Peshawar: Every year, World Environment Day is marked by a new commitment to create public awareness of environmental issues and create awareness against the adverse effects of climate change, deforestation, loss of biodiversity and desertification, which pose serious challenges to food security and livelihoods. .
Besides environmentalists, foresters and wildlife experts, civil society, intellectuals, nature clubs and educational institutes have planned special programs in KP to highlight the importance of a clean environment and the adverse effects of desertification and climate change on wildlife.
The theme of this year’s World Environment Day is “Combating Land Degradation, Desertification and Drought”.
According to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, up to 40 percent of the planet’s land is being degraded, directly affecting half the world’s population.
Likewise, the number and duration of droughts have increased by 29 percent since 2000, which could affect three quarters of the world’s population by 2050.
“Pakistan is also facing severe challenges like desertification and chronic drought. Swabi, Mardna, Nowshera, Peshawar, Kohat, Karak, DI Khan and Lakki Marwat traveling on the Islamabad-Peshawar highway and the Indus highway can easily see the damage of desertification and drought, “said KP while talking to APP.
“This place is our home. From the day we are born to the day we die, this earth nurtures us and makes us who we are,” he said.
“Nature is always nourishing and loving and provides us with all the resources we need to survive and thrive. For physical and mental health, nature provides everything that is best for life and it is our primary responsibility to preserve water, forests and biodiversity for future generations will come
To honor this day, the world celebrated the first World Environment Day in 1973 and since then the day is commemorated all over the world including Pakistan.
Niaz Ali said that land degradation and desertification, mainly due to climate change, are challenges for regional countries to face Pakistan.
Declaring that desertification and land degradation pose a major threat to food security, said desertification has caused persistent drought and extreme weather conditions, resulting in floods and heavy rains that have rendered fertile land infertile and unproductive.
It claims that drought, desertification and land degradation make nearly six million hectares of land unproductive every year and, if left unchecked, will cause global economic losses of around $42 billion, which could lead to water shortages and famine in the next few decades.
A report by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) found that more than 3.2 billion people, or two in five, are affected by land degradation and desertification, and that up to 143 million people could be displaced by 2050 due to water scarcity and degradation. . crop productivity is greatly affected by climate change.
Also, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has announced that the planet’s temperature will rise by 1.5C by 2030, causing extreme droughts, food shortages and floods.
The former forest chief said 45 percent of the world’s food consumption comes from the world’s drylands, and declining agricultural productivity, food shortages and water shortages in South Asia could create food insecurity.
He warned that about 20 percent of South Asia’s productive land could be degraded in the next few decades if desertification and flooding are not controlled.
Dr Muhammad Nafees, professor at the Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Peshawar, said Pakistan is one of 110 countries in the world where two-thirds of agriculture and 80 percent of arid and semi-arid lands are affected by land degradation and desertification. . and drought.
He said that our population is growing at a growth rate of more than two percent, which has put additional pressure on agriculture, housing and other socioeconomic sectors.
If population growth continues at such a high rate and climate change is not addressed as a priority, it is feared that the country will face food insecurity in the next few decades.
