# Monitoring and assessment of desertification, land degradation and drought: knowledge management, institutions and economics

Mariam Akhtar-Schuster, Harriet Bigas, Richard Thomas, Pamela Chasek, Mark Reed, Mélanie Requier-Desjardins, Stefan Sperlich, Lindsay Stringer

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## ► To cite this version:

Mariam Akhtar-Schuster, Harriet Bigas, Richard Thomas, Pamela Chasek, Mark Reed, et al.. Monitoring and assessment of desertification, land degradation and drought: knowledge management, institutions and economics: White Paper of the DSD Working Group 3. UNU-INWEH, 9, 126 p., 2010, UNU Desertification Series, 978-92-8086-014-6. hal-02818457

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UNU Desertification Series No. 9

# MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT OF DESERTIFICATION AND LAND DEGRADATION: KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT, INSTITUTIONS AND ECONOMICS

## White Paper of the DSD Working Group 3

Edited by: Mariam Akhtar-Schuster, Harriet Bigas and Richard Thomas

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UNITED NATIONS
UNIVERSITY

UNU-INWEH

Institute for Water,
Environment and Health

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DesertNet
International

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UNITED NATIONS
UNIVERSITY

**UNU-INWEH**
Institute for Water,
Environment and Health

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**DesertNet**
International

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# Monitoring and Assessment of Desertification and Land Degradation: Knowledge Management, Institutions and Economics

## White Paper of the DSD Working Group 3

Edited by: Mariam Akhtar-Schuster, Harriet Bigas and Richard Thomas

Association of DesertNet International
United Nations University - Institute for Water, Environment and Health

Dryland Science for Development Consortium

February 2010
This White Paper is a result of an international collaboration and consultation coordinated by Working Group 3 of the Dryland Science for Development Consortium. The findings of this Paper were presented at the First UNCCD Scientific Conference held during the COP-9 in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 22-24 September 2009. The final version of the White Paper takes into account the feedback and comments received during the online global consultation from May-August 2009 and those received at the Scientific Conference.

Working Group 3 is co-chaired by the Association of DesertNet International and the United Nations Institute for Water, Environment and Health. For more information, please contact the DSD Working Group 3 leaders: Dr. Mariam Akhtar-Schuster (makhtar-schuster@botanik.uni-hamburg.de) and Dr. Richard Thomas (rthomas@inweh.unu.edu).

Please see www.drylandscience.org for more information on the DSD and for the findings and White Papers of Working Groups 1 and 2.

This document is available at:

www.european-desertnet.eu

www.inweh.unu.edu

www.drylandscience.org

Coordinating authors and editors: Mariam Akhtar-Schuster, Harriet Bigas and Richard Thomas

Lead authors: Mariam Akhtar-Schuster, Pamela Chasek, Mark Reed, Mélanie Requier-Desjardins, Stefan Sperlich, Lindsay Stringer and Richard Thomas

Contributing authors and reviewers: Bhim Adhikari, Julius Atlhopheng, John Antle, Felicitas Bachmann, Gary Bastin, Gérard Begni, Marc Bied-Charreton, Harriet Bigas, Silke Brehm, Eleni Briassouli, Mourad Briki, John Briggs, Michaela Buenemann, Sally Bunning, Martin Bwalya, Raban Chanda, Valentin Ciubotaru, Jonathan Davies, Meike Dickel, Esther Diez, Secretariat of Diversitas International, Andy Dougill, Guiseppe Enne, Stefan Erasmi, Wafa Essahli, Ioan Fazey, Luuk Fleskens, Nicky Geeson, Alain Grainger, Stefano Grego, Ingrid Hartmann, Peter Herkenrath, Rudi Hessel, Joseph Holden, Klaus Hubacek, Antono Ioris, Doru Leonard Irimie, Jessica Jones, Nick Jordan, Nabil Ben Khatra, Mike Kirby, Bertus Kruger, Praveen Kujal, Alejandro Lago, Pietro Laureano, John Lehmann, Hans-Peter Liniger, Pedro Machado, Lago Magole, Dimitri Margaritis, Rainer Marggraf, Carlos San Juan Mesonada, Wanda Mphinyane, Doan Nainggolan, David Niemeijer, Ren Ohinata, David Ojima, G. Olukoye, Siv Oystese, Soledad Parada, Eric Patrick, Jem Perkins, Jeremy Phillipson, Christina Prell, Juan Puigdefabregas, Giovanni Quaranta, Claire Quinn, Christopher Raymond, Coen Ritsema, Alison Reeves, Per Ryden, Joachim Saborowski, Ute Schmiedel, Brigitte Schuster, Maurizio Sciortino, Reuben J. Sebego, Mary Seely, Lindsay Stringer, Houcine Taamallah, Gudrun Schwilch, Stephen Twomlow, Marie Jose van der Werff Ten Bosch, Petra Vergunst, Simone Verzandvoort, Lynn Wagner, Qian Ye, Chiara Zanolla and Walter Zucchini
## Acknowledgements

We are grateful for the contributions made from the following delegates during the First UNCCD Scientific Conference at COP-9: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, France, Holy See, India, Jamaica, Mali, Morocco, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Yemen, UNEP and UNFCCC. The tireless efforts of Harriet Bigas (UNU-INWEH) and Chiara Zanolla (NRD, Italy) are acknowledged for their indispensable coordinating support in preparation of the First UNCCD Scientific Conference and in the finalisation of the White Paper and Conference Proceedings. We thank Jan Moeller (Biocentre Klein Flottbek and Botanical Garden, University of Hamburg, Germany) for the logistic and technical support in preparation of the two Working Group 3 preparatory workshops at the University of Hamburg, Germany during the international consultation phase.

We thank the Convention Project to Combat Desertification (CCD Project) of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH acting on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) for generous financial support in the consultations and preparation of this white paper.
The United Nations University (UNU) is an organ of the United Nations established by the General Assembly in 1972 to be an international community of scholars engaged in research, advanced training and the dissemination of knowledge related to pressing global problems of human survival, development and welfare. The UNU Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) is a member of the UNU family which focuses on strengthening water management capacity, particularly of developing countries, and providing on-the-ground project support.

The Association of DesertNet International (DNI) is a non-governmental, non-profit international scientific network composed of scientists working in bio-physical and human sciences research on land degradation and desertification. This international scientific network has no government affiliation and is independent of any form of lobby or private interests. DesertNet International encourages interdisciplinary research on desertification, land degradation, drought, and sustainable land management, and facilitates international scientific exchange of information and partnership building. DesertNet International identifies priority areas for research and provides academically sound data and information on dryland development issues to policy-makers.

### Disclaimer

The designations employed and presentations of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations University (UNU) concerning legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed in this publication are those of the respective authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UNU. Mention of the names of firms or commercial products does not imply endorsement by UNU.

© The United Nations University, 2010.

### Available from:

United Nations University - Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH)
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Hamilton, Ontario L8P 0A1
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Tel: +1 905 667 5511

Fax: +1 905 667 5510

Email: contact@inweh.unu.edu

Web: www.inweh.unu.edu

Cover photo credits: Zafar Adeel, Ute Schmiedel and Richard Thomas.

ISBN 92-808-6014-3
Table of Contents

WG 3 White Paper Summary and Recommendations ...................................................... 1

1. Chapter 1: Introduction................................................................................................ 7

1.1. The Need for Monitoring and Assessment ................................................................ 7

1.2. Challenges to the Implementation of Monitoring and Assessment Systems......... 8

1.3. Consideration of the Complexity of Land Degradation........................................ 9

1.4. The Need for Better Integration of Effort ................................................................ 11

2. Chapter 2: Knowledge Management and Institutions for Monitoring and Assessment of Desertification and Land Degradation.................................................. 14

2.1. Summary and Key Recommendations.................................................................. 14

2.2. Introduction.................................................................................................................. 15

2.3. Principles of Knowledge Management.................................................................. 16

2.4. Knowledge Management for Monitoring DLD .......................................................... 22

I. Horizontal local knowledge management.................................................................. 22

II. Horizontal national knowledge management .......................................................... 33

III. Horizontal international knowledge management (including regional) ................. 41

IV. Vertical knowledge management: linking land degradation monitoring and assessment from local to international scales................................................................ 51

2.5. Mainstreaming Monitoring and Assessment ................................................................ 60

I. Challenges to mainstreaming.................................................................................. 60

II. Sustainability of M&A .......................................................................................... 65

III. Conclusions.................................................................................................................. 66

3. Chapter 3: Economic and Policy Considerations ...................................................... 67

3.1. Summary and Key Recommendations.................................................................. 67

3.2. Introduction.................................................................................................................. 68

3.3. The Economic Framework .................................................................................. 68

I. The Externalities of DLD .......................................................................................... 69

II. The Valuation of DLD .......................................................................................... 71

3.4. Costs for Monitoring .................................................................................................. 79

3.5. Suggestions for Policy Support for DLD and M&A .................................................. 79

I. Instruments for the Management of Externalities.................................................. 80

3.6. Valuation of actions to combat DLD and to promote international investments .. 86

3.7. Recommendations and Conclusions.................................................................. 89

References................................................................................................................................. 91

Annex I. Scientific Bodies Needed to Support the UNCCD........................................ 106

1. Key Recommendation(s).................................................................................. 106

2. Introduction.................................................................................................................. 106

2.1. Rationale for Scientific Bodies Needed in Support of the UNCCD.................. 106

2.2. Current Format of Scientific Input into the UNCCD........................................ 106

2.3. The Need for Two Types of Scientific Bodies in Support of the UNCCD......... 107

3. Scientific Assessment Bodies Supporting Sister Environmental Conventions.. 108

3.1. Lessons from IPCC, Montreal Protocal Assessment Panels, MEA, and IMoSEB/IPBES........................................................................................................ 109

3.2. Previous Recommendations Concerning a Scientific Assessment Body to Assist the UNCCD ........................................................................................................ 112
<table><tr><td>4.</td><td>A Scientific Assessment Body in Support of the UNCCD</td><td>113</td></tr><tr><td>4.1.</td><td>Key Attributes of an Effective Scientific Assessment Body in Support of the UNCCD</td><td>113</td></tr><tr><td>4.2.</td><td>Issues of Scientific Independence and Policy Relevance</td><td>116</td></tr><tr><td>4.3.</td><td>Possible Structural Elements for a Scientific Assessment Body</td><td>117</td></tr><tr><td>4.4.</td><td>Scope of Work of the Scientific Assessment Body</td><td>118</td></tr><tr><td>4.5.</td><td>Activities of the Scientific Assessment Body</td><td>118</td></tr><tr><td>4.6.</td><td>Resourcing the Science Assessment Body</td><td>119</td></tr><tr><td>4.7.</td><td>Outlook for a Recommendation to Form a Scientific Assessment Body to Assist the UNCCD</td><td>119</td></tr><tr><td>5.</td><td>A Scientific Research Body Aligned with the Needs of the UNCCD</td><td>120</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">References</td><td>121</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">List of Acronyms</td><td>123</td></tr></table>

## List of Figures

<table><tr><td>Figure 1.</td><td>Proposal for the establishment of an independent, international, interdisciplinary scientific body on monitoring and assessment of desertification and land degradation</td><td>6</td></tr><tr><td>Figure 2.</td><td>Scheme to encourage monitoring and assessment of land degradation</td><td>10</td></tr><tr><td>Figure 3.</td><td>Modes of KM</td><td>18</td></tr><tr><td>Figure 4.</td><td>Schedule of international assessments 2000-2010</td><td>44</td></tr><tr><td>Figure 5.</td><td>The Universal SLM framework</td><td>44</td></tr><tr><td>Figure 6.</td><td>Conceptual model of vertical knowledge management for land degradation monitoring and assessment and remediation</td><td>55</td></tr><tr><td>Figure 7.</td><td>Overview of the "learning for sustainability" methodology</td><td>58</td></tr></table>

## List of Tables

<table><tr><td>Table 1.</td><td>Different kinds of knowledge and ways of knowing</td><td>17</td></tr><tr><td>Table 2.</td><td>Building synergies between the UNCCD and other MEAs</td><td>42</td></tr><tr><td>Table 3.</td><td>Value of the environment</td><td>72</td></tr><tr><td>Table 4.</td><td>Ecosystem valuation techniques</td><td>73</td></tr><tr><td>Table 5.</td><td>An exhaustive basis for calculating the ERR of anti-desertification projects</td><td>88</td></tr></table>

## List of Boxes

<table><tr><td>Box 1.</td><td>Horizontal Knowledge Management Success Stories from Drynet</td><td>20</td></tr><tr><td>Box 2.</td><td>Forum for Integrated Resource Management (FIRM), Namibia</td><td>20</td></tr><tr><td>Box 3.</td><td>Horizontal Local Knowledge Management Using Indicators in Botswana</td><td>24</td></tr><tr><td>Box 4.</td><td>Local-level Land Degradation Monitoring and Decision-support in Namibia</td><td>25</td></tr><tr><td>Box 5.</td><td>Approaches to DLD M&amp;A in the Context of the Privatisation of Communal Rangelands in Botswana</td><td>27</td></tr><tr><td>Box 6.</td><td>Para-ecologists as Facilitators of Knowledge Exchange between Researchers and Land Users in Africa</td><td>28</td></tr></table>
<table><tr><td>Box 7. Development of a Concerted Action as a Tool of Knowledge Exchange to Support the Northern Mediterranean Action Programme to Combat Desertification (MEDRAP)</td><td>32</td></tr><tr><td>Box 8. Participatory Approach and Horizontal Knowledge Management of a Demonstrative Project to Fight Desertification in North Africa</td><td>32</td></tr><tr><td>Box 9. Interdisciplinary Programmes: the Master's in Development Practice</td><td>35</td></tr><tr><td>Box 10. Lessons from SCAPE: Information Sharing for Soil Conservation and Protection</td><td>37</td></tr><tr><td>Box 11. Regional Information-sharing Networks: DIVERSITAS</td><td>38</td></tr><tr><td>Box 12. Knowledge Management across MEAs: an Example from Sri Lanka</td><td>40</td></tr><tr><td>Box 13. Coordinated Action on the MEAs in France</td><td>40</td></tr><tr><td>Box 14. International Initiatives for Information Management</td><td>41</td></tr><tr><td>Box 15. Lessons Learned from the OSS DIS-EISI Experience</td><td>45</td></tr><tr><td>Box 16. Types of Assessments of Land Degradation</td><td>52</td></tr><tr><td>Box 17. Generic Steps for Mainstreaming Drylands into National Development Plans</td><td>62</td></tr><tr><td>Box 18. Budget for Satellite Monitoring</td><td>79</td></tr><tr><td>Box 19. A Model for Reducing DLD: The Use of Permits</td><td>80</td></tr><tr><td>Box 20. Example of PES Schemes Around the World</td><td>81</td></tr><tr><td>Box 21. Examples of Debt-for-nature Swaps</td><td>82</td></tr><tr><td>Box 22. Benefits of Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) Techniques for Rural Development, Central Plateau of Burkina Faso</td><td>87</td></tr></table>

List of Photos

<table><tr><td>Photo 1. Thorny bush encroachment in Boteti, Botswana</td><td>23</td></tr></table>
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# WG 3 White Paper Summary and Recommendations

Based on the outcomes of the scientific consultation of Dryland Science for Development (DSD) Working Group 3, the scientific community:

1. URGES the COP to encourage and support the improvement of national and regional coordination of M&A amongst government ministries, enabling national MEA Focal Points to collaborate on issues of mutual interest and pursue a more integrated and coordinated approach towards accessing funding and resources.

At the national level, coordination and collaboration of monitoring and assessment and other UNCCD-related activities should be strengthened between MEA Focal Points based in different ministries. This would lead to more efficient use of limited funds, increased collaboration, and improved information-sharing and reporting. This step is vital to enhancing synergies among ministries and offices responsible for cross-cutting issues such as land degradation, sustainable agriculture, sustainable land management, biodiversity conservation, adaptation to climate change, wetlands preservation, forest conservation and conservation of endangered species, and could facilitate mainstreaming with other government sectors (e.g., health, education, water, energy, etc.).

Collaboration at the national level can be improved by establishing a national coordination body for the Rio Conventions (UNCCD, UNFCC and CBD). While Focal Points may be based in different ministries, a national coordinating umbrella body could manage activities such as national implementation, funding for national reporting, communications to MEAs and COPs, maintenance of national databases, and the reporting process itself (see *WP3, chapters 2.5 and 2.6*). The coordination body, whether formal or informal, would thus have a cross-ministerial yet nationally-focused vantage point.

In the implementation of this recommendation, it is further proposed that cross-ministerial budgetary and scientific discussions be strengthened in the areas of climate, biodiversity and desertification in order to prioritise actions and discuss these national priorities with donors. A coordinated vertical and horizontal donor strategy and an alignment in cross-sectoral strategies and inter-Conventional actions at the national level could also support incentives to motivate private-sector investments that rely on national or even regional environmental agreements and standards. Enabling the involvement of the public (through NGOs, civil society organisations, community-based organizations, etc.) in drafting environmental policies will increase awareness of DLD and SLM, and thus contribute to the acceptance of the need for national mainstreaming and implementation of M&A (see *WP3, chapters 2.4, 2.5 and 2.6*).

2. URGES the COP to support the formation of national and regional scientific bodies through a knowledge-management based approach, and to feed local, national and regional traditional and scientific knowledge on M&A into an international mechanism, as described in Recommendation 3.
Integrated human-environment systems are highly diverse and perceptions of DLD issues within these systems can differ significantly. Various scientific methods (see *WP 3, chapter 2.5*), local knowledge and evidence suggest that there is no blanket approach to addressing DLD, and that the problem can only be solved if it is considered through a case-by-case approach within a common framework such as that suggested in *WP3, chapter 2.5*).

This necessitates timely information available at the local, national and regional levels that promotes and supports future land management decisions (see WP 3, chapters 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5). One way to accomplish this is to develop adequate national and/or regional scientific bodies to support and build capacity to integrate existing but diverse knowledge systems at the local, national and, in some cases, the regional level to support the development of national and/or regional capacities to monitor and assess DLD and promote the use of SLM. National and regional scientific bodies would help to reduce loss of knowledge and would improve institutional memory, allowing for a more effective identification of research gaps and priorities, and would provide an integrated knowledge base upon which to assess, monitor and tackle land degradation.

Members of these independent national and/or regional scientific bodies should be able to influence national academic curricula. This will enable them to identify means (e.g. scholarship programmes, training courses at national and/or regional institutions) to (i) build and support capacity to monitor and assess DLD and SLM; (ii) promote science, particularly interdisciplinary and participatory research, on DLD and SLM; and, (iii) effectively manage traditional, academic and modern technological knowledge on DLD and SLM at the national and regional levels. This will in turn validate existing knowledge on indicators, whether academic, traditional, or both, in order to empower national and regional capacities to:

* establish land degradation contexts and sustainability goals;

* identify, evaluate and select land degradation remediation strategies;

* identify, evaluate and select required land degradation indicators;

* regularly assess and address capacity-building needs at local, national and regional levels with regard to M&A of DLD and SLM;

* strengthen the coordination of M&A amongst ministries by enabling better policy- and decision-making through solid scientific reasoning;

* enable land managers, decision- and policy-makers in a range of contexts to select M&A methods appropriate to their particular context.

National Focal Points, Scientific and Technical Correspondents (STC) of the UNCCD and other experts would guarantee permanent information exchange between the national and/or regional bodies with relevant MEAs (see Figure 1). This would support the coordination of M&A amongst ministries, and strengthen local, national and regional capacities for long-term M&A.

National and regional scientific bodies need to be put in place as coordinating bodies that: (i) will respond to national and regional requests for advice; and, (ii) will provide scientific guidance to National Focal Points from relevant MEAs via Scientific and Technical Correspondents and other relevant experts. These independent scientific bodies will benefit from input from existing and any new national and regional scientific and traditional knowledge management networks. Bodies will provide advice on
integrated M&A and other scientific issues relevant to the sustainable management and
development of drylands with an aim of contributing towards capacity building at local,
national and regional levels.

National and regional scientific bodies should encourage training in the use of integrative multi-disciplinary tools and methods for addressing DLD. This may be facilitated by mechanisms such as personnel exchange, particularly between research and policy communities. A prerequisite to such capacity building may also involve strengthening national/regional academic curricula on dryland science for development. Academic curricula could benefit by integrating into local education systems lessons learned through south-south and north-south cooperation, and awareness of environmental issues and how to manage them via participatory approaches. Local-level capacities for M&A could be achieved through a showcasing of good practices and training exercises, which could be facilitated by NGOs and CSOs.

National and regional scientific bodies should be developed and coordinated
according to national and/or regional capacities, needs and requirements. Their
establishment should be based on the outcomes of National Capacity Self Assessments
(NCSA) for developing capacities at individual, institutional and systemic levels at
national and sub-national levels. National and regional scientific bodies should also: (i)
link with major land cover programmes; (ii) develop ongoing M&A activities; and, (iii)
supported by the broader UNCCD community.

Knowledge from national and regional scientific bodies would feed into an
international knowledge management system (as proposed under Recommendation 3,
see also Fig. 1 linking evidence from scientific research with relevant data and
information collected at local, national or regional scales to be fed into a proposed
independent, international interdisciplinary, scientific body on DLD (see
Recommendation 3).

3. RECOMMENDS the COP to establish an independent, international, interdisciplinary, scientific body to provide advice to stakeholders on M&A and other scientific issues relevant to DLD and SLM.

Indicators used at the local, national or regional levels need to reflect a selection which is customized to the local, national or regional knowledge, needs and potentials. This information needs to be available for scientific validation at the international level in order to identify: (i) good practices; (ii) lessons learned; (iii) comparability and knowledge exchange; (iv) gap analyses; and, (v) improvement of reporting and reviewing. Both local application and global comparability of indicators should be linked in order to also support the implementation of the aims of the UNCCD. As such, a multi-level approach to the provision of scientific advice and knowledge is needed in addition to further research on the links between the drivers and impacts of DLD and the indicators used to measure them (see WP3, chapters 2.4 and 2.5).

Parties should consider the creation of a new authoritative and independent multi-disciplinary policy-relevant body that would provide an opportunity for the scientific community (and other stakeholders, such as NGOs and the private sector, with knowledge on DLD and related issues) to proactively provide relevant and credible scientific support to the UNCCD in conjunction with the Committee on Science and Technology (CST), other land-relevant initiatives and MEAs, upon request. This body
would: (i) provide advice to stakeholders and the CST, in particular through the provision of regularly scheduled global assessment reports on DLD, SLM and the development of drylands; and (ii) interact with national and regional scientific bodies (see below) to make the best use of innovative research, existing knowledge and lessons learned. This would help to support both capacity building for M&A and efforts to address DLD at the local, national and regional levels (see Figure 1 below).

The COP should request the United Nations Secretary-General to issue a Call of Interest from existing international organisations that may want to initiate a regional consultation process to elicit regional demands and options for such an independent, international, interdisciplinary, scientific body. Such a body would build on leading global expertise on DLD issues and would require a simple coordination hub. Such a body would convene independently and have sufficient lead time for discussion in advance of meetings of the CST and the COP in order to be able to feed into the deliberations of UNCCD and other land-relevant initiatives and MEAs.

The body needs to be formed through negotiation and agreement. The body should reflect global consensus-building while remaining scientifically credible with a clear and respected line of input into the UNCCD and other relevant bodies. Discussions on the structure of such a body should consider the ongoing discussions in creating an IPBES (International Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) and IPFS (Inter-governmental Panel on Food Security), alongside experiences learned from the IPCC (Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change).

The scientific body should include experts from all regions and relevant bio-physical and social sciences and economic disciplines, while ensuring equitable geographic and gender representation as far as possible, in line with wider UN practice.

The programme of work of such a body should be developed following regional and international consultations with the scientific community and could include, for example:

* compilation of regularly scheduled focused reviews of the state-of-the-art scientific and traditional knowledge in DLD issues which have policy implications, and that also taking into consideration other ongoing reporting processes;

* improve the flow of research and knowledge by developing a cost- and time-efficient tool for reviewing basic questions, such as through a Wikipedia-style system;

* identification of national/regional scientific priorities and gaps and coordination of targeted research through consultations with the research and policy communities. This research may address, for example, vulnerability and early-warning assessments, cost-benefit analyses of SLM, the linkages between SLM, biodiversity and carbon sequestration/emissions, the income opportunities of SLM measures, among others, and should be coupled with insightful data analysis of legacy data and research at benchmark sites and scenario development using advanced coupled socio-economic and bio-physical modelling;

* drawing lessons from successful practices of addressing DLD, including those derived from local knowledge and expertise;

* provision of input to the COP and advice to other international stakeholders regarding the development of instruments (guidelines, principles, incentives, etc.) on DLD and SLM;
* improvement and maintenance of regular communications between key international, regional and national research and scientific institutions that would facilitate the flow of scientific information via the CST to the UNCCD, and to all land-relevant initiatives and MEAs; and

* produce and provide outputs in various media formats, including press releases, radio broadcasts and other innovative media such as audio/video podcasts, online computer games and visual decision-support tools.

The scientific body would act as a platform that would support synergies in action between the three Rio Conventions providing advice and publishing regular science reviews and science-based policy briefs.

4. ENCOURAGES the COP to urgently commission an independent report on the social, economic and environmental costs of DLD and the benefits of combating desertification, which should include a consideration of the economic costs of M&A as well as the design of policy mechanisms for prevention and rehabilitation.

Causes and mechanisms relating to DLD are of interest to scientists, but options for remedial action and the economic costs of desertification are often more relevant for land users and decision- and policy-makers. The UNCCD, Parties of the Convention and the broader international community should be informed of the current and future costs of DLD, and the economic and financial benefits to be gained if DLD is effectively prevented. This needs to be contrasted with the costs of non-action and later remediation in order for decision- and policy-makers, from local to global levels, to make informed decisions, allocate the necessary resources and take appropriate measures. The costs of desertification are also linked with issues of common concern, such as biodiversity loss, poverty reduction and food security, in the context of the costs of setting up and maintaining effective M&A systems (see *WP 3, chapter 3*).

The commissioned report must include a cost-benefit analysis to determine the most efficient M&A approaches, consider the costs and benefits of prevention and/or rehabilitation, as well as the costs of inaction, and should present an analysis that outlines processes to create appropriate incentives and livelihood benefits as part of an integrated financing strategy for land care. Monetary figures for DLD/SLM are currently unavailable and it is recommended that they urgently be determined and included in this report. The report should look at examples such as the “Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, 2006” and the “Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity, 2009” and should incorporate recent advances made in the area of payments for ecosystem services, addressing the issue of land tenure as it relates to economic costs.

The commissioned report could also identify bright spots (areas where appropriate policies and actions have slowed or reversed degradation), and priority areas where conservation and rehabilitation of fragile lands could be most cost-effective. Efforts to address the issue of cost need to be supported by comprehensive evidence that identifies potential future scenarios and their long-term economic and social implications. Such information will assist land users and managers, decision- and policy-makers and communities in the design of effective remedial measures and supportive policies, while scientific models of human-ecological systems that provide forecasts and guidance on the management of ecosystems may be improved if the costs of land degradation and desertification can be incorporated.
<figure><img src="image_13.png" /><figcaption>**Figure 1.** Proposal for the establishment of an independent, international, interdisciplinary scientific body on monitoring and assessment of desertification and land degradation.</figcaption></figure>
# 1. Chapter 1: Introduction

## 1.1. The Need for Monitoring and Assessment

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) on desertification highlighted the lack of sufficient monitoring and assessment of desertification and land degradation and stated that “without a scientifically robust and consistent baseline of desertification, identifying priorities and monitoring the consequences of actions are seriously constrained” (MA, 2005:19). It further emphasized that long-term monitoring was necessary in order to distinguish between the effects of human actions and climate variability on vegetation productivity. Others have similarly stated that the lack of an objective database and monitoring programme on which to base policy decisions is the main technical barrier that constrains large-scale investments in anti-desertification measures (Glenn et al., 1998; Verón et al., 2006).

Most efforts on monitoring and assessment have been aimed at building a case for the global implications of the loss of land productivity (Safriel, 2007) and as part of national requirements stipulated under Article 16 of the Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) whereby “Parties agree, according to their respective capabilities, to integrate and coordinate the collection, analysis and exchange of relevant short-term and long-term data and information to ensure systematic observation of land degradation...” (UNCCD, 1994). Such monitoring and assessment (M&A) was meant to inform the development of early warning systems and support advanced planning and adaptation to adverse climatic variation. While most of the attention has been focused on attempts to establish the global extent and implications of land degradation (Safriel, 2007), less attention has been paid to “ensuring that the collection, analysis and exchange of information addresses the needs of local communities” (Article 16 of the convention). Even less attention is paid in the Convention articles to the desirability, ability, and capacity of local communities to conduct M&A themselves. Rather, M&A is seen as functioning through a “global network of institutions and facilities for the collection, analysis and exchange of information” that would “link national, sub-regional and regional data and information centres more closely with global information sources” (Article 16). Hence, the role of local communities in M&A was not given high priority during the establishment of the Convention despite the recognition and involvement of NGOs in promoting the participation of local populations in the convention (Knabe, 2006). Since then, however, it has become widely recognised that the integrated management of natural resources, including soil, water and vegetation, needs to involve local monitoring and to require approaches that merge both top-down and bottom-up approaches in order to fully appreciate the complexities of physical, temporal and institutional contexts (Reed et al., 2006; Thomas, 2008).

Generally, monitoring and assessing the state of the land is of interest to four main groups: i) the land users and managers who must take decisions on land use based on their needs; ii) national and international policy-makers who need information to determine investment flows into land management and planning; iii) the scientific community as a key provider and user of scientific information; and iv) society at large with their interests in preserving and maintaining a healthy environment (see chapter 2 WG1). These main groups have different interests, needs and demands that require
different information and possibly different monitoring systems (Lynam and Stafford-Smith, 2004). The latter authors argue that the different social-mental models of these groups of interested parties should be monitored themselves with the increasing recognition that changes of attitudes and behaviours are needed in the fight against land degradation. They also point out that as the boundaries of the monitoring system expand from land users to politicians, the monitoring system must focus more on the socio-political dimensions; hence, the monitoring system inevitably becomes more complex. Therefore, there is an argument that different M&A systems are needed for the different interested parties.

## 1.2. Challenges to the Implementation of Monitoring and Assessment Systems

Despite the existence of the UNCCD and an abundance of research efforts on combating desertification and land degradation, progress has been hampered by an inadequate diagnosis of the root problems (problem identification), an inability to link remedies to diagnosis, and a lack of effective M&A of the state of the land and of the performance and impact of interventions. This is compounded by a failure to learn from both successes and failures and insufficient attention being paid to the scaling up of successful strategies and good practices.

In terms of monitoring and assessing land degradation, progress has been hampered by *inter alia*, inadequate access to data and insufficient harmonisation and dissemination of information, particularly at the national scale. The lack of knowledge management (KM) (problem diagnosis, knowledge generation, documentation, communication and dissemination) has resulted in costly and inappropriate solutions to combat land degradation and associated poverty and hunger (Winslow *et al.*, 2004).

Institutional constraints include unclear responsibilities and legalities, plus insufficient public finances and incentives that limit local, national, sub-regional and regional capacities to monitor and assess land degradation. Institutional capacities for coordination at the sub-regional and regional level are often inadequate, and international information exchange is rare and usually underdeveloped. At the national level, M&A is often hindered by a lack of inter-departmental and sectoral communication and insufficient information and/or awareness of the costs and benefits associated with the prevention and reversal of land degradation. Insufficient incentives result in little or no involvement of local people and agencies in monitoring and evaluation processes. The establishment of national Focal Points in “marginal” ministries of affected countries further impedes the situation.

Cost-efficient, easily manageable and exchangeable M&A systems are needed at various interacting scales including at the local level by land users, local decision makers, and other agencies, as well as at higher scales for national and regional planning purposes. The involvement of local land users requires policy-driven incentives to participate as these costs cannot be borne by the resource poor.

However, to date, little attention has been given to the role of policy in this activity, and yet policy can determine whether or not government departments have the physical and financial resources required. Thus, policy is not only an important partner for implementing scientifically sound knowledge into action, but is also an important item of research in order to improve policies as the major national, regional and international
instrument for sustainable development. In addition, the scope for the involvement of
local people (land users as well as local decision-makers) in M&A and potential
incentives are often overlooked and need to be better assessed.

Monitoring and assessment of land degradation at the local level is a necessary part of adaptive management of the socio-ecological system<fnref n="1" /> and needs to be mainstreamed, along with other issues, into government land use planning and decision-making (UNDP, 2008). This needs considerable attention to the types and functioning of organizations that are involved in the communication channels amongst all stakeholders to ensure that all voices are heard. New types of institutions/organizations and processes may be required that stimulate interactions between community-based groups, government and private sectors.

Thus, a wide range of options needs to be scanned and linked to the policy environment. At the same time, potential financial pathways, resources and strategies need to be identified from national development plans and regional strategies that address poverty, food security and environmental concerns.

Additional challenges to M&A include the need for assessing long-term impacts (continuity of M&A), reconciling different agendas of stakeholders, the need to simplify what is complex, coping with political realities and their lack of continuity, creating and maintaining a learning culture and providing sustained capacity-building efforts.

1.3. Consideration of the Complexity of Land Degradation

Given the great heterogeneity in causes and effects of desertification on the physical and socio-economic environments, the case for the M&A of land degradation at different scales will require grounding in the local context, history and experience of local communities and in their understanding and managing of ecosystem functions, goods and services. Advantages accrue when it is possible to build on existing structures and institutions that are trusted, respected and accepted by local populations (Reij and Waters-Bayer, 2001; Scoones, 2001; Tyler 2006).

On the other hand, much will depend on the willingness of national institutions to develop comprehensive coverage of the complexities of land degradation that encompass many different sectors (UNDP, 2008) and where governance issues on land (ownership, rights, tenure systems) have an impact on land use.

At scales above the national level, there is increasing awareness of a need for a better understanding, coordination and convergence of efforts in the implementation of the environmental conventions (UNFCCC, CBD and UNCCD) and other Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) in order to avoid duplication of efforts and to ease the stress on the capacities and reporting requirements of national parties (Mouat *et al*., 2006; Thomas, 2008).

This implies that a universal goal is the adoption of a more transformational learning attitude (see Chapter 2) and the willingness and means to merge knowledge

<footnote n="1">¹ Here, adaptive management refers to maintaining/improving a system's ability to sustain a flow of diverse products and services and to do so under constantly changing conditions (after Sayer and Campbell, 2003).</footnote>
from wide ranging sources (academic, local, national and international). The central focus of knowledge management<fnref n="2" /> then becomes a closer integration of the different facets of land degradation, and especially the merging of KM systems at the local, national and supra-national levels (Figure 2).

<figure><img src="image_14.png" /><figcaption>**Figure 2.** Scheme to encourage monitoring and assessment of land degradation.</figcaption></figure>

Figure 2 figure illustrates that there are two types or levels of M&A of DLD. One is at the local level, where land users use indicators to assess the state of the land and water (land degradation). The second is the national and higher scale M&A where countries try to estimate the extent of land degradation and link it up to regional/international scales. Here, aggregated values of ecosystem services from degrading lands would be important.

Both levels have their own KM systems that often do not meet but should in a new merged KM system. This is represented by a new exchange/transformation platform or boundary organizations as seen in Figure 2. This new platform can be a process or organization that can begin to develop a strategy or planning process for M&A that also needs to be **mainstreamed** into the institutions involved. Mainstreaming here refers to vertical knowledge management where M&A is built into strategies such as the National Action Programmes (NAPs), poverty reduction strategies, and other land use planning at national scales and above.

<footnote n="2">² Here, knowledge management refers to processes of knowledge generation, identifying and collating existing knowledge, and applying it to achieve the purpose of land degradation monitoring and assessment (see also Figure 2, Chapter 2).</footnote>
The strategy would involve addressing the financial, institutional and knowledge constraints to M&A. Flexible means and entities would bring together stakeholders who normally do not meet or interact very much. In practice, this would need to be part of an actual problem requiring amelioration of land degradation and the 'actors' would vary with the case study. Some countries already have these in place as inter-departmental committees that may or may not be inclusive of all relevant stakeholders. In most countries and regions, however, this would be a new type of organization or institution. The exchange platform will need to offer effective frameworks to foster relationships and coalitions among actors and stakeholders.

As will be discussed in Chapter 2, the advantage of aiming for establishing a new organization is that it can be more neutral, as often the philosophies of local and national types of organization are very different, i.e., bottom-up versus top-down. A new or boundary organization can undertake visioning and planning exercises, document the process, develop political mapping and stakeholder assessment, explore coalition and partnership building, design advocacy campaigns, evaluate projects, and raise funds. The disadvantage of new organizations include difficulties in acceptance and designation of authorities, among others.

Figure 2 emphasizes the need to merge knowledge from predominantly local and national sources to develop a mutual understanding of the constraints and benefits associated with preventing/reversing land degradation, maintaining land health and the monitoring and assessment of trends and impacts of changes in behaviour. This understanding can be used to define strategies to alleviate constraints (financial, institutional, policy and knowledge).

To be actionable, these strategies need to be embedded, on the one hand, in more sustainable land management (SLM) practices (resulting in quick benefits for the land users), and on the other hand, to be mainstreamed into government policies via NAPs and other mechanisms (resulting in greater flows of investments into preventing/reversing land degradation).

Feedback from the adaptive management system will affect M&A at different scales. Within the knowledge management system at the local level, there needs to be replication or dissemination of information amongst local groups and south-south exchanges (horizontal exchanges), as this is currently a major bottleneck.

This scheme is not too dissimilar from one proposed earlier in relation to the monitoring and evaluation of NAPs (OSS, 2006). This M&A system proposed the use of Inter- and Intra-net based systems of communication amongst the different levels (local, sub-regional and national) and their respective databases.

## 1.4. The Need for Better Integration of Effort

Land degradation is a socio-ecological problem with complex dynamics with different causes in different settings. As suggested in Figure 2, there is widespread recognition that integrated approaches are required, especially methods and approaches to integrate different research and development fields to achieve impact and to enable decision-makers to better utilize existing knowledge, technologies and networks. This also applies to M&A where a focus on only the biophysical aspects of land degradation
(usually only soil and vegetation) will fail to contribute to a clearer understanding of the
complexity of the problem (see also the arguments for this point in the White Paper of
Working Group 1).

Areas where integration is required include:

i) Disciplinary research to support informed policy decision-making

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Desertification Synthesis noted the central problem of "our lack of understanding about the interactions between biophysical, social, and economic factors" (MA, 2005). Despite more than 30 years of SLM research, few technically-sound interventions have proven socially and culturally appropriate for the rural households they were intended to help (e.g. Pretty et al., 2006; Giller et al., 2006; López-Ridaura et al., 2007).

Research knowledge has not been sufficiently connected to programs promoting
sustainable development in drylands. This gap results in part from the common
institutional separation between research and policy-making/development agencies
(Bauer and Stringer, 2008) and a narrow focus of research funding agencies that favour
short-term projects. Policy-market-institutional (PMI) research on dryland management is
extensive, but has not been effectively integrated with practical land quality assessment
methods. Land quality assessment methods, in turn, have not been satisfactorily
integrated with analyses of the human development drivers that cause degradation.

ii) Diagnosis-to-treatment

Solutions promoted for reducing land degradation and poverty in drylands have
too often been based on a small number of studies conducted under unrealistic
conditions leading to flawed and misapplied narratives (e.g., Boyd and Slaymaker, 2000;
Keeley and Scoones, 2003). In particular, insufficient effort has been given to identifying
the local environmental and human well-being issues based on a thorough
understanding of the constraints faced by land managers. In this regard, a more holistic
approach is required.

iii) Landscape scale

Much previous biophysical research has been at the plot or field level, omitting
many important drivers of degradation that operate at larger scales. Better landscape
management and tighter capture and recycling of natural resources, for example, could
enhance water, nutrient, plant and animal assets and system resilience, and benefit
populations that live in similar landscapes elsewhere. Here, attention is required on
developing nested scale approaches.

iv) Climate change – dryland degradation

Global environmental stakeholders have been urging the UNCCD and the
UNFCCC to explore synergies in order to harness and reinforce benefits for both
Conventions. It is clear that climate change affects vegetation and the soil that it
protects, but recent research also confirms that regional-scale changes to land surfaces
(e.g. losses of vegetative cover) have significant positive and negative effects on climates, particularly drought (Sivakumar and Ndiang'ui, 2007).

A second critical interface lies in the valuation of ecosystem services, which could motivate investments to protect them. This is an emerging area of opportunity for dryland systems' research and impact (Global Mechanism, 2007). New, more accurate, landscape-scale carbon accounting methods, for example hold great potential (Antle and Uehara, 2002; Jones et al., 2004). Here, M&A will be particularly critical in order to define baseline levels as well as to determine changes in ecosystem services and for compliance with any required accounting.

v) Local-scientific knowledge

Sustainable dryland management depends on the land use choices that its inhabitants make, yet previous research rarely integrated their knowledge or attempted to understand their motivations and worldviews. The UNCCD strongly advocates such integration, as expressed in Article 16 of the Convention. Many co-learning tools have emerged in recent years to help make this connection (e.g. boundary organizations, farmers' interest groups, multi-stakeholder negotiations, participatory research, etc.) and their application in drylands has shown important initial success that should be built upon and expanded.

vi) Financing strategies

In general, projects on DLD pay insufficient attention to the financing strategies needed to increase investments in efforts to combat DLD, including the required M&A. Greater focus is needed on the financing constraints at the sub-national, national and international levels (Niemeijer et al., in press). There is a need to identify different sources of financing from domestic, foreign, public and private sectors and to broaden land planning processes to include cross-cutting issues such as adaptation to climate change, environment and health, water supply and quality. Emphasis on such integration will provide a better enabling environment for resource mobilisation and support medium- to long-term planning. The current interest in payments for environmental services (PES) offers a means to re-examining possible financing pathways to combat land degradation while at the same time acting as a stimulus for greater M&A of these services (Tallis et al., 2008). This is because PES schemes will require a robust accounting system for ecosystem services and a better understanding of the rates of service they provide, and also for the corollary, i.e. the costs of the loss of services.

With this background, this White Paper examines the required knowledge management systems, the institutional arrangements and capacities for M&A that should be in place to improve the effectiveness of existing programmes. It also addresses the social, institutional and financial constraints for effective M&A, how M&A can inform decision-making, and concludes with recommendations towards strengthening existing mechanisms.
## 2. Chapter 2: Knowledge Management and Institutions for Monitoring and Assessment of Desertification and Land Degradation

### 2.1. Summary and Key Recommendations

Knowledge about desertification and land degradation (DLD) monitoring and assessment (M&A) can come from many sources. Although scientific knowledge has increasingly been called upon in recent times, there is growing recognition that local knowledge may also provide crucial insights. Although such knowledge is by definition focused on local scales, through knowledge management (KM) (based on the foundations of good data and information management systems), it may be possible to share knowledge about M&A methods between local stakeholders working in comparable contexts around the world. KM may also seek to use local knowledge at district, national and international scales, to enhance the relevance and reliability of DLD M&A at multiple scales. Equally, the benefits of national and international M&A efforts must be seen in the fields and pastures of the world's drylands. UNCCD processes are increasingly recognising the need to base policy on sound evidence from cutting-edge interdisciplinary research. However, there is an urgent need to develop approaches that can efficiently integrate local and scientific knowledge of DLD, and communicate these combined knowledges to those charged with further developing and implementing the UNCCD at national and international levels. To these ends, the following recommendations are made:

1. Parties of the Convention may wish to consider the **creation of a new multi-disciplinary body of scientists to work alongside the CST to publish regular science reviews.** This would enable the provision of independent, proactive, relevant and credible scientific expertise to the COP. Such a body would regularly review the state-of-the-art science, identify regional scientific priorities and gaps through consultation with the research and policy communities, develop recommendations or good practices with regard to land use and management, and could provide input to the COP regarding the development of any further instruments (guidelines, principles etc.) on global soil conservation. This group may also wish to consider developing a "Stern Review" for DLD, to raise global visibility of the Convention and identify novel approaches to resourcing its work.

2. Develop an **international knowledge management system** that can bring together evidence from research (collated by the multi-disciplinary body in point 1) alongside relevant data and information collected at local and national scales, building further capacity for DLD M&A through the exchange of knowledge and experience. Such a step would help to reduce knowledge seepage and improve institutional memory, allowing the more effective identification of research gaps and priorities, and provide an integrated knowledge base upon which to assess, monitor and tackle DLD. This system could build on the framework proposed under the DESIRE project funded by the European Union (EU) and the learning network proposed under the project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) on Knowledge Management of the Land (KM:Land).
3. Develop an **online desertification knowledge platform** to act as a knowledge repository and facilitate knowledge exchange based on data and information emerging from the KM system (point 2) at national and international levels and material from the UNCCD Secretariat library in Bonn.

4. As part of this platform (point 3), **good practices and success stories need to be shared and showcased** through a variety of different media to enhance their accessibility to those who can benefit from the rich diversity of existing experiences in sustainable soil use and combating desertification. Efforts would need to be coordinated with the UNCCD CST and could build on the WOCAT approach and Web 2.0 technologies to enable users to share and update material themselves.

5. As part of this platform (point 3), findings from **science reviews (point 1)** should be made accessible through **multiple media**, extending beyond press releases and radio broadcasts to incorporate innovative media such as audio/video podcasts, online computer games and visual decision-support tools that allow users to model on screen the outcomes of their land use decisions and practices.

6. As part of this platform (point 3), **develop joint information-sharing mechanisms** between the UNCCD, CBD and UNFCCC and other relevant MEAs. This would enhance horizontal information sharing between the Secretariats of the Rio Conventions, while also enabling information-sharing between National Focal Points and Science Correspondents, and between NGOs and CSOs engaged in the quest for sustainable soil use. Such a system should also enable vertical knowledge-sharing between stakeholders at different levels.

## 2.2. Introduction

Although the M&A of DLD has taken place over many millennia, it has increasingly become a top-down activity, focused largely on objective and often mechanistic measurement by independent and distant experts (often orientated towards meeting the needs of funding agencies). The dynamic, context-specific and value-laden nature of DLD makes it hard to assess mechanistically and M&A must incorporate multiple knowledges, using a variety of methods and scales, including the (potentially conflicting) perspectives of those who use the land. This may involve those who benefit from a wide range of ecosystem services, many of whom may live far away from the land in question.

DLD M&A is a data intensive and continual process. Knowledge is often dispersed among a wide range of individuals, groups and agencies that are interlinked across and between scales (horizontally and vertically). There are increasing calls for land management and policy decisions to be based on evidence from monitoring at each of these scales (e.g. MA, 2005). However, the current knowledge base is highly fractured, with structural and procedural barriers preventing knowledge flows between those at different scales (WOCAT, 2007). Monitoring capacity at each scale also differs markedly. Those working at national and international scales are rarely able to tap into
the data and expertise held by those who manage the land as a result of little co-
ordination or integration between M&A activities. In turn, land managers rarely see the
benefits of (often expensive) national monitoring programmes (see Figure 2). To improve
DLD M&A at local, national and international scales, this section will identify:

i) How UNCCD structures, processes and stakeholders can more effectively combine cutting edge interdisciplinary research with the wealth of evolving local knowledge<fnref n="3" /> from affected communities and civil society organisations (CSOs);

ii) The capacities and incentives required to facilitate DLD monitoring and knowledge exchange between diverse actors;

iii) How information arising from different forms of knowledge can be accessed, co-ordinated, integrated and packaged for use by relevant user groups;

iv) How enduring vertical linkages can be created and maintained to exchange knowledge and aggregate/disaggregate data;

v) How such information can be collected and disseminated at the national level without adding substantially to the reporting burdens of Parties to the UNCCD and feed directly into the policy process.

**2.3. Principles of Knowledge Management**

Knowledge can take the form of data (raw numbers and facts), information (“useful data”, i.e. that has been processed/analysed and interpreted) and knowledge (“information that is known” by an individual or group). As such, KM can be defined as a process of generating, storing and circulating new knowledge, and identifying, bringing together and applying existing knowledge to achieve specific objectives (in this case DLD M&A). Effective KM must thus rest on a foundation of effective data and information management (see WGI on suggested systems for data management).

There are many different kinds of knowledge and ways of knowing (Table 1). Stringer and Reed (2007) argue that by hybridising more explicit scientific knowledges with more implicit local knowledges, researchers and stakeholders could produce more relevant and effective environmental policy and practice to monitor and tackle DLD. Sometimes this may be a process of eliciting, combining and building on tacit, implicit and explicit knowledge from different groups to co-generate new knowledge. More often, this is a process of developing the necessary level of shared knowledge needed to facilitate the exchange of existing explicit knowledge between different groups. Mackinson and Nottestad (1998) suggest that scientific and local knowledge are “grotesquely unequal” in leverage, particularly with respect to policy formation, where the latter is often entirely overlooked because it is often unrecorded. In contrast, the approach proposed here and espoused in the text of the UNCCD values each form of knowledge as complementary.

<footnote n="3">³ We use the term “local knowledge” in preference to the many alternatives that exist in the literature including lay, practical, extended, community, cultural and traditional knowledge.</footnote>
<table><caption>**Table 1.** Different kinds of knowledge and ways of knowing (based on Fazey et al., 2006a, b).</caption><thead><tr><td>Knowledge Form</td><td>Description</td><td>Example</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Tacit</td><td>Knowledge we hold but of which we are not consciously aware. Tacit knowledge by definition cannot be made explicit.</td><td>The ability to recognise a face, yet not know why or how we "know" this.</td></tr><tr><td>Implicit</td><td>Knowledge that can but has not yet been articulated. Such knowledge can be useful for managing complex systems if it can be articulated.</td><td>Detailed information about how systems work on the basis of many years' experience living and working with a system.</td></tr><tr><td>Explicit</td><td>Knowledge that has been articulated in written or spoken form.</td><td>This includes mechanistic scientific knowledge, which is typically systematised, decontextualised and presented in forms that are widely transferable.</td></tr></tbody></table>

"Knowledge transfer" traditionally focused on flows from knowledge producers (typically researchers) to users (typically policy-makers and land managers). More recently, there has been a shift in emphasis towards:

i) *Two-way knowledge exchange* through partnerships between knowledge producers and users. Traditional knowledge transfer models have often underplayed the role of non-scientific and non-certificated sources of expertise. Recognition of multiple bases of expertise suggests a need to move from linear models of *knowledge transfer* to more iterative models of *knowledge exchange*. Knowledge exchange has also increasingly focused on south-south and south-north knowledge sharing, as opposed to the traditional north-south flows (Stringer et al., 2008);

ii) *Knowledge generation*, where knowledge users can become knowledge producers, potentially collaborating with those who traditionally generate knowledge (researchers) to co-generate knowledge (e.g. Phillipson and Liddon, 2007).

In practice, much knowledge exchange takes place during knowledge generation itself. As such, knowledge exchange is a notion that increasingly dissolves the boundaries between knowledge production, transfer and application. Figure 3 illustrates this process, showing how knowledge is generated, with the potential to store, transfer or exchange knowledge between producers and users of knowledge before it is applied.
<figure><img src="image_15.png" /><figcaption>**Figure 3.** Modes of KM, showing how knowledge is generated, with the potential to store, transfer or exchange knowledge between producers and users of knowledge before it is applied.</figcaption></figure>

New knowledge may be stored in a variety of ways. Preventing the erosion or complete loss of knowledge is a key challenge for maintaining KM systems in the long term. The internet provides a valuable medium to store, transfer and exchange knowledge around the world between those who have access. However, the information on many websites is lost after the end of project funding (e.g. CLEMDES<fnref n="4" /> and DISMED<fnref n="5" /> projects, funded by the European Commission [EC]).

To understand the mechanisms through which knowledge spreads and can be managed, it is necessary to understand the conditions, processes, and sorts of practices that influence how people learn, and through what channels and sources they increase their knowledge. Learning may occur at the scale of individuals, groups, organisations, “communities of practice”<fnref n="6" /> or societies, and a vast literature has developed to understand how learning occurs at these different scales (Blackmore, 2007). Of

<footnote n="4">⁴ http://www.ist-world.org/ProjectDetails.aspx?ProjectId=f717698201a442e39862a17a5d8cf453</footnote>

<footnote n="5">⁵ http://smap.ew.eea.europa.eu/fol120392/prj956573/</footnote>

<footnote n="6">⁶ A group of people who create a shared identity by participating in a communal activity (Wenger, 1998).</footnote>
particular interest in the context of DLD are mechanisms that can facilitate learning at
community or societal scales, especially through informal networks – “social learning”. A
key challenge in KM is to stimulate new exchanges and networks and to tap into existing
social networks (Figure 2). In this context, social learning can facilitate shared
understanding among and between different types of knowledge through peer-to-peer
interactions. By stimulating social learning about DLD M&A, it may be possible to
facilitate the adoption of monitoring tools and approaches, and possibly change
attitudes, behaviour and underlying world views towards SLM, at a far greater scale than
could otherwise be achieved. Nevertheless, it should be noted that some knowledge
may be traditionally ‘patented’ and thus undisclosed (e.g. by herbalists/traditional
doctors, rainmakers, etc.).

Initiatives to stimulate and facilitate scaling up of conservation agriculture within the context of NEPAD's Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), have facilitated social learning within small community groups about biophysical indicators that can be used to assess trends and extent of DLD and the impact of conservation agriculture practices on soil health and land quality. Local facilitators organize and facilitate interaction between the farmer groups and specialists, generating new knowledge and understanding by blending local knowledge and skills with scientific explanations of underlying processes. Using this sort of approach it may be possible to enable those who have local knowledge to generate new knowledge, based on ancestral knowledge but adapted to current conditions.

Linked to this, there is considerable literature on the role of social networks,
knowledge brokers or intermediaries and their role in the diffusion of information and
knowledge (Howells, 2006; Klerkx et al., 2009). For example, agent-based models
explain and potentially predict how knowledge is likely to flow through social networks,
depending on the characteristics of the individuals through which it flows (see White
Paper of Working Group 1 for more details on agent-based models). This may indicate
knowledge “clumps” in certain areas where knowledgeable groups of individuals fail to
pass on their knowledge.

Box 1 shows how Drynet is performing the role of knowledge broker between NGOs and CBOs working in the field of land degradation and SLM. NGOs and CBOs may play an important role as knowledge brokers, both in terms of providing information and acting as local communication channels, transforming implicit knowledge into a form of knowledge upon which monitoring programmes can be based. They may then be able to communicate emerging needs to local administrations and link the local community to wider KM systems. Farmers associations can also be effective knowledge brokers. For example, in Namibia, the Forum for Integrated Resource Management (FIRM) works with farmers associations to create a platform where farmers and service providers get together to exchange DLD M&A information and knowledge on a regular basis (see Box 2). While NGOs and CBOs may have the capacity to communicate monitoring information from the local level upwards, this is rarely a direct interest of such organisations and they should not be taken as a “cheap” substitute for state structures that are failing to deliver. At the inter-organisational level, institutions working within a common area must also aim for cooperation as a means to achieve better data exchange and data sharing – a recommendation applicable to all levels of KM.
Box 1. Horizontal Knowledge Management Success Stories from Drynet

By looking for and learning from success stories, knowledge can be shared more widely. However, the context-specific nature of case studies means that we cannot assume that knowledge will spread to those who need it, as this is dependent upon: i) the extent to which the knowledge is context-specific or more widely applicable; ii) the extent to which the knowledge provides a good return on investment within a reasonable time frame for others to adopt it; iii) the time and/or labour investment a technique or innovation demands; iv) the presence of institutional collaboration, existing networks or non-state agencies that can provide extension services and facilitate exchange of knowledge. Before success stories can become a vehicle for knowledge exchange, careful consideration of why something is a success, what elements are transferable to other contexts and how these stories are conveyed is needed.

Drynet (www.dry-net.org) is a networking and capacity building effort of 14 CSO partners from around the world. Within the Drynet project, success stories (called “inspiring initiatives”) are documented and made available to the public. The stories describe initiatives such as local soil and water conservation techniques, innovative ways to share information at local or national levels, and successes in influencing national policy serving to inspire policy-makers as well as fellow practitioners. To ensure successes are spread effectively, additional activities are planned for horizontal and vertical knowledge exchange.

Another important distinction is the spontaneous spread of successful strategies and practices at the grass roots level, and the role of external agents such as donors and development agencies in actively promoting this diffusion. Experience of Drynet's partners is that such external organisations can and should play an active but peripheral role in the process by helping to identify successes, facilitating their spread, and providing the necessary enabling conditions. Resource users and local organisations should lead this process which requires enough incentives for local land users to share their knowledge.

<figure><img src="image_16.png" /></figure>

A participatory mapping exercise carried out as part of the Birjand Carbon Sequestration Project (part of Drynet), finding cost-effective ways to rehabilitate degraded rangeland.

Box 2. Forum for Integrated Resource Management (FIRM), Namibia

In Namibia, a local monitoring system involving community members was first developed for the monitoring of wildlife in the Grootberg conservancy in north-western Namibia (Stuart-Hill et al., 2005). This approach was adopted and further developed into a tool that can provide local farmers with relevant information (Klintenberg et al., 2003, 2008). The methods developed are specifically designed for communal farmers and their unique requirements, based on indicators identified by the farmers themselves. The local level monitoring (LLM) system provides detailed, relatively immediate and useful information needed for improved management of rangelands (Klintenberg et al., 2008).
The recording of observations made by farmers is an important part of the system. Most farmers, as part of their normal practices, make decisions based on one or several environmental (or social) indicators. However, observations are seldom systematic or recorded. Information is often lost, as the memories fade and get mixed up over the years. By recording his/her observations, the farmer obtains a better understanding of how variable environmental conditions, e.g. amount and seasonality of rainfall, influence the state of the environment and his/her agricultural production. Secondly, by recording each observation in the prepared field guide, a historical record is created, which allows the farmer to compare conditions over the years and also to compare with fellow farmers in community Forums for Integrated Resource Management (FIRM) or comparable CBO (Kambatuku, 2003b; Klintenberg et al., 2008; Kroll and Kruger, 1998).

FIRM is an approach designed to put rural communities in the driver's seat in terms of their own development. It involves a CBO of rural farmers taking the lead in organising, planning and monitoring their own development while coordinating the interventions of their service providers (Kruger et al., 2003, 2008; Stringer et al., 2007).

The joint discussion of results amongst farmers in a community FIRM is one of the key features of the LLM system, providing an information base for joint planning and decision-making. Information generated through this farmer-driven monitoring is ideally forming a central part in planning and decision-making made by FIRM groups (Kruger et al., 2008). At the same time, having a record supports the farmers in their communication with service providers, other natural resource managers and policy-makers.

Research combining scientific observations and traditional knowledge held by local farmers has been carried out in central northern Namibia by various 'boundary organisations' (Klintenberg et al., 2008; Klintenberg and Verlinden, 2008; Verlinden and Dayot, 2005; Verlinden and Kruger, 2007). By comparing results from a national land degradation monitoring system (Klintenberg and Seely, 2004) with local perceptions of environmental change, Klintenberg et al. (2008) could show that local perceptions corresponded with environmental changes identified by national monitoring. However, it was also shown that information given by local farmers revealed a more complex picture of causes and effects of environmental changes compared to the variables used for national-level monitoring. It was therefore concluded that traditional knowledge held by local farmers could contribute meaningfully to improving national indicators when communicated through inter-level linkages.

This example illustrates the value of integrating traditional knowledge into scientific investigations of environmental change and land degradation based on an inter-level exchange of information. Integration of traditional knowledge improved the understanding of researchers and the local community of the complex systems being investigated. By involving the local equivalent of a FIRM and ensuring information flow between community members and researchers, results can be used by all participants (e.g. Seely, 1998; Seely et al., 2006, 2008). Moreover, as the research results are conveyed to different levels, communication pathways remain open by involving the FIRM and its members and service providers as much as possible.

Finally, appropriate methods and institutions are necessary to facilitate learning between local, regional, national and international players, and among different stakeholder groups at each level. The following sections examine a range of processes and institutional structures that have the capacity to facilitate the co-generation, transfer and exchange of knowledge between different groups at different spatial and temporal scales. Broadly, these processes and institutions for KM can: i) help identify and share good practices and build capacity for DLD monitoring at different scales and in different contexts; and ii) create knowledge networks to share lessons learned and monitoring data between local, regional, national and international stakeholders, and between stakeholders working at each of these scales. We shall refer to information flows
between stakeholders at any one of these scales as “horizontal” KM, and to information flowing between these scales as “vertical” KM.

In summary, KM is a process that not only involves the generation and exchange of data or information: it also requires the development of mechanisms that promote a change in understanding by the individuals involved, and the co-generation of new knowledge through the networks and participation of a wide range of individuals. KM involves maintaining stocks or reservoirs of knowledge, for example, by creating institutional memory and preventing outdated knowledge from leading to counter-productive responses to DLD. KM requires sustainable and efficient means of access and/or brokerage.

## 2.4. Knowledge Management for Monitoring DLD

### I. Horizontal local knowledge management

The following section examines how these new methodological and institutional approaches may be able to facilitate more effective horizontal KM between diverse local stakeholders. It then looks at how this can be used to both monitor and respond to DLD at the local level. It will assess the current capacity for local stakeholders to monitor and assess DLD and discuss how capacity and incentives may be further developed. It will explore methods for facilitating knowledge exchange between diverse stakeholder groups in a given locale, and between local stakeholders in comparable contexts internationally. Finally, it will explore the potential benefits of integrating local and scientific knowledge for DLD M&A, and some methods that exist to achieve such integration. A number of case studies have been selected to illustrate these points (although every effort have been made to ensure regional representation, most examples are from Africa where DLD problems are most acute).

DLD can only be determined in relation to the goals of the management system at the time of investigation (Abel and Blaikie, 1989), and in the context of a specific time frame, spatial scale, economy, environment and culture (Warren, 2002). Although this implies a focus on provisioning services, if land degradation is conceptualised as a reduction in the *ecosystem service* potential of the land (c.f. UNEP, 1997), it is possible to define land degradation as a reduction in or loss of cultural and regulating services, in addition to supporting and provisioning services (Tarrason et al., under review). As such, changes in landscape aesthetics (e.g. afforestation) that reduce their recreational value (e.g. by obscuring views) may be considered as land degradation alongside more commonly recognised processes such as soil loss or thorny bush encroachment. For a stakeholder who primarily values such a landscape for recreation or spiritual fulfilment, the loss of this characteristic would constitute a loss of function and hence land degradation. An ecosystem services approach to land degradation recognises that land has multiple functions, and is valued differently by multiple stakeholders who have multiple, and often overlapping and/or competing values and uses for land. A reduction in the provision of one ecosystem service may be considered land degradation by one stakeholder (e.g. grazing due to thorny bush encroachment to cattle owners), but may create new ecosystem services for other stakeholders (e.g. the creation of browse for goat owners) (Photo 1). The fact that land degradation is so context-dependant is a major challenge for assessing its severity and extent (Warren, 2002). However, through
the lens of ecosystem services, it may be possible to spatially quantify changes in the status of multiple functions that each represents different aspects of land degradation.

Local knowledge, both current and historic, is therefore essential to monitor land degradation as it is uniquely adapted to the contexts in which it has been developed and applied and so can diagnose the sorts of land degradation issues most relevant in any given locale. In addition, indicators<sup>7</sup> based on local knowledge are likely to be familiar to land managers who are likely to have the capacity to use them without specialist training or equipment (see White Paper of Working Group 1 for a more detailed account of the role of indicators in land degradation M&A). By supporting the development of grassroots indicators, it may therefore be possible to reduce barriers to more widespread uptake of land degradation monitoring. If clear links are also made between monitoring and land management, it may be possible to create incentives that could facilitate more widespread monitoring by affected communities. However, the dynamic and context-dependent nature of land degradation means that monitoring needs and relevant indicators may change over time.

<figure><img src="image_17.png" /><figcaption>**Photo 1.** *Thorny bush encroachment in Boteti, Botswana: a resource for browsers*
*(Photo: R. Chanda, 2009).*</figcaption></figure>

Although no evidence exists to assess the current capacity for land degradation monitoring among affected communities, there is evidence that land managers have a comprehensive and nuanced capacity for monitoring, even in recently established agricultural systems. Boxes 3 and 4 show the depth of often implicit knowledge about indicators in rangelands in southern Africa that were recently made accessible for livestock production, and which enables land managers to monitor and respond to land degradation. Similar results have been found through research into monitoring by communities elsewhere (e.g. Kipuri, 1996; Niamir-Fuller, 1998; Oba and Kaitira, 2006; Ngugi and Conant, 2008; Raymond *et al.*, 2009).

<footnote n="7"><sup>7</sup> We define an indicator as a physical, chemical, biological or socio-economic measurement, statistic or value that can be used to assess natural resources and environmental quality.</footnote>
Box 3. Horizontal Local Knowledge Management Using Indicators in Botswana

The majority of rangelands in semi-arid Botswana have only been accessible to livestock grazing through borehole access to ground water since the 1960s (Cooke, 1985; Sporton and Thomas, 2002). Yet, there is widespread knowledge and use of land degradation indicators by local pastoralist communities. Reed et al. (2008) elicited a total of 140 different indicators from pastoralists in three semi-arid rangelands in Botswana. The majority of indicators used by these groups were evaluated through empirical work (e.g. decreased grass cover and soil organic matter content, and increased abundance of the thorny bush *Acacia mellifera* and unpalatable thatching grass). Although knowledge of land degradation indicators appeared to be thinly spread (on average, individuals were able to describe just 6 indicators), interviewees who reviewed indicators in focus groups were familiar with the majority of those described, and in some places indicator knowledge was positively correlated with formal educational status (i.e. the capacity to articulate their knowledge). This suggests that for many land managers, knowledge about land degradation indicators is either tacit or implicit (see Chapter 2.3.). For this reason, it is easy for external assessments to underestimate the capacity for affected communities to monitor land degradation.

Land degradation indicators have been integrated with management options in a decision-support manual<fnref n="8" /> for pastoralists and extension workers (Reed and Dougill, in press). The assessment procedure is qualitative, using “wheel diagrams” to identify problems using a combination of pre-selected “early warning” indicators and supplementary indicators selected by users (see figure (a)). The procedure is relatively flexible and designed to make recording and interpretation of results simple for users. Short textual descriptions of indicators are illustrated with photographs representing healthy and unhealthy rangeland states (see figure (b)) to help identify key species where necessary. Each indicator is cross-referenced to a range of management options to suit different budgets and time frames.

<figure><img src="image_18.png" /><figcaption>a) Example of a wheel diagram for recording measurements of “early warning” land degradation indicators; and b) example page from Study Area 3 manual showing indicator description.</figcaption></figure>

<footnote n="8">⁸ Literacy levels are high in Botswana: 65% and 98% in two of the study areas (rates not known for third study area but believed by key informants to be above average) (Central Statistics Office, 2004).</footnote>
Box 4. Local-level Land Degradation Monitoring and Decision-support in Namibia

This local level monitoring system, adapted from community-based wildlife techniques (Stuart-Hill
et al., 2005) is a set of environmental indicators identified by local farmers based on their
information needs (Klintenberg et al., 2003). The easily-measurable indicators provide farmers
and resource users with the required information to make management decisions, and monitoring
costs are minimized by selecting indicators that are normally being measured (such as yield or
animal health). Through regular monitoring, farmers are better equipped to detect land
degradation patterns or trends that may threaten agricultural activities. Data collection alone is not
sustainable and farmers are very reluctant to continue with it for a long period. Therefore,
quarterly events are facilitated where farmers can reflect on their data. Extension agents assist
farmers to synthesise, analyse, and interpret their data, followed by larger community meetings
where the data are presented and discussed. From these discussions, farmers develop an
improved understanding of the limitations and potentials of their rangeland resources and have an
opportunity to develop possible options on how to deal with the limitations of their rangelands.

Based on community consultations in Namibia (Klintenberg et. al., 2003), four indicators were
developed which farmers believe provide them with the necessary information to make timely
management decisions. These are:

1. Livestock condition: livestock condition and rangeland productivity, whereby livestock conditions are closely linked and can serve as an early warning on the state and condition of the rangeland (see example below).

2. Rainfall received over time: amount and distribution of rainfall was identified as the most important factor influencing changes in vegetation quality and quantity, as it has a direct impact on the amount of fodder available in the rangeland.

3. Rangeland fodder availability: It is important for farmers to know how many animals to keep on their rangelands during a specific period. Since rainfall variability is directly linked to fodder variability, both in terms of time and space, a good indication of the dry season as early as possible will help farmers to determine how many animals they can keep with the available fodder and mitigate the impacts of having too many livestock for their available fodder sources.

4. Rangeland condition and bush density: the condition of the topsoil, prevalence of perennial grasses and bush densities all have a direct impact on rangeland productivity and need to be monitored by farmers over time in order to be able to assess the long-term impact of their short-term management decisions.

Example of an Indicator: Livestock Condition

The condition of livestock reflects the condition and productivity of rangelands and is independent
of age, breed, sex and body mass of the livestock. This indicator is measured by a random
selection of 25 animals from a farmer's herd. The field guide provides a series of photos showing
livestock according to five different condition classes, ranging from 1 (very lean) to 5 (very fat).

<figure><img src="image_19.png" /></figure>

Condition classes of livestock from 1=very lean (far left) to 5=very fat (far right).

The farmer's livestock is compared to the pictures and values assigned to each selected animal.
The average herd condition is calculated and the number of animals in each class recorded on a
monthly basis. Of particular interest is monitoring the number of animals in the poorer condition
classes as they will need special treatment during the dry season to prevent them from dying.
By transferring the data to graphs on a regular basis, farmers can easily visualise the fluctuation in livestock condition over the year and monitor the number of animals in the poor condition classes during the dry season which will help them to make timely decisions to prevent these animals from dying.

<figure><img src="image_20.png" /><figcaption>**Left:** Percentage of cattle in condition classes 1 and 2 (very poor to poor) in three villages in the eastern communal lands of Namibia; **Right:** Average livestock condition scores in three villages in the eastern communal areas of Namibia.</figcaption></figure>

The following options and solutions were developed by farmers in the eastern communal lands of Namibia, based on their own local level data:

1. Market all marketable livestock early in the dry season when livestock condition is still good and prices are high.

2. Seek alternative grazing resources for excess livestock and move there as early as possible.

3. Provide good supplementary feeds to prevent too quick a decline in livestock condition during the dry season.

4. Buy additional fodder to provide for those animals in poorer condition classes.

5. Combine smaller livestock herds to practice rotational grazing and rest overgrazed areas.

6. Better distribute water points to ease pressure on already denuded rangeland around existing permanent water points.

By accessing local knowledge on land degradation monitoring, it is possible to elicit a far broader range of indicators than through published lists, for example by encompassing vegetation, soil, livestock, wild animal, and socio-economic indicators (Reed et al., 2008). Although these indicators may only be locally applicable, this contrasts with the majority of degradation monitoring manuals aimed at pastoralists which tend to focus on vegetation and/or soil indicators (e.g., Esler et al. 2005) despite evidence that reliance on a narrow range of indicators may produce misleading results for degradation assessment. In contrast, the breadth of indicators used by affected communities matches the call by the UNCCD (1994, Article 16 (c)) for "integrated sets of physical, biological, social and economic indicators". For example, this allows rangeland fragmentation even in absence of habitat loss to be viewed as a degradation process, limiting the options of people and animals (Hobbs et al., 2008).

Given the clear benefits of local knowledge for land degradation monitoring, it is important to determine how to further build capacity. NGOs and CBOs can clearly play a significant role (see previous section and Boxes 1 and 2). Broader institutional reform may also be necessary. For example, there has been a lot of research to try and understand conditions necessary for long-term M&A of natural resources under common
property regimes (Baland and Platteau, 1996; Ostrom, 1990). Two general lessons are evident. Firstly, reasonably small commons with clear boundaries on resources and resource users allow individuals to continually monitor conditions as part of their daily activities, by keeping the transaction costs of monitoring low (Quinn et al. 2007). Secondly, traditional institutions tend to have high levels of social capital and facilitate community empowerment and actions. Such mechanisms are built on trust and a history of negotiation and decision-making that can overcome the problems of free-riding or the absence of well-defined property rights (Katz, 2000). That is not to say that traditional common property regimes are a panacea for the problems of land degradation. There is evidence for success and failure in the management of natural resources using all types of management regime, from common property to private property (Acheson, 2006). However, the increasing pressure traditional regimes are under is likely to have reduced their effectiveness. Increasing populations, technology change, global markets and insecure land tenure have all contributed to the failure of traditional common property regimes to prevent resource degradation (Attwell and Cotterill, 2000; Campbell et al., 2001). Box 5 shows how the Government of Botswana has increasingly adopted top-down approaches to land degradation M&A in the context of the privatisation of communal rangeland. In contrast, re-coupling communities to their environment can create a vested interest in long-term management of resources (Twyman et al., 2001). For example, the BIOTA Southern Africa project<fnref n="9" /> has trained local “para-ecologists” to carry out degradation assessments and monitoring, allowing communities access to up-to-date information that can and is used to inform local management decisions (Box 6; Schmiedel, 2006).

**Box 5. Approaches to DLD M&A in the Context of the Privatisation of Communal Rangelands in Botswana**

The piosphere (grazing gradient approach) forms the basis for rangeland monitoring under the Ministry of Agriculture in Botswana (GRM, 1986), and explicitly identifies significant changes in vegetation composition and structure with increasing distance from the waterpoint. Without exception, the area immediately surrounding the waterpoint experiences heavy trampling and grazing pressure and appears as open expanse of bare ground. Wind-blown sand creates the impression of a devastated area in which recovery of the vegetation appears unlikely. Beyond this zone, bush encroachment dominates, resulting in increased shrub cover and/or density at the expense of grasses.

The piosphere approach has been used to establish trends in the state of Australian arid and semi-arid rangelands (Pickup et al., 1998). In Botswana, the context of range assessments is very different. In the initial formulation of Botswana's Tribal Grazing Lands Policy (TGLP), there was a requirement to follow recommended stocking rates, and also the payment of nominal rents to District Land Boards. In reality, neither has been enforced, such that stocking rates and resultant range conditions on ranches and cattleposts differ greatly over short distances and are typically characterised by extensive bush encroachment. Monitoring is therefore the prerogative of the livestock owner with there being no effective mechanism for limiting stocking rates.

In this respect, the focus of rangeland monitoring and management schemes on communal areas appears misplaced. Successive livestock development policies (Tsimako, 1991) and consultancies (e.g. Carl Bro, 1982; McGowan, 1987) in Botswana have sought to effectively privatise tribal grazing land, with the intention of making the individual borehole and/or livestock owners directly accountable for the widely perceived costs of overstocking – namely rangeland

<footnote n="9">⁹ www.biota-africa.org</footnote>
degradation and declining secondary productivity (of beef cattle). This has not led to limits on stocking rates or improvements in animal productivity or range condition on ranches, and the focus remains centred on communal areas.

This situation is unlikely to change unless the context of livestock-keeping changes in Botswana. The lack of penalties for heavy stocking rates and deteriorating range condition on private (or near-private) ranches and cattleposts, and the lack of any legislation to enforce it, means that range monitoring has no value beyond the land owner's (user's) perception of it. Coupled with the issue of dual grazing rights, the focus of rangeland monitoring on communal areas appears unjustified. It misses entirely the inequities of resource use distribution and appears nested in the outdated and much criticised "tragedy of the commons" thesis.

The greatest potential return from rangeland monitoring may lie within 'Community Trust' areas and through community based natural resource management (CBNRM), although, as emphasized above, the fact that cattlepost owners located within these areas remain outside of any management recommendations greatly undermines their value. It is perhaps ironic that in Botswana, the movement away from open access regimes has in fact done little to promote rangeland monitoring or management. Beyond the perception and desires of individual (or syndicated) ranch or cattlepost owners, there is no legal requirement to monitor and manage and no legislated system of penalties for failing to do so.

Shared resource regimes that typify CBNRM initiatives therefore have the most potential and incentive to monitor and manage rangeland resources. In Kalahari, the trend towards increasingly fenced-in rangelands and livestock-dominated systems (rather than multiple use systems such as those that are wildlife-based) does not bode well. Indeed, some forty years after Hardin's (1968) thesis, the twin pillars of official livestock policy and privatization/commercialisation show no sign of having run their course, but have in fact led to an entirely unregulated closed access ranch system of management in which both local knowledge and any form of equity (in terms of access to natural resources) has been severely eroded.

## Box 6. Para-ecologists as Facilitators of Knowledge Exchange between Researchers and Land Users in Africa

You don't have to be an academic to manage valuable knowledge for sustainable use at the local level. BIOTA AFRICA is currently the largest international and interdisciplinary research project in Africa that examines the ecological and socio-economic causes and changes in biodiversity and their effects (Schmiedel, 2006).

As the generation of academic knowledge alone is not sufficient to safeguard local biodiversity, scientists from Africa and Germany developed an annual training programme for representatives of rural communities. In block courses of several weeks duration, young people between the ages of 20 and 40 are trained in monitoring biodiversity and analyzing the effects of land use in humid, sub-humid, semi-arid and arid African environments. Para-ecologists have no formal tertiary education but receive capacity development over a period of more than five years during training courses and while working in the field with researchers.

The training programmes include the collecting, conserving and determining of plants and animals. Para-ecologists learn to perform standardized seasonal monitoring and they learn to exchange information with other community members, schools, local administrations and scientists. Para-ecologists are also introduced to the use of common technical aids such as Global Positioning System (GPS), digital cameras, computers, weather stations, maps, etc. These courses are accompanied by the experiences they gain while working as paid para-ecologists under the supervision of scientists from different fields. In the course of their work, para-ecologists experience the importance of monitoring their own natural environment
(livestock and rangeland condition).

Para-ecologists can become key KM bearers in their communities. Under the guidance of researchers, para-ecologists also play a vital role as co-generators, co-maintainers and disseminators of knowledge, information and data. Thus, the former top-down approach between those who produce information and those who need this for their livelihoods now also interlinks with a horizontal KM system.

Field experience during the past five years shows that the success of the para-ecologist training programme is dependent on the individual commitment of the trainers and the young trainees. Whereas some para-ecologists found qualified jobs in the environmental sector, others remained in the project as para-ecologists, working in rural communities (Krug et al. 2006). Sustainability of the approach beyond the life of the funded project is dependent upon the para-ecologists being integrated into a local institution.

<figure><img src="image_21.png" /><figcaption>Photo courtesy of Ute Schmiedel.</figcaption></figure>

At the end of each annual training course, the para-ecologists in BIOTA AFRICA are awarded a certificate after passing an exam.

To further build capacity, there is an urgent need to identify and share good practices in M&A amongst affected communities, both within given locales and between affected communities in similar contexts internationally. This is especially urgent given the erosion of local knowledge in many affected communities. The long-term retention, implementation and evolution of inter-generational local knowledge are threatened by a range of factors. For example, the sedentarisation of nomads in the semi-arid and arid north-eastern Sudan is leading to a loss of environmental knowledge as it becomes less relevant to successive generations (Akhtar and v. Schutzbar, 1994). Formal education may lead to further losses, given the low value afforded to local knowledge in many education systems. Elsewhere, pressure to continue providing more food for rapidly growing populations has compelled many communities to abandon valuable local knowledge and skills in monitoring and responding to land degradation (both its use and transmission to future generations). Although there have been many successful attempts to protect local knowledge through documentation and inventories (e.g. Sallu et al., 2009), knowledge only gets shared, preserved and developed if it is used.

Identifying good practices is vital. Local knowledge cannot be accepted unquestioningly (Reed et al., 2006). Local knowledge of land degradation indicators may not always be sufficiently accurate or reliable for objective degradation assessment (Reed et al., 2008; Box 3), nor is it always gender or class neutral. For example, Tlhalerwa (2006) revealed the gendered nature of local knowledge in Botswana and cautioned that the use of local knowledge may perpetuate or even exacerbate gender gaps. Equally, scientific knowledge should not be uncritically accepted without evaluating the uncertainty and associated value judgments in the claims being made
(Davis, 2005; Failing et al., 2007). For example, in Australia, Aboriginal knowledge has been repeatedly used to expose the limitations of short-term ecological research (Baker and the Mutitjulu community, 1992). If local and scientific knowledge are considered to be equally valid, it is necessary to subject each to an appropriate level of scrutiny before considering what exactly may be integrated to deliver what may be termed “socially robust” indicators that are both understood and used by stakeholders (Nowotny, 2003).

A variety of methods exist for evaluating, combining and integrating local and scientific knowledge. In *mixed methods research* designs, qualitative research is traditionally used to access local knowledge in an exploratory mode to generate hypotheses, which are then tested using more quantitative methods (Holland and Campbell, 2005). For example, local knowledge of land degradation indicators may be compared against evidence from research literature (c.f. Reed and Dougill, 2002). However, such analyses are problematic due to their implication that scientific knowledge is superior and can be used to “validate” local knowledge. In contrast, affected communities can systematically and critically evaluate local and scientific knowledge of land degradation indicators themselves, using *participatory decision-support tools* such as multi-criteria evaluation (c.f. Ferrarini et al., 2001). For example, using multi-criteria evaluation, Reed et al. (2008) evaluated local knowledge of land degradation indicators with local communities in focus groups, evaluated the indicators deemed most robust through field-based research, and then enabled local communities to evaluate the results of this research through further structured discussions in focus groups. Through such an iterative approach, it may be possible for affected communities and researchers to learn from each other to develop more effective approaches to monitor land degradation. Finally, “mediated modelling” and “dynamic systems modelling” build on local knowledge of how complex systems work, basing models of land use systems on a more comprehensive knowledge base relevant to land manager needs and priorities (van den Belt, 2004; Prell et al., 2007; Dougill et al., under review; Fraser et al., under review). Dynamic systems models also allow users to vary the assumptions upon which the models are built, exploring how sensitive a system is to uncertainties and gaps in knowledge, and identifying potential “tipping points” and “leverage points” in the system where land management or policy decisions may have disproportionate effects. Many of the variables included in such models have the potential to be effective land degradation indicators, and by varying their values it is possible to evaluate the relative sensitivity of indicators that are based upon an integrated knowledge base.

After having identified good practices in land degradation monitoring, integrating local and scientific knowledge where relevant, it is necessary to share these lessons as broadly as possible among affected communities. To do this, different mechanisms are relevant at different scales. At local scales, there are a wide range of participatory tools that can achieve this. For example, Reed et al. (2008) used *village focus groups* and *multi-criteria evaluation* to disseminate indicator knowledge amongst the affected communities they worked with (Box 5). At district scales, Raymond and Brown (2006) used *participatory mapping* to integrate local and scientific knowledge, expressed as values, for conservation areas in Victoria and South Australia. They were able to measure the level of spatial agreement and disagreement between local and scientific conservation values to prioritise investment in environmental management. Local communities represent an essential source of information for many of the variables relevant to land degradation monitoring, some of which cannot be collected through traditional research methods or are difficult to obtain within the timeframe of projects.
Participation should be viewed as a long-term relationship between researchers, policy-makers and other stakeholders in which trust can be fostered as participants begin to understand each other's values and knowledge, assisted by the right tools to reach negotiated goals (Reed, 2008). This view is underpinned by a philosophy that emphasises empowerment, equity, trust and learning. For horizontal KM to be effective, it must be inclusive, have clear objectives from the outset, and should not overlook the need for highly skilled facilitation. Participatory approaches to KM should be mainstreamed in the institutions charged with land degradation monitoring, creating organisational cultures that can facilitate processes where goals are negotiated and outcomes are necessarily uncertain. There is increasing evidence that participatory approaches are becoming embedded in the institutional cultures of research funding agencies, such as in EU research funding programmes and UK Research Councils. However, there is a need for research and development initiatives to increasingly be initiated and co-designed with stakeholders, incorporating their participation from the beginning right through to monitoring and evaluation.

There are many limitations to participatory approaches (for a detailed critique see Cooke and Kothari, 2001), a principle one being the limited spatial scales at which they can operate effectively. Focus groups and field visits have been used as tools to exchange local knowledge between land users from different countries (see Box 1). However, most KM systems share local knowledge at this sort of scale using Information Technology (IT) (for example, see WOCAT as described in section 2.5). However, IT has its drawbacks: it is not accessible to everyone, and though it makes information widely accessible, knowledge exchange takes place most effectively from person to person.

Finally, for DLD M&A to be adopted by land managers, it must contribute towards decision-making processes, providing real benefits to those who make the measurements. Decision-making based on reliable and timely information by resource users and managers in drylands will become more important under future climate change. However, conventional decision-support systems are often difficult to implement and information derived is too generic and too late for local land users to make appropriate proactive decisions (Klintenberg et al., 2008). For this reason there are a growing number of attempts to develop decision-support tools in which land managers can use the results of M&A themselves to enhance the sustainability of land management and agricultural production (see Boxes 4, 7 and 8). Organizing and recruiting stakeholders to these activities – and keeping their interest during monitoring and decision-making processes that unfold slowly – is a particular challenge when the object of M&A is relatively intangible and in the absence of a perceived ‘crisis’ or ‘threat’. Box 2 suggests that farmers may be motivated to continue collecting data if it feeds into immediate decision-making. Others may want to be assured that results will feed into higher level decision-making processes at the national scale (Pahl-Wostl and Hare, 2004).
Box 7. Development of a Concerted Action as a Tool of Knowledge Exchange to Support the Northern Mediterranean Action Programme to Combat Desertification (MEDRAP)

The EC MEDRAP Concerted Action (2001-2004) has been among the first projects to specifically address the involvement of stakeholders and researchers within the UNCCD context.

Conceived as a support to the main needs expressed by the Annex IV Countries (at that time, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Turkey), MEDRAP's main aim was to support the elaboration of the UNCCD Sub-Regional Action Programme to Combat Desertification in the northern Mediterranean countries.

Its most relevant feature was the involvement of institutional stakeholders (UNCCD Focal Points, representatives of National Committees to combat desertification, institutional authorities, NGOs) among the project partners who, as such, participated actively since the initial stage of problem definition; together with the researchers, they discussed and identified common priority issues which constituted the topics of as many thematic workshops in an effort to find common solutions.

All partners involved considered MEDRAP a very positive experience that greatly increased the opportunity to meet, discuss and exchange information. In addition, a large stakeholders network involving researchers, institutional officers and NGOs was set up at the beginning of the project which included about 800 contacts from the countries concerned. The aim was to involve them before each workshop so as to collect information from them and involve them via questionnaires and discussions that could enrich the workshop sessions. Responses to this effort have been very few (10%) and mainly from organisations who were already directly involved in research related to desertification.

Source: Enne et al., 2004.

Box 8. Participatory Approach and Horizontal Knowledge Management of a
Demonstrative Project to Fight Desertification in North Africa

The Short and Medium-term environmental Action Programme (SMAP) demonstration project on Strategies to Combat Desertification in Arid Lands with Direct Involvement of Agro-pastoral Communities in North Africa involved restoration of vegetation cover with drought-resistant species in highly degraded rangelands of Morocco and Tunisia to mitigate desertification processes and improve productivity of rangelands. One of the key axes of the project approach was the improvement of the interactions between the local stakeholders involved in livestock management, rural development and environmental protection. The approach adopted by the project considered participation as a means, goal and tool. In theory, local participation was understood as a process which must start from the development initiative conception. The manner of carrying out the launching of the process was based on the fact that each society has its own culture which influences its decision and communication patterns.

The project was based on the principle that external researchers cannot always identify the local population's needs and priorities, or the best way to respond to it. The local communities in the project area in Morocco and Tunisia have invaluable experience and a particular comprehension of their own environment. The strategy of the project strived for equal access between the men and the women of the concerned area to the management and control of natural resources. One of strong axes of the project strategy resides in research and the implementation of the partnership, which makes it possible to bring the actors who are ready to invest themselves closer together, to establish a close link between needs and resources, and to better take into account the real situations of the arid regions while covering all their complexities (difficulties, divergences, conflicts). The partnership practices are concretized through dialogue and
consultation in order to be able to establish bonds between the actors and to lead to joint common projects. Within a new framework, the project has promoted new sustainable management systems of agro-environment rehabilitation interventions, and from that, the diversification of the economic activities and the implementation of new income generating activities. This was based on the identification of the potential of the natural and human resources in the territory. Certain socio-economic and environmental constraints hindering the potential success of the project were identified at the beginning of the intervention, including low associative level amongst local farmers, individualism, minimal role of rural women, illiteracy, incapacity of the extension services to apply participatory approach methods, and lack of attention to interpersonal communication.

Technical staff were subsequently trained in participatory methods, interpersonal communication skills and gender sensitization. Role-playing exercises made it possible for participants to appreciate the importance of interpersonal communication as a tool for the mobilization and participation of the populations. An evaluation of the participative approach in the project showed a greater mobilization of the populations when cooperatives were formed, and an increased participation of women through income-generating activities. The high level of population mobilization allowed for relevant decision-making within the project, such as the rallying of a new rural district into the project, the increase in the area of fodder shrubs plantations through the addition of private lands. This is a direct result of involvement of the population in the project.

Favourable indicators of the beneficial effects of the participation approach included: i) the target populations maintained the cultural values associated with previous community management; ii) local capacities were reinforced by practices of collaboration between the government institutions and local populations; and, iii) conflicts between local stakeholders were eased.

The project evolved progressively since its implementation and remained very flexible on the solutions needed to meet the needs of the populations. The participatory process required time and effort. Awareness campaigns are always necessary to disseminate the project to the public. More often than not, the extension services of agricultural directorate and local NGOs have contributed to reinforcing the community capacities in the participatory programming. The community must pass through a long process of training and confidence building in order to be able to fully benefit from the new resources that it will receive and manage directly.

Source: Bellal, 2007.

## II. Horizontal national knowledge management

Monitoring and assessment of DLD also take place at the national level, where governments must utilize scientific, socio-economic and technical data and information for strategic planning, priority setting and national environment and development planning. There are a number of challenges that governments face in managing knowledge about DLD at the national level, including:

* inadequate scientific, economic and technical data collection and information exchange for monitoring and assessing DLD;

* utilizing the information collected to build institutional memory and the knowledge gained for national planning;

* poor delivery of information and knowledge for local SLM;

* inadequate recognition for and mobilization of local indigenous knowledge;

* poor awareness of the nature, causes, consequences and remedies for DLD;

* poorly organized information bases maintained by diverse information providers, mainly at the national level, unable to deliver locally- and policy-relevant
information (South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, 2004); and,

* poorly or unconnected national environmental data sets (where they exist), where most of the information gathered stays exclusively with the agency or officer in charge, resulting in duplication of efforts.

The overarching issue faced by developing countries is lack of capacity. Capacity affects responses to and the effectiveness of monitoring and knowledge exchange, along with the ability to effectively implement treaties. This key problem, identified by virtually all studies and reports, ministries, agencies, NGOs and others, relates to the lack of institutional, financial and human capacity to address physical, human resource and skill requirements. Almost all of the literature on implementation of the MEAs (e.g., Haas et al., 1993; Keohane and Levy, 1996; Victor et al., 1998; Weiss and Jacobsen, 1998; Schreurs and Economy, 1997; Esty et al., 1998; VanDeveer and Dabelko, 2001; VanDeveer and Sagar, 2005) identifies capacity building as a central factor, a well-known, yet important and often overlooked, factor.

One of the challenges in addressing capacity building has been that various capacity-building programmes instituted in different countries and regions have been sectoral in nature or related to a specific treaty, whether it is the UNCCD, the CBD, the UNFCCC or others. But many of these fail to address the need for cross-sectoral capacity as well as the need for capacity in the “upstream” aspects of policy-making, including agenda setting, framing, analysis and policy development and design (VanDeveer and Sagar, 2005). Some of the specific problems include:

* limited awareness by politicians of the significance of international environmental issues for the national/local context;

* limited scientific and technical capacity;

* limited knowledge on integrated land management practices;

* inadequate coordination of MEA implementation activities at the national level;

* limited in-country MEA implementation training; and,

* overall, a limited number of sufficiently trained people in national governments who can understand and facilitate the greater transformational learning required for a complex socio-ecological problem such as DLD.

Another challenge, which builds on and overlaps with capacity building, is the lack of collaboration and sharing of information. When it comes to monitoring and knowledge exchange as part of MEA implementation, there is a need to collaborate on or coordinate activities at the regional, national and local levels. At the local level, the impact of local actions, activities and lifestyles and NGO, community and education projects do not usually take global impacts and implementation of relevant MEAs into consideration. Conversely, since many MEAs do not take public participation sufficiently into account, there is little incentive for governments to do so. Unlike other MEAs, the UNCCD is often labelled as having a “bottom-up” approach (Danish, 1995). The UNCCD text includes numerous references to the role of non-governmental actors, in stark contrast to others like the UNFCCC text which has almost no references to non-governmental actors. Betsill and Corell (2001, 2008) find that non-state actors did influence the negotiation of the Convention. However, the level of knowledge and understanding of the UNCCD and its National Action Programmes (NAPs) by non-
governmental actors is still seen as inadequate by many. Methods of improving the level of knowledge of NAPs among non-governmental stakeholders need to be designed according to the context in which they are supposed to operate (Italian Association of NGOs, 2006). Therefore, collaboration among local entities, civil society and national governments needs to be improved so that there is a true bottom-up approach in implementation as well as negotiation.

Collaboration or coordination at each of these levels is compounded by the challenge of vertical integration between the global, regional, national and local levels (Figure 2). This is not helped by the fact that the MEAs themselves are only now coming to terms with the need for better coordination between their Secretariats, reporting requirements and other policies. In many cases, there is a lack of synergy between domestic environmental priorities and the objectives of the UNCCD and other MEAs and the actions required to be addressed. The pressure to meet MEA obligations has led to the establishment of national coordination mechanisms that are often geared more towards satisfying MEA obligations, mostly through reporting, without serious effort to take the global message to the local level. Where effective coordination exists, it is often at the project level, but this can neglect the need for coordination at the political and institutional levels that is essential for a holistic response to environmental issues (Chasek, 2008). For example, there are situations where the ideas in the NAPs are not incorporated into Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers and other strategies that governments must develop. As Pearce (2006) notes, the NAPs are one among many sustainable development plans that ministries responsible for the environment must develop, and their priorities can be lost among the others (especially when the ministry in charge of the NAP is not the one that negotiates with donors).

Finally, the UNCCD addresses a multiplicity of interconnected environmental, economic and social issues, which cut across the responsibilities of different government agencies and governance levels. An NAP that adequately addresses these interconnected issues would need to bring together the fragmented knowledge base, bridge the science-policy divide, synthesize and harmonize the abundance of information available, and would require coordinated activities at the national level that will also interact with the community and international levels.

There are several options available to improve KM at the national level. To ensure that knowledge feeds directly into the policy process, KM needs to be integrated into the institutional structures and mechanisms at the national level. To address the need for interdisciplinarity and trained personnel who can understand a complex socio-ecological problem such as desertification, there is a need for better interdisciplinary training and educational programmes in universities as well as in internal training in governmental departments (see Box 9).

Box 9. Interdisciplinary Programmes: the Master's in Development Practice

Given the lack of comprehensive cross-disciplinary programs to train practitioners in the full range of socio-ecological and sustainable development challenges, in 2008 the International Commission on Education for Sustainable Development Practice proposed a set of recommendations for a new educational system focused on sustainable development practice, including a proposed Master's in Development Practice (MDP) programme. With emphasis on policy and implementation, the MDP programme is rooted in four main disciplines: health sciences, natural sciences and engineering, social sciences, and management. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has committed US$ 15 million to seed the creation of
such Master's programmes in development practice at up to 12 universities worldwide over the next three years. The first of these, the Master of Public Administration in Development Practice at Columbia University in New York, began in the fall of 2009 (ICESDP, 2008). More courses of this type need to be developed urgently in order to provide a base of personnel trained in integrated thinking. Participants in these courses can be drawn from government departments and agencies, teaching positions in institutions of higher learning, research institutions and non-governmental organizations.

Within the specific context of the UNCCD, interdisciplinary KM should in theory be integral to the NAPs through which the UNCCD is implemented. According to Article 10 of the Convention, the "purpose of these National Action Programmes is to identify the factors contributing to desertification and practical measures necessary to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought." Among other things, the NAPs are supposed to "incorporate long-term strategies to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought, emphasize implementation and be integrated with national policies for sustainable development." They are also supposed to "promote policies and strengthen institutional frameworks that develop cooperation and coordination, in a spirit of partnership, between the donor community, governments at all levels, local populations and community groups, and facilitate access by local populations to appropriate information and technology." To accomplish these and other requirements necessary to prepare and implement their NAPs, national governments must effectively manage knowledge and determine appropriate avenues for M&A of DLD.

There are a number of ways in which governments may be able to manage knowledge more effectively as part of the NAP process. For example, countries could establish a clearing-house mechanism or some other national-level "institutional memory" to retain existing knowledge and data and to make it available and accessible to various domestic user groups. This knowledge and data could include environmental parameters (e.g. soils, climate), monitoring techniques and indicators, and/or conservation technologies.

Information flow is the capacity to collate, organize and share data assembled during negotiations and implementation, and is the foundation of any KM. Often, data and information accumulated in the context of UNCCD implementation at the national level can be useful in the context of other MEAs. While the establishment of such a clearing house may be expensive, it will pay off in the long run. In some cases, it could be more cost-effective to set up a regional or sub-regional clearing-house mechanism, where a group of least developed countries could share in the start-up costs. However, in the long-term, lack of information often leads to duplication of efforts, which often results in even more costly and often ineffective measures. In order to avoid this, the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) initiative has devised a standardized system to document and collect information on SLM practices, which could be used as one part (among others) of such a proposed clearing-house mechanism. It has been developed and approved by a wide range of experts worldwide over the last 15 years and is therefore already quite established and accepted. In countries like Ethiopia or South Africa, the WOCAT tools are already used as a standard KM system at the national level. Above this, WOCAT serves at the same time as a network of experts and practitioners at the national, regional and international scales, allowing knowledge exchange through direct contacts.
Building up a national environmental database or clearing-house mechanism does not mean a centralized system, but a coordinated one in which a focal point or leading agency keeps its own data, organized according to an agreed and standardized format which is accessible to other stakeholders. Transparency of such a system, together with established procedures of information sharing for the implementation of MEAs would help to increase synergies between agencies and projects.

Key resource persons who need to be more involved in sharing information across national governments include the Focal Points for MEAs and those in charge of contacts with donor governments and agencies, as well as those responsible for implementing SLM at the national and local levels. Universities and research institutions, as well as NGOs and private sector organizations, also are repositories of information and should be included in any improved horizontal information flow. The community level organizations and NGOs in this structure could foster cooperation with local actors and create a feedback system that also allow for M&A of activities (UNU, 2004). What is also important to the success of such a KM system or clearing house is to make it easily accessible to those involved in national- and local-level development planning. As more people see the usefulness of the information, they will also be more inclined to contribute such information to the system.

It is worth noting that several such clearing-house mechanisms have already been established; however, they run the risk of discontinuing either once the initial funding runs out or when the people involved in setting up the mechanism are no longer involved in its implementation. For example, the Sahara and Sahel Observatory implemented a programme on Desertification Information Systems – Environmental Information Circulation and Monitoring System on the Internet (SID-SISEI) from 1998-2004 aimed at developing an internet portal of environmental issues at the national level. The programme was implemented in several circum-Saharan country members. However, since the end of this programme, very few systems are functioning including in Tunisia and Morocco, and, at the regional level, the Arab Maghreb Union.

There are also opportunities for regional or sub-regional level collaboration for KM. Article 11 of the Convention calls for affected country Parties to consult and cooperate in the preparation of sub-regional and/or regional action programmes “to harmonize, complement and increase the efficiency of national programmes.” The Article further notes that such cooperation could include “agreed joint programmes for the sustainable management of transboundary natural resources, scientific and technical cooperation, and strengthening of relevant institutions.” Within this context, there have been some examples of regional cooperation where national governments do not have the capacity or funding to develop their own clearing-house mechanism or system for exchanging information (see Boxes 10 and 11).

Box 10. Lessons from SCAPE: Information Sharing for Soil Conservation and Protection

The Soil Conservation and Protection for Europe (SCAPE) Concerted Action (2002-2005), funded by the EC, was designed to support the development of a European strategy for soil conservation and protection. The conclusions of SCAPE recognized that although individual countries develop their own systems to gather and store soil data, this information is not always accessible to the people who need it. They advocated the preparation of a baseline of common information for Europe and suggested that a Soil Conservation Service should be set up specifically to develop and implement an EU soil inventory and monitoring system, which could also play a role in supporting the UNCCD implementation. “Data should be converted
into indicators that can be linked to policies and issues in a holistic way that considers all sectors and systems.” (Imeson, et. al., 2006).

Box 11. Regional Information-sharing Networks: DIVERSITAS

In the field of biodiversity conservation, DIVERSITAS<fnref n="10" /> has set up several regional offices to integrate the knowledge and experience gained by scientists, NGOs and others in the region. DIVERSITAS was established in 1991 with the goal of developing an international, non-governmental umbrella programme that would address the complex scientific questions posed by the loss and change in global biodiversity. Established by the International Council for Science (ICSU), UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, and the International Union of Biological Science (IUBS), DIVERSITAS synthesizes existing scientific knowledge, identifying gaps and emerging issues, and promotes new research initiatives, while also building bridges across countries and disciplines. The Programme also investigates policy implications of biodiversity science and communicates these to policy fora, including international conventions (DIVERSITAS, 2008). DIVERSITAS also published Science Plans for the Biodiversity Community and beyond. Since issues related to biodiversity transcend national boundaries, it is often important for several countries to collaborate in scientific research and in policy development. The knowledge and experience gained through such integrative approaches is invaluable. DIVERSITAS collaborates with the following Regional Networks: Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research, DIVERSITAS in the Western Pacific and Asia, and the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (DIVERSITAS, 2009) as well as with the other global change programmes (International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme [GBP], International Human Dimensions Programme [IHDP], World Climate Research Programme [WCRP]) within the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP).

There is also a need to create opportunities for national-level MEA focal points to work together on national reporting and implementation planning as well as KM and information sharing. Many international and regional treaties and agreements have overlapping needs when it comes to KM and M&A. However, focal points for different MEAs are located in different ministries and various projects are funded for different MEAs (CBD, UNFCCC, among others) that could actually help implement the UNCCD and improve land management. The national implementation of MEA obligations by national governments remains a huge challenge, mainly because of limited financial and human resources. Governments have found that the more time and resources they spend on national reporting results in less direct action on the ground. Although everyone agrees that there is a need for more coherence between MEA implementation, it has been difficult to put this into practice at the national level.

In 1998, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in collaboration with the Secretariats of five biodiversity-related conventions, commissioned the UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) to prepare a “Feasibility Study for a Harmonized Information Management Infrastructure for Biodiversity-related Treaties.” Subsequent development of this project has drawn on a 2002 concept proposed by the United Nations Secretary-General for the harmonization of the human rights treaty system, which suggested that “each State should be allowed to produce a

<footnote n="10">¹⁰ DIVERSITAS has 15 Full Members who provide an annual financial contribution: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Mexico, Norway, the Netherlands, South Africa, United Kingdom, USA, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. In addition, DIVERSITAS has 16 Affiliated Members who have identified a contact point or assembled a national committee, but who do not contribute financially to the programme: Australia, Belarus, Chile, China, Estonia, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.</footnote>
single report summarizing its adherence to the full range of international human rights treaties to which it is a party" (United Nations Secretary-General, 2002). UNEP-WCMC developed the idea for a "modular approach" to managing the information required by reporting, in which national agencies produce information modules regarding issues they are responsible for, make them available in a biodiversity database of some kind, and update the information periodically. When the Focal Points prepare their national reports for the biodiversity conventions, they could draw on the information that has already been gathered. UNEP-WCMC also has developed a template for biodiversity reporting, which includes a "core" section consisting of general questions to be completed by all countries, and five "supplementary information" sections for each of the five biodiversity MEAs, with questions that are specific to the MEAs and are answered based on whether the State is a party to that particular convention (UNEP-WCMC, 1998 and 2004).

From 2006-2008, UNEP-WCMC worked with the UNEP Division of Environmental Law and Conventions and the Secretariats of six biodiversity-related conventions and agreements on KM. This work included the preparation of studies on joint core reporting elements for biodiversity-related agreements, on joint reporting for the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and two of its agreements, on drylands for CBD and the UNCCD, and on inland waters for CBD and the Ramsar Convention. A workshop was also held with seven ASEAN countries and Australia to develop a framework to harmonize national reporting by ASEAN countries (UNEP-WCMC, 2009).

Harmonization of reporting faces a number of obstacles, including the fact that reporting cycles for various Conventions are different, some Conventions require very specific information, and a variety of ministries are involved in the reporting process. Online reporting by Parties is another possibility to consider. The Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation and Management of Marine Turtles and their Habitats of the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia has introduced online reporting, which allows for continuous updating, enables users to view and query national reports, and allows Parties and Conventions to easily generate up-to-date reports.

With this in mind, three chemicals Conventions (the Stockholm, Rotterdam and Basel Conventions) have recently adopted a decision at all three Conferences of the Parties to include coordination. With regard to national reporting, the Basel and Stockholm Conventions have agreed to synchronize the submission of reports, develop joint capacity-building activities to assist Parties in coordinated data and information collection and management at the national level, and streamline their respective reporting formats and processes with a view to alleviating the burden of reporting (Stockholm Convention, 2008).

At the national level, one way this can be improved is by setting up national coordination bodies for MEAs (see Boxes 12 and 13). While the Focal Points can remain in different ministries, one coordinating office responsible for managing national implementation, funding for national reporting and communications to MEAs, maintenance of national databases and reporting, could lead to less duplication in reporting and implementation projects. In addition there would be increased collaboration and information sharing amongst various ministries and offices responsible for such issues as land degradation, sustainable agriculture, land management, biodiversity conservation, adaptation to climate change, wetlands preservation and endangered species management, to name a few. This might also address another issue in some countries where the national Focal Points are driven more by the
Secretariat and needs of the various Conventions rather than the needs of their own governments and national bodies. Many reports that are submitted to the UNCCD and other Conventions are never used at the national level. Therefore, there is also a need to connect reporting so that it informs national-level implementation, and not just the other way around. Such a national coordination body, whether formal or informal, may be in a better position to accomplish this.

## Box 12. Knowledge Management across MEAs: an Example from Sri Lanka

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Sri Lanka established the Environmental Treaties Reference Centre (ETRC) as a strategy for management of information on all MEAs. The ETRC is a partnership organization that involves all Focal Points of MEAs and stakeholders such as government agencies, professionals, academics, NGOs, community-based organizations and the public. The ETRC functions as a repository of information relevant to all MEAs and updates them frequently for the benefit of ETRC partners. The ETRC is located in the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and serves as the central agency for the co-ordination of MEAs with Focal Points and stakeholders. It provides important functions such as serving as a repository of MEAs, facilitation of COP/MOP preparation, information dissemination, MEA project development and donor coordination, and, policy and regulation formulation for the implementation of MEAs (Batagoda et. al., 2004).

## Box 13. Coordinated Action on the MEAs in France

In France, the government appointed two ambassadors in charge of negotiations related to the UNFCCC, CBD and UNCCD. These two ambassadors are supported by the appropriate services of the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MAEE), the French Ministry for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Land Use Planning (MEEDDAT), and, if needed, the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research.

Before each COP and subsidiary body meeting of the Conventions, coordination meetings are held to provide guidelines to the French delegations under the ambassador's responsibility. Scientists are also able provide their expertise on:

* Climate issues: through the French members of the IPCC, as well as specialized laboratories and universities;

* Biodiversity issues: through public organizations and related laboratories and universities;

* Desertification issues: through the French Scientific Committee on Desertification (CSFD).

The CSFD includes 19 members, including a President, appointed by the three mentioned ministries. The Committee is in charge of advising French officers, facilitating research on land degradation, facilitating international cooperation, spreading research results to a broad audience and helping civil society, particularly NGOs acting in affected countries. The Committee is endowed with some € 80,000 in 2009 from MEEDDAT and the French Development Agency (AFD) in order to publish documents, maintain a website, organize seminars and workshops, participate in meetings of the Convention bodies and support popularization and advocacy actions.

Horizontal KM at the national level plays an important role in assessing trends in DLD and land use across the country and enables national governments to better assess, monitor and manage resources. Within the context of the UNCCD, ultimate responsibility for implementation is at the national level and improved KM within
governments and regions will also help Parties to meet their UNCCD obligations. Yet at the same time, improved horizontal KM at the national level will assist in the implementation of other MEAs (especially the CBD and UNFCCC) and implement other national and local level land management plans, programmes and projects.

### III. Horizontal international knowledge management (including regional)

With the proliferation of MEAs at the global and regional levels, there has been a growing call to increase collaboration between them, particularly between the three Rio Conventions (UNCCD, CBD and UNFCCC). A number of elements of the texts of the three Conventions imply interlinkages with the objectives of the other Conventions. In the case of the UNCCD, encouragement to coordinate activities among the three Conventions is built into the text of the Convention itself (Article 8.1). In addition, the three Conventions share a number of cross-sectoral themes, such as those relating to research and monitoring, information exchange, technology transfer, capacity building, financial resources, and public awareness. The need for increased synergies stems from the interlinkages between the issues that the Conventions address. Climate change can be an important driver of desertification and biodiversity loss. Ecosystem dynamics can impact the earth's carbon, energy and water cycles and therefore affect climate. Furthermore, measures undertaken under one Convention to address climate change (including mitigation and adaptation activities), to combat DLD, or for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, might have consequences for the objectives of the other Conventions (UNFCCC, 2004).

One challenge at the international level is to improve KM between the various MEAs. While the UNCCD Secretariat has identified a number of activities that it has undertaken with the goal of promoting greater synergies with other MEAs, there have been limited efforts to complement these meetings or initiatives with better long-term institutional KM. There have been several joint workshops between the CBD and the UNCCD, including regional workshops in Africa and Latin America. While these and similar initiatives have been a good start, (e.g. Box 14 and Table 2) many have ended up involving primarily only representatives from the Secretariats of the three Conventions. While this kind of approach is useful in terms of initiating the horizontal dialogue at the international level, it is the vertical transfer of such synergy to regional, national and local levels (particularly to the operational level) that remains constrained.

### Box 14. International Initiatives for Information Management

UNEP and IUCN established the TEMATEA Project on Issue-Based Modules.<fnref n="11" /> This web-based project structures the multitude of commitments and obligations from regional and global biodiversity-related agreements in a logical, issue-based framework based around modules that provide activity-oriented information on national commitments by identifying and grouping implementation requirements from different agreements. This facilitates the understanding by national experts of national obligations and commitments related to a specific issue and lowers the threshold for experts to understand how commitments from other Conventions and across sectors relate to their own (UNEP and IUCN, 2009). Such as model could link the UNCCD with other key Conventions (e.g. UNFCCC, CBD, Ramsar), as a successful way of managing knowledge and improving implementation at the national level.

<footnote n="11">¹¹ See http://www.tematea.org.</footnote>
<table><caption>**Table 2.** Building synergies between the UNCCD and other MEAs.</caption><thead><tr><td>Cooperating MEAs</td><td>Initiative</td><td>Purpose</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>UNCCD and CBD</td><td>Joint Work Programme (JWP) on the biological diversity of dry and sub-humid lands</td><td>The JWP contains three main elements: assessments, targeted actions for conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and enabling activities, and joint reporting. Each details joint or shared activities of the two Secretariats that aim to facilitate national and local action (UNCCD 2007).</td></tr><tr><td>UNCCD and UNFCCC</td><td>Coordination of Reporting</td><td>Identifies how the development of national adaptation programmes of action under the UNFCCC could take place in close collaboration with UNCCD NAPs.</td></tr><tr><td>UNCCD and Convention on Migratory Species</td><td>Memorandum of Understanding</td><td>Agrees to cooperate further to achieve better coherence in the development of specific targeted actions to address issues relating to migratory species in areas affected by drought and desertification.</td></tr><tr><td>UNCCD, UNFCCC and CBD</td><td>Workshop on Forests and Forest Ecosystems</td><td>Encourages the implementation of specific actions at the local level relating to forests and forest ecosystems and their use and conservation, derived from the mandates and commitments under each Convention, and to further develop synergistic processes in this sector that would contribute to more effective implementation of the Rio Conventions.</td></tr><tr><td>UNCCD and International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO)</td><td>Joint Initiative</td><td>The focal points of both organizations in Peru jointly requested and received assessment and project formulation assistance from the ITTO (2005) in the evaluation of Peru's forest fire impacts on ecosystem changes and in the identification of strategies and actions that will assist in the development of a project proposal to prevent, mitigate and revert desertification along the Piura River basin through a Contingency Plan.</td></tr><tr><td>UNCCD, CBD and UNFCCC</td><td>Joint Liaison Group</td><td>Improves the exchange of information, explores opportunities for synergistic activities, and increases coordination among the three Conventions and their Secretariats for the benefit of the Parties.<sup>12</sup></td></tr></tbody></table>

The scientific bodies of the different MEAs could also benefit from greater collaboration to advance a sense of shared scientific knowledge. While representatives of the major Conventions often attend meetings of the CBD's Committee on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) and the UNFCCC's Committee on Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the UNCCD's CST (not to mention the scientific bodies for other Conventions, including the Convention on Migratory Species, CITES, and the Ramsar Convention, as well as the IPCC) there is no central depository for reports that may be relevant for each MEA.

One of the strengths of the existing scientific advisory bodies is that they are mandated to support particular agreements, processes and organizations and have the potential to call on and involve scientists in their work (UNEP, 2009). However, it has been recognized that there are many overlapping issues addressed by each body that

<footnote n="12">¹² For more details about the work of the Joint Liaison Group, see UNFCC, 2004, "Options for Enhanced Cooperation among the Three Rio Conventions," FCCC/SBSTA/2004/INF.19 (2 November). Available online at: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2004/sbsta/inf19.pdf.</footnote>
could benefit other MEAs. So far, there has only been limited collaboration among MEA
scientific bodies. For example, CITES and the CMS have held joint workshops on
taxonomy and nomenclature and have had more general cooperation on development of
outcome-oriented indicators, particularly in the context of the 2010 biodiversity target
(UNEP, 2009). According to UNEP (2009), in only two cases are there direct and
mandated links between an MEA and a scientific assessment process: the UNFCCC
and the IPCC and the International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and
Agriculture on the *State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture*.
Other MEAs make use of assessment reports (i.e., CBD and the Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment), which are often referred to in decisions and resolutions, but
the linkage is less direct. As a result, there are many complementary and potentially
overlapping scientific initiatives that could and should support policy development. It is
possible that their impact would be more significant if they cooperated more closely or
were more closely coordinated (UNEP, 2009).

It is worth noting, however, that the CST is at a disadvantage compared to the
scientific bodies of other MEAs, which makes such horizontal collaboration between
scientific bodies and horizontal collaboration among UNCCD institutions challenging.
Most scientific bodies respond primarily to requests put to them by the COP and submit
their findings back to the COP at subsequent meetings. However, in the case of the
CST, the COP doesn't put specific questions to it and the CST meets in parallel with the
COP, as per Article 24 of the Convention. This was originally intended for scientists to
come to the COPs to stimulate policy discussions. However, after the first eight COPs it
is recognized that the parallel sessions do not allow for cross-communication between
bodies, and there is not sufficient time for the COP delegates to take the CST's
recommendations into consideration as they conduct their own deliberations. Long
Martello (2004) highlights the possible synergies of co-hosting the Committee for the
Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC) and CST where the scientists
could contribute to discussions on implementation; this was attempted for the first time in
Istanbul in November 2008. However, if there is to be a true horizontal linkage between
the CST and the COP, the COP needs to be asking the CST to provide it with advice
and the COP should put forth a long-term work plan for the CST (such as the CBD has
done for SBSTTA). Unless the CST addresses issues which have been specifically
requested by the COP, its advice will not be readily incorporated into the COP's
deliberations.

Another area for greater KM is between the various global assessments
addressing ecosystems and biological diversity during the past decade. Drawing on
experiences of the IPCC and other assessments on ozone and biodiversity from the
1990s, the most recent series of global assessments have been more integrated in how
they assess issues. Key among recent global assessments have been the Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment, the Fourth Global Environment Outlook, the IPCC's Fourth
Assessment Report, the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and
Technology for Development, the Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in
Agriculture, the Second Global Biodiversity Outlook, and the 2005 Forest Resources
Assessment (Figure 4). In addition to this proliferation of global assessments, there have
also been an increasing number of regional assessments and national assessments,
often tied to national state-of-the-environment reporting. However, each of these
assessments has used a different conceptual framework for assessment design and
implementation, which has contributed to the challenges in bringing coherence to the
assessment processes. Recently, there has been an increasing convergence on
variations of the MA framework, which may improve this process, as well as land management on the ground level, in the future (UNEP, 2009).

<figure><img src="image_22.png" /></figure>

**GIWA** – Global International Waters Assessment; **MA** – Millennium Ecosystem Assessment; **WWDR** – World Water Development Report; **FRA** – Forest Resources Assessment; **LADA** – Land Degradation Assessment; **IPCC** – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; **GBO** – Global Biodiversity Outlook; **CAWMA** – Comprehensive Assessment of water management in agriculture; **GEO** – Global Environmental Outlook; **IAASTD** – International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development; **AoA (GMA)** – building the foundation for a Regular Process for the Global Reporting and Assessment of the state of the marine environment, including socio-economic aspects.

<caption>**Figure 4. Schedule of international assessments 2000-2010 (UNEP, 2009).**</caption>

A useful development along these lines is the combination of the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework for environmental evaluation with the MA ecosystem services framework (Schuster *et al.*, 2009) to form a universal SLM framework that can be used to assess the impacts of SLM on global environmental benefits concerning DLD, climate change and biodiversity (Figure 5).

<figure><img src="image_23.png" /><figcaption>**Figure 5. The Universal SLM framework merging the DPSIR and MA frameworks.**</figcaption></figure>
There is also a need for better KM between the UNCCD and a number of different soil conservation initiatives and agreements. These include the following (Stringer, 2008):

* 1972 European Soil Charter;

* 1982 FAO/UNEP World Soil Charter and World Soils Policy, including related regional land management agreements;

* 1996 FAO/World Bank Soil Fertility Initiative;

* 1998 Soil Protocol on the implementation of the Alpine Convention;

* 2002 International Union of Soil Scientists Global Soils Agenda;

* 2006 European Union Soil Thematic Strategy;

* 2005 Iceland/IUCN declaration for a soil protocol under the CBD.

KM between the UNCCD and other UN agencies, intergovernmental organizations and NGOs can also be strengthened. Within the UN system, numerous organizations and specialized agencies work on different aspects of DLD, including FAO, UNDP, UNEP, WMO, the World Food Programme and UNESCO.<fnref n="13" /> This does not include the agencies that provide funding for projects and programmes to combat desertification or improve land management, including IFAD, the World Bank, GEF, and the regional development banks. Nor does it include the CSD, UNFF, and the General Assembly that address desertification either annually or periodically. Outside the UN system, other intergovernmental organizations also address desertification and related issues, including the OECD Club du Sahel, the Agence de la Francophonie/Institut de l'Energie et de l'Environnement de la Francophonie (IEPF), the Arab Centre for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD), Arab Organization for Agricultural Development (AOAD), the Centre for Environment and Development for Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE), the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Observatoire du Sahara et du Sahel (OSS) and the World Conservation Union (IUCN). While all of these organizations have reported to the UNCCD on their activities,<fnref n="14" /> there has been little coordination in terms of collectively managing the knowledge and information that these organizations have.

Box 15. Lessons Learned from the OSS DIS-EISI Experience

Desertification Information Systems – Environmental Information circulation and monitoring System on the Internet (DIS-EISI) represents the only attempt to circulate information specifically for actors involved in the combat against desertification.

Launched by OSS as part of its 2000 strategy, and reflecting the principles and recommendations of the UNCCD, SID-EISI strives to facilitate the dissemination of pertinent, validated information concerning desertification and related environmental problems. The idea is focused on using New Information and Communication Technologies (NICT).

The concept entails setting up information systems featuring tools that support: (i) the implementation of anti-desertification action programmes at various levels; and (ii) the planning of Natural Resources Management (NRM) activities and the monitoring and evaluation of their impacts. Another goal is to foster greater dialogue between actors, encouraging them to share their experiences and information resources in the interests of a genuine partnership.

<footnote n="13">¹³ For more information about these organizations and their work, see Chasek and Corell, 2002.</footnote>

<footnote n="14">¹⁴ See reports submitted by intergovernmental organizations at http://www.unccd.int/cop/reports/igo/igo.php.</footnote>
Specifically, the DIS-EISI ensures that information is distributed to and discussed by the partners involved in implementing environmental action programmes at various levels. This means that they:

* Help de-compartmentalise the different bodies working on NRM;

* Validate and better capitalise information resources to which it is, at present, difficult to gain access;

* Offer decentralised access to dispersed information;

* Foster partnerships and synergies between actors at different levels.

These are structured into three sections (institutional aspects, thematics and products) which may be adapted to suit the specifics of a certain country or region.

The institutional section covers not only the DIS-EISI framework and objectives but also the way in which the different actors involved in fighting desertification should be organised, including missions, roles, structures, products, etc. In the thematic section, information is classified by sector of activity (forestry, pastoral farming, combat against desertification, bio-diversity, early warning, etc.). The product/information section provides access to tools for monitoring phenomena/issues related to the topic at hand.

Several systems were implemented at the national level in Benin, Senegal, Mali, Tunisia, Niger, Morocco, and at regional levels (IGAD, CILSS-ECOWAS, AMU). Some years later, very few systems are still functioning (among them: Morocco: www.scid.ma; Tunisia: http://www.environnement.nat.tn/sid/www/index.html; and, UMA: http://scide.oss.org.tn/scide-uma/jsp/site/Portal.jsp).

The DIS-EISI experience showed that many problems impede the development and operation of information-sharing tools. The identified gaps include, among others:

* **Socio-cultural difficulties:** Data collection and exchange must still overcome barriers stemming from hierarchical differences, political allegiances, social status and ethnic considerations.

* **Political difficulties:** Knowledge is still synonymous with power. Information dissemination reflects a government's level of transparency. Information that is paid for by the state should be readily available to its nationals.

* **Institutional difficulties:** The absence of strong environmental information institutions that can propose and/or promote standards for developing reference databases and digital maps has led to major expenses for making local thematic maps for special projects. Despite considerable financial efforts, there are not many African countries that have a national geographic database or an environmental information centre that meets the user community's demand for reliable information. A project team and a steering committee comprising the representatives of the institutions concerned are not sufficient for ensuring the sustainability of the process. The projects need to reinforce the national institutions, bringing together the tools and the frame of reference to ensure the interworking of their methods, data and information. The projects should work in parallel with national institutions' activities as they play a very important role in capacity building. The NAP Secretariat does not have the capacity to link the concerned institutions and to ensure their strong involvement.

* **Technical difficulties:** The involvement of external parties to assist with data collection projects often causes confusion. Development agencies often have their own priorities, line of reasoning, experience, and preferences for materials; all of which does not facilitate multisectoral integration at the national level. This requires heavy corrections and reprocessing to integrate data from various sources. This lack of harmonisation leads to duplication of layers of information and/or formats that are not
compatible with each other and ends up in confusion, rather than solution. Furthermore, data are widely dispersed, and it is difficult to find out who has what, where and in what format. If there is no real conservation policy, paper and taped copies deteriorate very rapidly. The concept of metadata has not yet been well developed.

* **Scientific difficulties:** Accuracy of data is poor. Information generated by a computer as a pretty map or fancy table gives the impression that it has been verified, thus discouraging a critical analysis. Analyses of data series in various data centres showed that data which are not updated regularly become obsolescent. Great precision is also required in data processing and analysis. The projects did not address the crucial problems of viability and reliability of data by developing standards adopted by the national institutions in preparation of the data-gathering.

The OSS DIS-EISI Programme has certainly made an important contribution in the implementation of circulation information systems on the internet; however, the problems of collection, processing and dissemination of the environmental data and their translation into useful information for decision-making remain.

Actors have indicated their commitment to mastering technical tools, but this has not yet been translated into the institutional measures and actions needed to mainstream them.

The handful of success stories, from which the results are starting to be disseminated in several countries, confirm that embedding effective systems is a long-term endeavour that must take into account scientific, technical, institutional and organisational factors. Developing such systems on a sustainable basis demands integrating environmental issues into countries' development plans and poverty reduction strategies and investments.

Similarly, there are numerous international NGOs and academic consortia involved in relevant activities, which all have large amounts of knowledge available. TerrAfrica has developed a comprehensive knowledge base through an internet-based tool to compile and share SLM materials and to support an SLM network of practitioners. The knowledge-base is freely available to any stakeholders seeking information on SLM in sub-Saharan Africa. Typical users include representatives of national SLM task forces, civil society, and research and development organizations, among others. Information comes in different formats including text documents, multimedia documents, maps, statistics and links to other websites. A recent collaboration with WOCAT has been initiated. The knowledge-base also has tools to support online interaction between knowledge-base users, allowing SLM stakeholders to form virtual communities, exchange knowledge and organize regional exchanges, workshops, study tours and periodic training.

In theory, the UNCCD COP draws scientific and technology experts into a global network geared to supporting the implementation of the Convention. The CST, in conjunction with UNEP and the University of Arizona (USA), put together a database containing more than 1100 institutions and networks. Yet the information on this database is not updated frequently enough, and aside from compiling the database, little has been done to utilize this information to manage scientific knowledge.<fnref n="15" /> Many of these are scientific organizations, some of which directly relate their activities to the implementation of the UNCCD. However, despite potential for independent scientific expertise to inform efforts to monitor and assess DLD, the UNCCD still lacks an efficient

<footnote n="15">¹⁵ See the UNCCD Information Network Project at http://ag.arizona.edu/cgi-bin/cstccd.cgi.</footnote>
operational mechanism to process and channel practical and scientific expertise for political decision-makers (Bauer and Stringer, 2008).

There are several options available to improve KM at the international level, especially with regard to improving the synergistic use of knowledge between various MEAs.

At the Secretariat level, there are a number of options for improved synergies. The CBD adopted decision IX/16 in 2008 that elaborated on a number of areas for improved synergies between the Rio Conventions. Recommendations with regards to KM include:

* publishing an electronic bulletin on synergies between the three Rio Conventions, including reports on progress from Parties;

* creating tools to inform Parties about relevant activities on biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, on combating environmental degradation, desertification/land degradation and climate change, including through updating existing tools and publications such as the clearing-house mechanism under the CBD and national biodiversity information systems;

* compiling lessons learned and case studies on national mechanisms for coordination among Focal Points;

* sharing reports and reviews of national planning processes, where available, and highlight lessons learned that may be relevant across Conventions in order to improve integrated planning;

* providing case-studies and lessons learned on the integration of biodiversity and DLD issues within national adaptation plans of action under the UNFCCC;

* improving ways to communicate to the scientific community the three Rio Conventions' research needs on synergies; and

* providing the focal points of all three Conventions with up-to-date information on relevant assessments, research programmes and monitoring tools.

At the level of the COP, Parties should find a way to streamline, cluster and focus the reporting requirements of various MEAs on implementation (Najam et al., 2006; Chasek, 2009). Reports required from countries should be less frequent and more integrated. This would not only assist national governments by reducing their reporting burden, but it would create opportunities for national Focal Points and relevant ministries to work together and formulate integrated plans and programmes to address commonalities under multiple Conventions. This could also free up GEF funding for joint implementation projects and programmes rather than spending so much of its funds on supporting national reporting under the Conventions. Recommendations for streamlining reporting requirements have come from many sources, including the Joint Inspection Unit, the CBD Strategic Goals, and the 2000 Bonn Declaration at UNCCD COP 4 (Wagner, 2006). In some countries, such as Namibia, National Development Plans are intended to encompass all the other plans, including poverty alleviation, although this does not always happen. Therefore, a greater effort should be placed at the national level in integrating NAPs under the UNCCD into national development plans, as well as integration into or merging with numerous other plans prepared by national governments as well as strategies for sustainable development and poverty eradication (see chapter 2.5).
There is also a need to improve synergies between scientific and technical bodies at the international level. There have been many suggestions of having joint meetings to improve policy coherence between Conventions. While some have advocated for joint or back-to-back meetings of COPs of related MEAs (Najam et al., 2006), it might be useful to have joint meetings of scientific subsidiary bodies. As scientific bodies under MEAs and their activities have proliferated, there has been a commensurate growth in duplication of efforts. In many cases, these meetings of the CST, SBSTA and SBSTTA, to name those under the Rio Conventions, are not even attended by scientists but have become politicized forums. Thus, there is a need to reduce the number of scientific bodies or meetings while at the same time enhancing their scientific profile. If some of the scientific bodies across MEAs could have joint meetings, or if some MEAs could share scientific bodies, this could cultivate integrated scientific discourse and build scientific capacity, especially in developing countries and at regional levels (Najam et al., 2006).

This, however, may not be a perfect solution, since larger scientific bodies have the potential to become unwieldy. Therefore, another possibility would be to have designated scientists attend joint meetings of the scientific bodies to create a scientific body that can “provide *independent* scientific advice, on a *regular* basis to governments and other stakeholders, be *intergovernmental*, involve all major stakeholders (NGOs, private sector, conventions, etc.) and be *representative* of opinions, disciplines, and geographical regions” (Watson, 2006). Watson’s ideas regarding the composition of the scientific body emphasize the importance and the difficulties in achieving the right composition of members in any scientific body (Wagner, 2006).

With regards to M&A, the CST, in its current format, does not produce its own assessments. To fill this void, there have been some requests for the IPCC to provide services to other Conventions, like the UNCCD. The IPCC has produced a number of special reports on ozone depletion and climate change, land use, land-use change and forestry, and climate change and water. Could the IPCC produce a special report on DLD and climate change, thus enabling greater synergies and KM between the UNFCCC and the UNCCD? The IPCC already has credibility, an ability to influence policy-makers and to generate public support – all of which has been demonstrated through its work to date. Recommendations to compile a report on Climate Change and Desertification were made at the International Forum on Soils, Society and Global Change which was organized at Selfoss, Iceland in August 2007,<fnref n="16" /> and the IPCC workshop on Climate Change and Desertification: Monitoring, Modelling and Forecasting, which was held in Wengen, Switzerland in September 2007.<fnref n="17" /> The Wengen workshop in particular demonstrated that that scientific knowledge about desertification and climate change is scattered in the literature of many disciplines and that there is an urgent need to establish a policy-relevant scientific assessment (IPCC, 2007).

Another option would be to have the UNCCD develop its own “IPCC for DLD.” According to Bauer and Stringer (2008), because the COP fails to tap the information potentially available from the scientific community, it is unable to draw the attention of the Parties to the scientific aspects of the issues on their agenda. Accordingly, there have been calls for the provision of independent scientific policy advisory services from outside the immediate UNCCD process, referring to the role of the IPCC vis-à-vis the

<footnote n="16">¹⁶ See http://www.iisd.ca/download/pdf/sd/ymbvol144num1e.pdf.</footnote>

<footnote n="17">¹⁷ See http://www.unige.ch/climate/Workshops/wengen07.html.</footnote>
UNFCCC as a promising model. A scientific body that could conduct assessments would have to evaluate the Land Degradation Assessment in Drylands (LADA) project, to avoid overlaps and benefit from any lessons learned. LADA seeks to provide insights on the status and trends of the world's drylands and is being implemented through a partnership of UN agencies, international agricultural research centres, farmers' associations, universities, and other civil society organizations (UNEP, 2006). Such a scientific body would have to collaborate or otherwise work closely with the IPCC due to the close relationship between climate change and desertification. But it is also worth noting that if the UNCCD is truly a "bottom-up" Convention that should rely on the co-production of knowledge, then a top-down scientific body may not be in line with the Convention's needs.

The topic of an international body for DLD falls outside the detailed remit of the title of the first UNCCD Scientific Conference, but as the White papers evolved, it became increasingly evident that there is a recognised need for greater coordination and collaboration as well as KM. An Annex has been included in this White Paper to further explore the needs and options for scientific bodies to support not only M&A, but the overall objectives of the UNCCD.

A third option would be the Ramsar Convention's Scientific and Technical Review Panel, which has developed a "Technical Report Series" and is issuing "Wise Use Handbooks." This suggests that a scientific body can produce useful materials for its constituents without rising to the level of producing major scientific assessments (Wagner, 2006). This type of output would also be in keeping with the need to "link more directly to multi-scale components of the regime" rather than a "centralized system" (Long Martello, 2004:100).

With regard to the need for improving KM between the UNCCD and other UN agencies, intergovernmental organizations and NGOs, it would be useful to link existing regional and NGO clearing-house mechanisms and improve the management of information within the UN system. With regard to the latter, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) has developed a model for a clearing-house mechanism of climate change activities across the UN system.<fnref n="18" /> Climate-L.org is a KM project for international negotiations and related activities on climate change. Information on UN activities is provided in cooperation with the UN system agencies, funds and programmes through the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) Secretariat and the UN Communications Group (UNCG) Task Force on Climate Change, and is coordinated by IISD. A similar system could be set up for DLD activities. IISD, in collaboration with the UNCCD Secretariat, has already set up a peer-to-peer moderated announcement list called Land-L, which has been running since 2008. It is a mailing list for news and announcements related to land policy issues, including land policy news, announcements of workshops/conferences, job listings and information on new publications and online resources.<fnref n="19" />

In sum, there is room for improvement in horizontal KM at the international level – both between MEAs that address issues of relevance to DLD, as well as between UN programmes and agencies, other intergovernmental scientific and research organizations, and international NGOs and consortia. While there has been progress at

<footnote n="18">¹⁸ See http://climate-l.org/.</footnote>

<footnote n="19">¹⁹ See http://www.iisd.ca/land-l/.</footnote>
the Secretariat level –especially between the three Rio Conventions – there is also the need for closer collaboration between the Conventions' scientific bodies and the need to integrate better management of shared information and knowledge, either through the creation of a new intergovernmental institution along the lines of the IPCC or through more formal or informal international collaborative efforts.

# IV. Vertical knowledge management: linking land degradation monitoring and assessment from local to international scales

## a) Introduction

The previous sections have looked at how knowledge can be managed horizontally between actors and agencies at local, national and international scales. Although many benefits can be achieved at each of these levels through more effective KM, it may be possible to derive important further benefits by facilitating "vertical" flows of knowledge between each of these levels. Knowledge about DLD should necessarily incorporate a multiplicity of voices and interests between stakeholders from local to international. This section therefore considers how national institutions can integrate or scale up local-scale knowledge of DLD processes, severity and extent to district and national scales, whilst maintaining quality control. It will then discuss how such locally-informed national assessments may be integrated at international scales.

Land degradation that is perceived at the local level is in effect the product of multiple interactions between social groups and between society and nature often at multiple scales. The use of land is a social relation that evolves according to previous circumstances and preceding events, without ever reaching equilibrium, but containing indefinite possibilities and open-ended trajectories of change. In this context, the central challenges for vertical KM are: i) scaling and integrating diverse data and information collected across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales; and ii) interpreting this sensitively to generate knowledge of land degradation processes, severity and extent at national and international scales.

## b) Existing conceptual frameworks and methods for land degradation monitoring and assessment

There have been a number of attempts to address this complex methodological challenge, each with its own strengths and limitations (discussed below). To date, global LD assessments have used a range of methods, many of which draw on knowledge from finer spatial scales: i) expert knowledge; ii) land user perceptions; iii) remote sensing; iv) agricultural productivity trends; v) soil-based and ecological studies; and vi) modelling work. Each of these sources of knowledge operates at different spatial and temporal scales and has different limitations. To facilitate effective vertical KM, it is necessary to first understand these limitations. Then, to incorporate context-specific, local knowledge into assessments at national and international scales, it is necessary to understand how we can scale up local data and/or integrate this with data and information from wider spatial scales.

To date, LD has been monitored and assessed at a variety of scales (see Box 16), but less attention has been paid to issues of upscaling and downscaling. There are a growing number of local-scale assessments based on land user perceptions, for
example using interviews, oral histories and participatory mapping (Thomas et al., 2000; Dalhlberg, 2000; Thomas and Twyman, 2004; Reed et al., 2008). Most recent work has focused on empirical measurements of LD using indicators. Models and remotely-sensed data have the potential to assess degradation status over much larger areas than is possible with ecological or soil-based techniques. Although indicators based on changes in agricultural productivity have been used to assess LD (e.g. Dean and MacDonald, 1994; Perrings and Stern, 2000), it is necessary to use such data with great care, as different LD processes have different effects on productivity, and results can be biased by pests, diseases and extreme climatic events. A further pitfall may occur when policy-makers use indicators of means (i.e. reduced tillage) rather than objectives (i.e. lower soil erosion rates) in formulating policies, as those may hamper the search for alternative mitigation methods and/or lead to unfair policies (Van der Werf and Petit, 2002).

**Box 16. Types of Assessments of Land Degradation**

Early attempts to assess LD at international scales focused on expert knowledge to achieve global coverage rapidly and cost-effectively (e.g. UNEP, 1987; Oldeman et al., 1991; UNEP, 1997). However, such assessments were subjective and difficult to replicate, and rarely incorporated the expertise of land users (van Lynden and Kuhlmann, 2002; ISRIC, 2003). More recently, WOCAT (2007) developed a mapping tool for a participatory expert assessment. Based on predefined land use system units, a group of experts estimates area coverage, type and trends of LD as well as conservation. Effectiveness and impacts on ecosystem services are also assessed. The tool is independent of scale and can be applied at a catchment level as well as at national level.

Soil-based studies were long favoured by non-equilibrium ecologists, who argued that given the rapid response of vegetation to stochastic rainfall events, only physical and chemical changes in the soil could reliably detect long-term, irreversible trends from which degradation could be inferred (e.g. Biot, 1993; Abel, 1993; Dougill et al., 1999). However, now that it is recognised that both equilibrium and non-equilibrium dynamics operate at different scales in semi-arid environments (Illius and O'Connor, 1999; Vetter, 2005), vegetation dynamics are increasingly recognised in the assessment of LD (e.g. thorny bush encroachment). In addition, participatory rehabilitation interventions in marginal areas have proved the reversibility of land degradation and the existence of related socio-economic development opportunities (see Box 8).

The Pan European Soil Erosion Assessment (PESERA) modelled soil erosion rates across Europe (Kirkby et al., 2004). The Global Assessment of Land Degradation and Improvement (GLADA; Bai et al., 2008) and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) drew primarily on remote sensing to identify areas where LD or remediation was occurring. As such, they relied on a narrow range of indicators based on plant responses (NPP and NDVI<fnref n="20" />). Once adjusted for climatic variability, these quantities have been interpreted as indicating LD or improvement. They did not include soil-based or socio-economic indicators and were unable to judge LD in relation to land user objectives.

There have been many former attempts to assess land degradation using single sources of knowledge (see Box 16 and Working Group 1 White Paper). A number of initiatives are now attempting to integrate data and information from many of these different sources of knowledge. For example, FAO's Land Degradation Assessment in Drylands (LADA) project assesses a wide range of indicators in LD "hotspots" and "brightspots" identified through remote sensing from GLADA (Box 17) and at the national

<footnote n="20">²⁰ Specifically, Rain-Use Efficiency, which can be defined as the ratio of Net Primary Productivity (determined from Normalised Difference Vegetation Index measurements) to rainfall.</footnote>
and local level. The DESERTLINKS project<fnref n="21" /> used a similarly wide range of indicators to assess LD in the Mediterranean. DESERTLINKS combined indicators as tools to assess desertification risk, environmental sensitivity, the sustainability of agricultural practices and degradation on a regional scale, within a comprehensive online indicator system known as DIS4ME (developed by the desertification research group of the University of Sassari). In addition to using remotely-sensed data, the MA measured indicators of human well-being in drylands (MA, 2005).

In the same way that local M&A is increasingly being linked to management options for land managers (see Chapter 2.4), attempts are now being made to link global LD M&A to remediation options. For example, the MA reviewed the LD remediation options available to dryland communities. LADA and WOCAT are also developing LD remediation options, building on and sharing local knowledge between comparable contexts around the world. However, although land users and other stakeholders have been involved in each of these projects, there has been limited dissemination of results to the majority of land users. In particular, the evaluation of remediation options has tended to take place at the field scale and has been unable to evaluate likely regional effects of remediation or to investigate the factors influencing uptake of remediation options at this scale.

### c) Proposed conceptual framework for land degradation monitoring, assessment and remediation

This White Paper therefore proposes an approach to vertical KM that incorporates and builds on the strengths of previous approaches to global DLD monitoring, assessment and remediation. Although each of the preceding conceptual frameworks (described above) has different emphases, four broad themes are recurrent in the literature. These form the core of the conceptual framework proposed in this White Paper for DLD monitoring, assessment and remediation (the central circle in Figure 6, c.f. Reed et al., 2006):

i) Establishing DLD context and sustainability goals;

ii) Identifying, evaluating and selecting DLD remediation strategies;

iii) Identifying, evaluating and selecting DLD indicators; and

iv) Applying remediation options and monitoring DLD and progress towards goals using indicators.

Although these themes are generic and applicable across a range of contexts, the way in which each of these themes is operationalised to monitor, assess, remediate and prevent DLD may need to be adapted to different contexts. Drawing on experience from the DESIRE project, Figure 6 illustrates one way of translating these themes into methodological steps (steps 1-11 in Figure 6). These in turn may be operationalised using a range of tools and methods (ideally including participatory approaches). Examples of the sorts of tools that are being used in the DESIRE project are provided in italics in Figure 6. These are described fully in the text that follows, in addition to descriptions of alternative methods that could be used to implement the framework in different contexts.

<footnote n="21">²¹ See http://www.kcl.ac.uk/projects/desertlinks/.</footnote>
The proposed framework incorporates multiple knowledges (including land user perspectives) from local to national and international scales. In doing so, it aims to provide outputs for policy-makers and land users that have the potential to enhance the sustainability of land management in drylands, from the field scale to the region, and to national and international levels through policy dissemination and sharing remediation approaches and technologies through WOCAT. DLD M&A is integrated into an approach that emphasises the development of strategies and policies for enhancing land management. Evidence from southern Africa suggests that providing real benefits to land managers may act as an incentive for the collection and reporting of data (Boxes 2 and 3). M&A is also done in the context of negotiating sustainability goals with stakeholders, and developing a common language and shared understanding of the wider socio-ecological context in which monitoring, assessment and remediation of DLD is occurring.
<figure><img src="image_24.png" /><figcaption>**Figure 6.** Conceptual model of vertical knowledge management for land degradation monitoring and assessment and remediation, building on the DESIRE approach. Examples are provided around the outside of the figure to show how each step is operationalised in the DESIRE project. Dashed arrows indicate potential links in the framework that may not always be realised.</figcaption></figure>