New York- We strongly believe that sustainable development is possible only when we are able to address the underlying causes of our common threats.

Remarks by Hon’ble Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Narayan Kaji Shrestha ‘Prakash’ at the Interactive Roundtable of the High level meeting of the General Assembly on addressing desertification, land degradation and drought in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication (New York, 20 September 2011)

Distinguished Co-chair,

My delegation attaches high importance to today’s roundtable discussion on “addressing desertification, land degradation and drought in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication. On behalf of the delegation of Nepal, I thank the Secretary-General for convening this high level interactive discussion.   
The world has witnessed an increasing trend of desertification; land degradation and drought and this has caused a profound impact on our agriculture, ecosystems, water resources, power supplies and the entire human life.

Nepal is one of the LDCs which is grappling with poverty and underdevelopment. Its economy is basically dependant on climate-sensitive and subsistence agriculture, which has been negatively affected by the degradation of land along with desertification and drought. This has caused the loss of agricultural productivity, contraction of our economic activities, further pushing us towards the brink of extreme poverty and hunger. The Note by the Secretary-General has rightly pointed out that LDCs in South Asia have experienced huge losses as their agricultural productivity has shrunk by 30 to 40%. Yield from rain-fed agriculture could be reduced by up to 50% by 2020 in some African LDCs.

Mountain countries, because of their steeper slope, face these challenges in an acute manner. Mountain ecosystems are among the most fragile and vulnerable ecosystems on earth that are also susceptible to land degradation and desertification. Climate led hazards such as prolonged draughts, water stress, intense rainfall, floods and landslides along with human induced problems such as subsistence farming system, deforestation and loss of biodiversity, have further intensified the land degradation process and negatively impacted on our life and society. This is the reality we are facing day by day in Nepal.

To confront these challenges and as party to the important UN environmental conventions, Nepal has developed several policies and devised actions to address drivers of ecosystem degradation. Nepal is a mountainous country located in the Central Himalayan region. Poverty Reduction Strategy, Sustainable Development Strategy, National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, National Climate Change Policy, National Adaptation Plan of Action, REDD  programs are our key initiatives to conserve biodiversity, combat desertification and safeguard livelihoods. In order to maintain natural environment and biodiversity, we are committed to maintain around 40% of our land under forest cover. Being rich in biodiversity, we have set aside around 23% of our land under protected area to save some of the world’s unique flora and fauna.

Our experience on community forestry has been of a remarkable success in protecting forest, biodiversity, land and livelihood with strong community leadership and ownership. It has shown that a degraded ecosystem can be successfully restored and ecosystem services could be revived through effective community participation. We are now encouraged to adopt community based ecosystem management at landscape level.

We strongly believe that sustainable development is possible only when we are able to address the underlying causes of our common threats. We must be able to provide everybody adequate food to eat, clean water to drink, safe environment to grow and a peaceful life and equal opportunity to live in a dignified manner.

Protection of land is directly related to human life and prosperity. This should be a common responsibility of us all. A strong partnership and enhanced support and cooperation are urgent in order to protect lives, develop eco-friendly infrastructure, build capacity of our people, and ensure transfer of technology.

I am confident that this historic gathering will lead us towards a concrete plan of action in a spirit of global solidarity.  I believe that the preparatory process of Rio+20 and the Conference itself would also give due attention to the issues relating to land degradation, drought and desertification particularly of the mountain countries and find ways to address them in a sustainable manner.

Thank you.

Narayan Kaji Shrestha
Deputy Prime Minister & Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nepal

Read our exclusive reporting on:

संघीयता | राजतन्त्र? | महिला | NRN | दलित समस्या | न्यू योर्क नेपाली | प्रबास | India

Not enough of reading us? Visit our multi-media channels:

Comments

Name *
Email (For verification & Replies)
URL
Code   

Submit Comment