Dr. Dave Mouat listens intently at a U.N. meeting in Nairobi, Kenya.  Mouat is a world expert on desertification and the chair of the Group of Experts for the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification. (photo courtesy of International Institute for Sustainable Development - Reporting Services Division)

Reno, Nev.- The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 2006 as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification.  To address the pressing issue of global desertification, more than 200 participants from over 30 countries are converging on Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel Nov. 6-9, including DRI's Dr. David Mouat who is a keynote speaker and moderator at the event.   The U.N.-sanctioned conference will address challenges and solutions for desertification.

The gathering marks the first time a U.N. General Assembly resolution has welcomed an Israeli initiative on an issue that is high on the global agenda, and acknowledges the State of Israel's leadership role in the worldwide battle against desertification.  Mouat will moderate a panel discussion regarding the challenges and opportunities of living in drylands, as well as present a keynote address about the different futures projected for different drylands.

"Desertification processes lead to loss of human dignity," said Mouat.  "We need to continuously ask ourselves how we can connect our science with our obligation to actually develop and implement responses to these ultimately human problems."

Conference discussions specifically will address management and sustainability of deserts and their ecosystems, impacts of climate change on drylands and benchmarks and indicators of desertification.

WHAT IS DESERTIFICATION? According to the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification, desertification refers to the processes of land degradation in arid and semiarid areas resulting from various factors, including the influence of climate and human activities.  As a result, once-productive land (agriculture and rangelands) becomes less productive, soil resources are lost and biodiversity is diminished.  

ABOUT DRI: A nonprofit, statewide division of the Nevada System of Higher Education, or NSHE, DRI pursues a full-time program of basic and applied environmental research on a local, national, and international scale.  More than 500 full- and part-time scientists, technicians, and support staff conduct more than 300 research projects at DRI annually.  DRI generates $50 million in total revenue consisting predominately of competitively won research contracts and grants. The State of Nevada provides critical funding in support of DRI's administration, operations, and maintenance through the NSHE education budget.  While DRI’s portion of the NSHE budget is approximately one percent, the institute leverages these funds to enhance its competitiveness.