Caring viewers,
welcome to Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home.
From October 10 to 21,
2011, the 10th Session
of the Conference
of the Parties
to the United Nations
Convention to Combat
Desertification (UNCCD)
was held in Changwon,
South Korea.
One of three major
United Nations
environmental agreements,
the Convention
was adopted at the 1992
United Nations Conference
on Environment
and Development,
and established in 1994
to address the issues
of desertification,
land degradation and
drought and to promote
sustainable development
in the world’s drylands.
During the Conference,
approximately 6,400
scientists, experts,
government officials
and non-governmental
organization staff members
from 156 countries
discussed strategies
to halt desertification.
Today, we’ll present
part one of a three-part
series featuring
Supreme Master
Television’s interviews with
Conference participants.
In terms of
sustainable development,
drylands are arid,
semi-arid and
dry sub-humid regions,
generally excluding deserts,
and are characterized
by sparse, irregular
precipitation, large daily
temperature variations
and soil with
little organic matter.
Drylands cover 61.5-million
square kilometers
or 41.3% of Earth’s
land surface,
a huge proportion
considering that
the rest of the planet’s land
includes mountains
along with arable regions.
Drylands also contain
about 44% of
the world’s farmed areas,
where plant species
endemic to arid climates
account for
30% of the crops
currently being cultivated.
In addition,
drylands are home
to 2.1-billion people,
90% of whom live
in developing countries.
Such major cities as
Cairo, Egypt,
Mexico City, Mexico
and New Delhi, India
are located in drylands.
Thus, sustainable
management and
development of drylands
are essential measures
for governments to address.
Desertification,
as we all know,
is a serious problem
affecting the whole world
and has caused
a lot of low production
in our soils.
The term desertification
refers to the degradation
of land in arid, semi-arid
and dry sub-humid regions
due to climatic variations,
human activity
and other factors.
Over 100 countries
are affected
by the phenomenon.
Africa is the world’s
driest continent, where
two-thirds of the surface
area is desert or drylands,
and frequent,
acute droughts severely
threaten many nations.
The Sahara Desert
is expanding at a rate
of 48 kilometers a year.
And the Sahel,
a 1,000 kilometer belt
of semi-arid land
that is marked
by the Sahara Desert
to the north
and savanna to the south
is being severely affected
in parts of Burkina Faso,
Chad, Djibouti,
Eritrea, Ethiopia,
Mali, Mauritania,
Niger, Nigeria,
Senegal and Sudan.
Niger is one of the
countries most affected
by the problem
of desertification.
It's a landlocked country
with no outlet to the sea,
where three-fourths
of the territory,
the land surface is desert.
Desertification
in my country, because
I come from Burkina Faso,
it is a phenomenon
that is much related
to the issue of droughts,
the extreme phenomena
of climate change.
Asia is another continent
with areas prone to
desertification, including
1.7-billion hectares
of land ranging from
the Middle East
to Central Asia
and the Pacific Coast.
Land degradation
is expanding deserts
in China, India, Iran,
Mongolia and Pakistan,
as well as the sandy regions
of the Middle East.
In fact, Asia is
the continent being
most seriously affected
by growing deserts.
The desertification rate
has increased in Mongolia
because Mongolia
is a landlocked country
and it has
a mainland atmosphere.
Secondly,
according to the altitude,
many Mongolian regions
are located over 1,000
meters above sea level.
About 70% of all the land
of Mongolia
is being affected
by desertification
with different rates
in different regions.
Some regions have
a higher rate
of desertification,
some have a middle rate
and some have a lower rate.
Last year at the point
where desertification
has occurred
in the Gobi Desert area,
we held
a parliament session
to make the whole world
focus on desertification.
Kazakhstan has vast
territories, more than
272-million hectares.
And more than 70%
are pastures.
The battle
with soil degradation
and desertification
has great significance
for our country.
Climate change aggravated
by rapidly increasing
greenhouse-gas emissions
has a hugely
detrimental impact
on our Earth’s drylands
through increased loss
of water from the soil
and sparse or erratic
precipitation.
On the other hand,
drylands are
significant carbon sinks
that store 46%
of global carbon.
When land degradation
occurs,
it releases carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere.
The principal causes
of this desertification are
the climate factors, which
make it a very arid zone.
Then, the human factors
are linked to degradation
due to the use
of natural resources.
It is also clear
that our country,
the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, is suffering
from the pressure
of climate change.
This is really obvious
in regions located
to the north and the south,
I would say mainly
the region of Katanga,
where before
the rainy season lasted
six to seven months.
Now we are starting to see
periods of five months
and this is really serious.
And also we have to add
the climate variability,
which renders all
the agricultural programs
no longer suitable.
Over the past 40 years,
analysis shows that
due to global warming,
the impact
of climate change
has influenced Mongolia
more than three times
than the world.
More clearly,
while the average
atmospheric temperature
of the world increased
by 0.74 degrees Celsius,
the Mongolian temperature
has risen by
2.10 degrees Celsius.
So it is a main, leading
driver of desertification.
Adding to this, vegetation
is affected by the impact
of climate change.
Climate change
is affecting all countries.
We have desertification
in some areas
due to climate change.
Many years before,
we didn’t face the problem
that we have.
The amount of rain
is becoming less
due to climate change.
And even if we have
the amount of rain
which is enough, now
we are getting the water
in a very short period
during the year.
This is affecting our region
in the Middle East
in general.
The ecological system
of a dryland region
is extremely fragile.
If land degradation
proceeds, desert-like
conditions are created.
Data from
the United Nations shows
that approximately
12-million hectares
of land, an area
larger than Bulgaria,
are succumbing to
degradation each year.
And 70%
of Earth’s drylands
are already degraded
to some degree.
This trend
has been exacerbated
by rapid deforestation.
I believe
that the main cause
is the human being.
The human being
is the main cause,
because cutting the trees,
the forest fires, and
the land degradation,
mostly is due to
human beings.
Of course, land erosion,
water, floods, other
weather conditions also
cause desertification.
The rate of degradation
in Indonesia
is quite high, actually.
And the ability of
the country to rehabilitate
cannot match
the rate of degradation.
Currently,
the deforestation situation
has become
more and more serious
because of the exploitation
of the forest
by private enterprise.
And also, the population
has this source
of revenue, the forest.
So there is a strong stress
by the population
on the forest.
The land is also
equally degrading
across the country
because of
this human pressure.
In fact, the cultural
practices being used
are not compatible
with methods
that preserve the land.
And this phenomenon
is strongly felt
around big cities where
usually after big rainfalls,
there are landslides.
The problem is really
serious in the cities
concerning
land degradation.
The desertification
of land degradation
in Guatemala
is very serious
because we have a
high population growth.
We don’t have
clear development plans
for using the land and
having access to the land.
Therefore there are many
regions in the country
which have degraded
very fast, and we are
losing also the forest.
We would like to thank
all the attendees
of the Conference
for determinedly working
to end desertification.
May we ensure further land
does not become desert
through better stewardship
of our planet.
For more information
on the 10th Session
of the Conference
of the Parties
to the United Nations
Convention to
Combat Desertification,
please visit
www.UNCCD.int
Please join us again
next Wednesday
for Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home and
part two of our feature
on the Conference.
Eco-conscious viewers,
thank you for watching
today’s program.
May all lives be imbued
with divine love
from Heaven.
Concerned viewers,
welcome to Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home.
From October 10 to 21,
2011, the 10th Session
of the Conference
of the Parties
to the United Nations
Convention to Combat
Desertification (UNCCD)
was held in Changwon,
South Korea.
One of three major
United Nations
environmental agreements,
the Convention
was adopted at the 1992
United Nations Conference
on Environment
and Development,
and established in 1994
to address the issues
of desertification,
land degradation and
drought and to promote
sustainable development
in the world’s drylands.
During the Conference,
approximately 6,400
scientists, experts,
government officials
and non-governmental
organization staff members
from 156 countries
discussed strategies
to halt desertification.
The term desertification
refers to the degradation
of land in arid, semi-arid
and dry sub-humid regions
due to climatic variations,
human activity
and other factors.
Over 100 countries
and 1.2-billion people
are affected
by the phenomenon.
Today, we’ll present
part two of a three-part
series featuring
Supreme Master
Television’s interviews with
Conference participants.
Topsoil is the uppermost
layer of soil
containing nutrient-rich
organic matter
and micro-organisms.
When this invaluable
layer erodes, it results
in enormous declines
in general crop-growing
capacity.
Around the world,
the rate of erosion
far exceeds that of
soil replenishment, with
soil being swept away
10 times faster
than it is restored
in the United States,
and 50 times faster
in China and India.
The cause is mainly
bad management
of the land cover.
We are cutting the forest
without renewing,
without putting new trees.
The cities are growing
very fast and they are not
taking into account
the environment
as an issue in their
development plans.
When you open the land
for agriculture,
they’re using a lot of
agricultural chemicals.
So basically after
a couple of years,
we lose the topsoil
and we lose fertility
because we are only
using chemicals
to produce (crops).
The Great Plains region
in the midwestern
United States
experienced extreme
soil erosion during
the Dust Bowl period
of the 1930s.
Massive amounts of
topsoil were blown from
degraded fields
and transported away
in storm clouds.
Soil ecosphere is
complex with countless
species interacting to
generate organic matter.
Soil forms over
a long period of time,
playing a role
as the groundwork
of civilizations.
But, Professor
David Montgomery
of the University of
Washington, USA
warns in his book,
“Dirt: The Erosion
of Civilization” that
“it only takes one good
rainstorm when the soil
is bare to lose
a century's worth of dirt.”
When the soil is degraded,
in fact, we cannot
make the recovery
of the organic matter
in these soils.
So, we come to have
completely barren soils
which are difficult
to recover within
a few years.
It takes a very long time
to recover these lands.
With the influence of
tropical storms
and hurricanes, we are
losing a lot of fertile soil,
therefore the
desertification issue
becomes more important
for the country.
When desertification
intensifies, it will cause
the arable and productive
lands to recede.
In one of our research studies
in one region in Iran,
within 40 years
the arable land receded
1,000 meters
and turned into deserts.
The so-called
“slash-and-burn”
farming method,
a key driver of
desertification, involves
felling vegetation and
setting fires on the land
to create cropland
or pasture for livestock.
Globally, an estimated
250-500-million farmers
worldwide employ
this technique.
In addition,
the use of firewood
for cooking and heating
by two-billion people
is increasing the rate
of forest clearing.
The main causes of
deforestation are poor
agricultural practices;
that is, the slash-and-
burn method.
Farmers cut down trees
to expand their
production area.
Another cause could be
we have some experiences
of rampant bushfires.
During the dry season,
a lot of forests get burned
and this has also
contributed to the loss
of biodiversity.
Slash-and-burn agriculture?
This is a traditional
practice which was used
by local communities
in the days long ago
when resources
were still abundant.
The use of wood as
a source of energy by
98% of the population
of the country (Niger),
and the fact that there is
an increasing population,
are also important.
These are all factors
which together exacerbate
the degrading situation of
the environment in which
these communities live.
The most important
causes are mainly
related to bushfires,
to overgrazing, but also
to the problems linked
to salinization and
to the exploitation of
timber-forest resources.
So, as a result, many
lands are degraded.
If you see that nearly
90% of the population
uses wood for cooking
in a Sahelian country,
this really pushes
the forest back.
And this will
bring desertification
because without trees
we have wind erosion
and rain erosion,
which will come
and affect the land.
Desertification and
land degradation destroy
the natural ecosystem
of drylands, eventually
altering the structure of
the biological community
and accelerating
biodiversity loss,
with associated plants
and animals becoming
endangered or extinct.
Soil scientist
Elaine Ingham of Oregon
State University, USA,
says that, “Just one gram
of healthy agricultural
soil contains around
100 yards of
threadlike fungal material,
100 million bacteria,
tens of thousands of
one-celled organisms
called protozoa, and
up to 2,000 tiny worms
called nematodes.”
There is a link between
biodiversity and
the production of the land,
the soil fertility.
Basically the soil fertility
is due to the biodiversity
in the soil.
We are very rapidly
losing our biodiversity.
And at same time
we are growing very fast
and we are losing our
natural resources very fast.
We are having a high
rate of losing species,
and ecosystems.
It’s a microcosm of
what’s happening
all over our planet.
Its biodiversity is impacted.
And I think one of
the take-home messages
for me at a conference
like this is that we’re still
dealing with the effects
of climate change,
but we need to deal
with the root causes.
And I think that all the time,
all of those impacts
are squeezing,
and constricting
our natural areas,
our ecosystems
and biodiversity.
The United Nations states
that global income loss
from desertification and
degradation is estimated
to be a staggering
US$42-billion annually.
Italy sees the problems
of land degradation
and desertification
as related issues from
a very close perspective,
not as somebody else’s
problem. It surely affects
landscape and economics
in my country, where
the tourism industry
is very significant
in contributing
to its economics.
Water shortages are
an especially significant
matter in drylands due to
decreased rainfall and
higher evaporation rates.
To maintain basic
well-being,
an individual needs
at least 2,000 cubic meters
of water a year,
but dryland residents
have only 1,300
cubic meters available.
Dry and semi-dry areas
have serious droughts
because
the land degradation
gets worse in all areas.
We have less rain, more
use of natural resources.
Land grabbing by
the private sector
or other companies,
deforestation, and
all these things together
make the situation
very bad, in particular,
for the indigenous peoples,
and rural communities’
livelihood.
There is a big threat
for those communities
and their livelihoods.
Overgrazing
is a main driver of
land degradation
and desertification.
Grazing and trampling
by livestock severely
devastates the soil
in rangeland areas.
The livestock sector
is a Mongolian
traditional industry.
But nowadays,
overgrazing by livestock
has sharply increased.
The livestock sector
inefficiently drains
our grassland resources
and plants are being
destroyed rapidly.
They disappear
because of overgrazing.
Thus, you can conclude
that overgrazing
leads to desertification.
That is the largest
single source of impact.
We also have degraded
lands due to overgrazing,
especially
in Northern Senegal
where intensive
livestock farming is really
extremely overdone.
Livestock severely
impacts soils
because the animals
are grazing everywhere
and there is no kind of
concentration
for organic materials and
obviously that doesn’t
help soil to be fertilized.
We have been
experiencing the problem
of overgrazing,
especially in dry areas.
With the high population
of the livestock,
they make a compaction
of the soil.
And then trees
cannot grow as well.
Then the process of
degradation happens.
Only 30% of the Earth’s
surface is covered
by land, and 30% of
that area is used
for livestock grazing
or growing grain
for animal feed.
Clearing land for these
purposes has created
tremendous ecological
instability and grave
soil degradation
around the world.
May humanity quickly
stop all livestock raising
to prevent further
desertification and
restore dryland ecosystems.
In closing,
we’d like to convey
our appreciation to
the Conference attendees
for speaking to us
about desertification
and providing insights
on how this phenomenon
affects their
respective nations.
For more information
on the 10th Session
of the Conference
of the Parties
to the United Nations
Convention to Combat
Desertification,
please visit
www.UNCCD.int
Please join us again
next Wednesday
on Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home
for the conclusion
of our feature
on the Conference.
Eco-wise viewers,
thank you for watching
today’s program.
May we all receive
Heaven’s everlasting
grace and abundant love.
Observant viewers,
welcome to Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home.
From October 10 to 21,
2011, the 10th Session
of the Conference
of the Parties
to the United Nations
Convention to Combat
Desertification (UNCCD)
was held in Changwon,
South Korea.
One of three major
United Nations
environmental agreements,
the Convention
was adopted at the 1992
United Nations Conference
on Environment
and Development,
and established in 1994
to address the issues
of desertification,
land degradation and
drought and to promote
sustainable development
in the world’s drylands.
During the Conference,
approximately 6,400
scientists, experts,
government officials
and non-governmental
organization staff members
from 156 countries
discussed strategies
to halt desertification.
The term desertification
refers to the degradation
of land in arid, semi-arid
and dry sub-humid regions
due to climatic variations,
human activity
and other factors.
Over 100 countries
and 1.2-billion people
are affected
by the phenomenon.
Today, we’ll present
the concluding episode
in a three-part
series featuring
Supreme Master
Television’s interviews with
Conference participants.
Desertification
is a very important thing.
It’s not so visible as
a mudslide or a landslide,
but desertification
is a reality.
It’s affecting many people.
People are dying
of hunger because of
desertification.
In Iran, we have
about 32 million hectares
of deserts of which
7 million hectares
are in a critical state.
And to date,
we have investigated
10 million hectares
of these desert regions
and we have
2 million hectares
of the critical regions
under control.
The primary reason
for this is the geological
structure of Iran.
Apart from that,
climate change
and inappropriate water
resource management,
drying up of the wetlands
and lowlands,
and overutilization
of arable lands
are causing the
increased desertification.
How can desertification
be stopped?
Countries are employing
various means including
investing in reforestation,
promoting better
farming practices such as
vegan organic agriculture,
supporting
improved irrigation, and
implementing programs
to raise public awareness
about desertification.
In our country, we are
working on reforestation.
Because the green cover
in Lebanon
has been reduced
in 40 years about 20%.
It was 33%.
Now it’s 13%.
So we are working on
reforestation.
In some places,
we got floods.
So we are working on
flood-risk management.
Also we are working on
the rural community.
We are asking people
to stay; not to leave
their rural areas,
because when they leave
their rural areas,
these areas will
undergo desertification
year after year.
So we are trying
to help them
to stay in their regions,
not to leave the region
and come to the cities.
And whenever they leave,
no one will take care of
the trees, no one will
take care of the water.
In addition,
we are working on
water harvesting.
Because sometimes
we have a lot of rain,
but this rain will
go to the rivers and
after the rivers, out to sea.
Now we have
a very big program
to have hill lakes
to collect the water
for irrigation and
for water as tap water.
So this is in our plan.
We have a five-year plan.
Professor Jonathan Foley,
Director
of the University of
Minnesota, USA’s Institute
for the Environment,
estimates that to produce
one kilogram
of boneless beef,
30 kilograms of grain
are needed.
He also states
that 35% of our planet’s
agricultural lands are used
to produce animal feed
and that cattle
and dairy farming
occupy a staggering
3.38 billion hectares
of land globally.
A Humane Society
of the United States
report entitled
“The Impact
of Animal Agriculture
on Global Warming
and Climate Change”
concludes:
“The animal agriculture
sector can also play
a significant role
in desertification
due to overgrazing and
trampling of rangelands
by farm animals.
Desertification tends to
reduce the productivity
and amount
of vegetative cover,
which then allows CO2
to escape.
The FAO [Food and
Agriculture Organization]
estimates that
animal agriculture-induced
desertification of pastures
may release
up to 100 million tonnes
of CO2 per year.”
By ending this enormously
harmful industry,
we would spare our Earth
a tremendous
environmental burden
and protect drylands from
degrading and becoming
permanent deserts.
There is no doubt
that the livestock industry
entails double cost
and double pressure
to the environment.
First of all, we have to
really be very careful
about all this
industrialized meat, eggs,
poultry and all these things.
It’s not at all natural.
If you are
more vegetarian, you can
feed more people.
Livestock raising
for meat production is
the single largest emitter
of humane-produced
methane, a very potent
greenhouse gas.
It has 72 times
the warming potential of
carbon dioxide measured
over a 20-year period.
The problem with livestock
is that they produce
a lot of methane.
They release
a lot of carbon.
So I think
if we try to consume
a more vegetable diet,
rather than meat diet,
I think that’s a good action.
You can reduce
the emissions of carbon.
Through a collaborative
process and ultimately
through legislation,
following a few studies,
we have now
a government policy
to reduce
the number of livestock.
The goal is to reduce
the number of livestock
from our arable lands
by 3 million,
and we need to replace
the livelihood of farmers
with alternative vocations.
A study by the
Netherlands Environmental
Assessment Agency
found that the cost
of lowering atmospheric
greenhouse-gas levels
by 2050
would be US$40-trillion.
However the Agency
concluded that
with a worldwide change
to a plant-based diet,
the cost of mitigating
global warming would be
reduced by up to 80%.
I personally think it’s good
to have plant-based diets.
There’re a lot of
complications due to
an animal-based diet.
Vegan organic farming
is of great benefit
in enhancing soil fertility
and retention,
as it builds up the soil
and enhances soil quality,
thus reducing erosion
from wind and water.
Thus this method
of cultivation
is an excellent way
to stem land degradation
and desertification.
As pesticides and
herbicides are not used,
vegan organic agriculture
also helps to mitigate
biodiversity loss.
Moreover,
the reduced consumption
of surface and ground water
with this farming
technique minimizes
soil salinization.
The Rodale Institute
in the United States
estimates that if all the
world’s approximately
14 million square kilometers
of tillable farmland
were to be cultivated
organically,
the soil could store 40%
of current CO2 emissions.
We didn’t start
organic agriculture
until recently,
only in the last five years,
and definitely
this can create
a big transformation
in preventing
land degradation
and desertification.
We need to have
certain subsidies,
more like incentives,
that will open
new possibilities
and increase the chance
that people will convert
from chemical agriculture
to a greener agriculture.
We try really
to spread the idea that
organic, sustainable use
of natural resources is
the most important thing
for fighting against
climate change,
and land degradation.
What is sure is that
using chemicals and
fertilizer and herbicides
is little by little
polluting water
and making the land
and the soil unusable.
On a number of occasions
Supreme Master
Ching Hai has spoken
about the dangers
of desertification,
as in this video message
presented during
a June 2009
climate change
conference held
in the Veracruz, Mexico.
According to
the United Nations,
desertification,
which often results from
felling too many trees
and damages that occurs
from such activities as
cattle grazing, is affecting
the well-being of more
than 1.2 billion people in
more than 100 countries
at risk.
Overgrazing by livestock,
which occupies nearly
a third of our Earth’s
land surface worldwide,
is a major cause
of desertification
and other damages, and is
responsible for more than
50% of land erosion.
Now, we must stop
livestock grazing
to protect our soil
and protect our life.
We must be the solution
and encourage others
with all the convincing
and supporting scientific,
physical and moral data
that is available to us
so they do the same.
Adopting a plant-based
diet can halt as much as
80% of global warming,
eradicate world hunger,
stop war, promote peace,
and it will
free up the Earth’s water
as well as many
other precious resources,
offering a lifeline for the
planet and for humanity.
In short, it will
very quickly halt many
of the global problems
facing us right now.
Therefore, it is vital that
we change our lifestyle –
it’s very easy to do it –
setting a noble example
for others to follow,
and do our part to bring
to the public’s attention
the urgent climate change
issues and its solutions;
the foremost being the
vegan diet, to safeguard
our precious planet.
It is time to walk the talk,
because there is
not much time left now.
To close today’s program,
we present
a kind message
from one of the
Conference’s participants,
His Excellency
Gansukh Luimed,
Mongolia's Minister of
Environment and Tourism,
to Supreme Master
Ching Hai.
Well, many more people
are doing good deeds
for humankind.
In my opinion,
Master Ching Hai is one
of the exemplary persons
who is doing good deeds
to make all humankind
get enlightenment.
May all of your work
and all your good deeds
be extended abundantly.
Wishing you big success
in your noble deeds
which are dedicated
to all humankind’s
well-being. Thank you.
Our sincere thanks
to all our interviewees
for sharing your thoughts
on halting desertification
and to the parties
to the United Nations
Convention to
Combat Desertification
for your dedicated efforts
to work together to
address this urgent issue.
For more information
on the 10th Session
of the Conference
of the Parties
to the United Nations
Convention to
Combat Desertification,
please visit
www.UNCCD.int
Thank you for watching
this week’s Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home.
May all lives
be filled with compassion
and grace from Heaven.