From Global Environmental Discourse to Local Adaptations and Responses: A Desertification Research Agenda for Central Asia

The UN Convention to Combat Desertification was one of the key conventions emerging from the 1992 Conference on Environment and Development. At this meeting, inter-governmental organisations, NGOs and scientists agreed that desertification and land degradation are ‘major economic, social and environmental problems in all regions of the world’ and that they ‘should be addressed through a United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification’ (Chapter 12, Agenda 21; UNCCD, 1994). This chapter outlines the early stages of a novel research project that aims to explore the links between this global environmental discourse on desertification and the practical, local socio-economic impacts and responses to land degradation in the Central Asia region. It first explores the changing role of science in combating desertification. Second, it provides some background to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, highlighting three key features of its approach: decentralisation, participation and the importance of local knowledge in anti-desertification activities. It then reviews the historical links between the environmental, social, political and economic dimensions of land degradation and desertification in Central Asia. A programme of activities is presented next, which is designed to investigate how the international approaches outlined in the UN Convention to Combat Desertification may impact upon national and local projects and policies to reduce land degradation and improve rural livelihoods. The paper concludes that there is a growing need for detailed, empirical case study research which reflects more intently on the tensions between international and local discourses of desertification. This is paramount in order to better understand the local challenges posed by the desertification issue, as well as contributing towards the creation of more appropriate and effective mitigation strategies at a regional level.