines for decision-makers and sharing information and experiential data among scientists. Owing to the project, local communities have adopted more sustainable life practices (ecotourism, handicraft production, beekeeping and dietary diversification) to reduce their dependence on traditional dryland agriculture in a deteriorating environment.
氣候變化不是一個籠統和抽象的概念。它真切地影響到數百萬直接依靠脆弱資源為生并見證自己的環境日益惡化的人們的日常生活。通過分享在第一線生活的人們的實際經驗，了解氣候變化對他們日常生活的真實影響，我們才能幫助他們適應并提高全世界公眾的認識。教科文組織自2002年以來與聯合國大學水、環境與健康問題國際網絡合作實施的旱地可持續管理計劃正是以此為目的。在比利時弗拉芒政府的支持下，該項目力圖在九個國家（玻利維亞、布基納法索、中國、埃及、印度、伊朗、約旦、巴基斯坦和突尼斯）的試點地區開展防治荒漠化的工作，途徑包括修復退化的旱地；通過改善水資源管理提高農業產量；制定決策者政策指南；以及在科學家之間交流信息和經驗。通過開展項目，當地社區采納了更加可持續的謀生方式，例如生態旅游、手工藝制作、養蜂以及食品多元化，在干旱和脆弱環境里減少對傳統農業的依賴。
This proves that, by thinking up context-specific solutions, we can combat poverty and improve population health. To achieve that goal, the provision of global scientific cooperation must be expedited and experiential data and better integrated approaches that take into account the physical, social and cultural factors necessary for the sustainable preservation of dryland ecosystems must be shared among countries. This is the goal to which UNESCO is committed on the 2014 World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.
這就證明通過找到適應具體環境的解決辦法，我們可以消除貧困，增進人民福祉。為此，我們需要加快國際科學合作的步伐，加強各國之間的經驗交流以及兼顧可持續保護干旱地區生態系統所必需的物質、社會和文化因素的綜合辦法的共享。這就是教科文組織在防治荒漠化和干旱世界日所做的承諾。
