On Friday, September 27,
Prof. Uriel N. Safriel, Israel's Focal Point to the UNCCD, was elected by the
UNCCD's 11th Conference of the Parties (COP), comprised of 194 parties that convened in Windhoek, Namibia, to head one of the prestigious positions in the fight against desertification.
The election of an Israeli expert to this position reflects the high esteem accorded to Israel in combating desertification, to its cutting-edge innovations developed to face these challenges, to its ambitious water management projects, to its various sustainable development programs, etc.
In the last few years bi-annual conferences on “Drylands, Deserts and Desertification”, one of the largest international academic fora on desertification, have been taking place in Israel, at Ben Gurion University's Sede Boqer campus. The United Nations defined desertification as potentially the most threatening ecosystem change impacting livelihoods at the global scale; based on the total number of people threatened by desertification, this ranks among the greatest contemporary environmental problem.
The election comes as Prof. Safriel just concluded a successful and productive term as the chair of Annex IV (Northern Mediterranean countries) of the UNCCD.
Developed as a result of the 1992 Rio Summit, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has brought attention to the phenomenon of land degradation called "desertification" when it occurs in drylands, the most vulnerable ecosystems and people in the world. Fifteen years after coming into force, the UNCCD is increasingly recognized as an instrument which can make an important contribution to the achievement of sustainable development and poverty reduction.
The CST provides information and advice on scientific and technological matters relating to combating desertification and mitigating the effects of drought to the UNCCD's Conference of the Parties (COP).
Prof. Safriel is Israel's Focal Point to the UNCCD and
heads Israel’s UNESCO Man and Biosphere program. He is an Emeritus Professor of Ecology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, currently consulting the Center of Environmental Conventions of the Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, and a Co-Chair of Israel National Ecosystem Assessment Project.
Prof. Safriel has served as the Director of the Blaustein institutes for Desert Research of Ben Gurion University of the Negev, the Chief Scientist of the Israeli Government's Nature and Parks Authority, a member of the 2nd and 3rd IPCC Assessment Reports teams, and one of the Coordinating Lead Authors of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Project. He was also the Coordinator of the Israeli component of "Regional Initiative for Dryland Management" and "Monitoring and Evaluation of Watersheds in the Middle East" projects, jointly carried out by Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian, Egyptian, Tunisian, Turkish and US teams.
In addition, Israel sends a warm farewell to the outgoing Executive Secretary of the UNCCD Mr. Luc Gnacadja, and welcomes the nomination of the new Executive Secretary of the UNCCD Ms. Monique Barbut and looks forward to cooperating with her to advance the goals of the convention.