From 2-13th September, 2019 New Delhi, India was organized the 14th Conference of the the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) with a theme: “reverse soil degradation and its results while accelerating positive achievements for peoples and ecosystems to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals “.
COP14 is set to define the following key directions of work:
- How to restore, protect and manage our land on a massive scale
- How to trigger a seismic shift in private sector partnerships to make it happen
- How to help ramp up the ambition of action plans for everyone involved.
Over 8 000 participants from all over the world have participated in COP 14. The parties to the convention have agreed on the actions each will take over the next two years and beyond to get us on a sustainable development path.
The Burundi minister of agriculture and environment Mr Deo Guide Rurema, who was present in the COP14, has informed the participants about the situation in Burundi and the progress achieved.
Since 2016, the Burundians are mobilized around a National Program of reforestation called “EWE BURUNDI URAMBAYE”, which extends at 7 years and which knows a massive adhesion with a result of approximately 55 000 000 of trees planted at each silvicultural season. This is a great contribution to decrease the carbon sequestration capacity and putting it back into its natural soil silo.
Burundi has more than 25 000 water sources which are upstream of several rivers of the region and feed them through the two basins of water which are the river of Congo and the Nile. In the view of the Minister Deo Guide Rurema, it is necessary to mobilize the regional and international community to initiate large-scale actions to embellish Burundi in the protection of these sources of regional interest.
In conclusion, the restoration of degraded lands to the wind will lift the affected population out of poverty. This will take the population out of the trap of hunger. “While my country makes sustainable land management and rehabilitation of degraded lands a priority, I call our partners to support us in this policy which will accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals” said the Minister. Deo Guide Rurema has added “If Burundi wins on this ground, the planet wins as well.”