Desertification challenges L.America, the Caribbean, experts say

Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have made progress in combating desertification, but climate change and the assessment ability gap pose new challenges, experts say.

Experts from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) said in a report Wednesday that although these countries are well-known for their rainforests, about one quarter of their territory is composed of desert and arid land.

The report was issued during a UN climate conference in Fortaleza, capital of the Brazilian state Ceara (Northeastern Region), where the UN campaign of the Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification was just launched.

Latin American deserts on the Pacific coast stretch from southern Ecuador, along the Peruvian coast, to northern Chile, the experts said.

Inland, at altitudes between 3,000 and 4,500 meters, the dry highlands of the Andes unfold, covering large areas of Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. Furthermore, to the east of the Andes, there is a vast arid region from the northern foothills of the Chaco in Paraguay to Patagonia in Argentina.

Brazil's northeastern region has semi-arid regions dominated by the tropical savannah; most of Mexico is arid and semi-arid, particularly in the north; several states of the Caribbean -- the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica -- also have arid zones, with erosion and intensified water shortages on many eastern Caribbean islands.

Desertification has been speeding up in the region in recent years as a result of climate change and the excessive use of land resources, experts point out.

Non-sustainable practices in Latin America and the Caribbean include excessive irrigation, inadequate agricultural practices, inappropriate use of land, fertilizer and pesticides, exaggerated grazing areas and intensive exploitation of forests, they say.


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