Final Report Summary - LUCINDA (Land care in desertification affected areas: from science towards application)
The overall strategic objective of the LUCINDA project was to promote and facilitate the dissemination, transfer, exploitation and broad take-up of past and present research programme results in the theme of combating desertification in Mediterranean Europe. LUCINDA combined the research results of a number of projects in several information and communication products, which are made available to the regional and local authorities.
The specific objective of was to address this situation by:
- providing a concise and comprehensive information pack containing guidelines for sustainable land management in desertification-affected areas derived from the scientific results of past and on-going EU research projects;
- making this information available to regional and local authorities who, through national participation in the UNCCD, have a specific mandate to combat desertification.
Several principal projects were used for the purposes of LUCINDA. Each author was to draw on the results of past and on-going projects to provide the state of the art review of each issue and make recommendations for the management of desertification-affected areas.
The process was organised into three series:
Series A: Desertification themes
Series B: Desertification processes
Series C: Desertification-affected landscapes.
LUCINDA has gather and summarised (in a simple, scientific, useful and organised way) the most up to date knowledge about processes and mechanisms that lead to land degradation and desertification, and produced guidelines for mitigation actions and measures. By combining the research results of a number of projects in a single information pack, for distribution through an extensive and already established network of stakeholders, LUCINDA has been able to exploit and diffuse a vast amount of research results at a level far over and above the activities of the individual projects.
Dissemination of the information pack in five languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Greek) allows a more effective public awareness about land degradation processes and the need for land care actions that can effectively conserve soil and water resources.
From the methodological point of view, LUCINDA has addressed desertification and land degradation in an innovative and systematic manner, by:
- providing information and guidelines on the key issues of Mediterranean desertification; thereby assisting the stakeholders to develop strategies for land management in areas relevant to the UN Convention to combat desertification.
- drawing on results from a wide spatial spread of study areas, thereby promoting tangible management strategies and illustrations of best practices and control measures.
- addressing key themes such as raising public awareness of desertification, the challenge of combating desertification using public policies and other national and international commitments to combat desertification; thereby providing improved guidelines for the protection of land with a long-term perspective.
- disseminating the information pack in digital formats through the world-wide web and by means of a DVD, and actively distributing it through the UNCCD focal points in Annex IV and other annexes of the Convention, thereby promoting international co-operation with worldwide regions affected by desertification.
LUCINDA developed a website to be the best tool for the dissemination of results deriving from the project itself and from other correlated projects addressing desertification, where participants and expert authors participate or have participated.
The LUCINDA project succeeded in producing a unique and comprehensive set of deliverables that provide a record of the achievements of European desertification research projects in the Northern Mediterranean, from which the following can be concluded:
- There is evidence from the indicators of desertification that most of the region is in many ways affected and that this is resulting in the dramatic loss of natural resources and ecosystem services.
- Human induced land degradation and erosion are today largely inadvertent consequences of land use policies. They are surprisingly easy to control with sustainable land management practices.
- European research results are a valuable resource that gives policy makers both support and direction.
- There is an urgent need for promoting public awareness about desertification and land degradation among all communities and societal groups, paying special attention to young people, women and active farmers in rural communities, local politicians and technicians dealing with land use planning and all territorial issues.
The specific objective of was to address this situation by:
- providing a concise and comprehensive information pack containing guidelines for sustainable land management in desertification-affected areas derived from the scientific results of past and on-going EU research projects;
- making this information available to regional and local authorities who, through national participation in the UNCCD, have a specific mandate to combat desertification.
Several principal projects were used for the purposes of LUCINDA. Each author was to draw on the results of past and on-going projects to provide the state of the art review of each issue and make recommendations for the management of desertification-affected areas.
The process was organised into three series:
Series A: Desertification themes
Series B: Desertification processes
Series C: Desertification-affected landscapes.
LUCINDA has gather and summarised (in a simple, scientific, useful and organised way) the most up to date knowledge about processes and mechanisms that lead to land degradation and desertification, and produced guidelines for mitigation actions and measures. By combining the research results of a number of projects in a single information pack, for distribution through an extensive and already established network of stakeholders, LUCINDA has been able to exploit and diffuse a vast amount of research results at a level far over and above the activities of the individual projects.
Dissemination of the information pack in five languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Greek) allows a more effective public awareness about land degradation processes and the need for land care actions that can effectively conserve soil and water resources.
From the methodological point of view, LUCINDA has addressed desertification and land degradation in an innovative and systematic manner, by:
- providing information and guidelines on the key issues of Mediterranean desertification; thereby assisting the stakeholders to develop strategies for land management in areas relevant to the UN Convention to combat desertification.
- drawing on results from a wide spatial spread of study areas, thereby promoting tangible management strategies and illustrations of best practices and control measures.
- addressing key themes such as raising public awareness of desertification, the challenge of combating desertification using public policies and other national and international commitments to combat desertification; thereby providing improved guidelines for the protection of land with a long-term perspective.
- disseminating the information pack in digital formats through the world-wide web and by means of a DVD, and actively distributing it through the UNCCD focal points in Annex IV and other annexes of the Convention, thereby promoting international co-operation with worldwide regions affected by desertification.
LUCINDA developed a website to be the best tool for the dissemination of results deriving from the project itself and from other correlated projects addressing desertification, where participants and expert authors participate or have participated.
The LUCINDA project succeeded in producing a unique and comprehensive set of deliverables that provide a record of the achievements of European desertification research projects in the Northern Mediterranean, from which the following can be concluded:
- There is evidence from the indicators of desertification that most of the region is in many ways affected and that this is resulting in the dramatic loss of natural resources and ecosystem services.
- Human induced land degradation and erosion are today largely inadvertent consequences of land use policies. They are surprisingly easy to control with sustainable land management practices.
- European research results are a valuable resource that gives policy makers both support and direction.
- There is an urgent need for promoting public awareness about desertification and land degradation among all communities and societal groups, paying special attention to young people, women and active farmers in rural communities, local politicians and technicians dealing with land use planning and all territorial issues.