Digging for Water, But Striking Oil

The volatile politics of the Middle East have long been dominated by the fluctuating fortunes of a single commodity: oil.

China Puts Up a Green Shield Against Sandstorms

The setting sun is still streaming in through the poplars along the shelter belts, but Horquin Lianjun is done with farm work for the day. The desert wind has turned bone chilling.

China Battles Desertification

As scientists increasingly label desertification as one of the most burning challenges facing the world today, a small village in China’s semi-arid Northeastern region of Inner Mongolia is fighting back.

“Land Is Our Ally, But Its Patience Is Not Eternal”

Land degradation poses a threat to all life on Earth including humanity. To stop the enormous loss of life-giving land, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is pushing for a sustainable development goal of Zero Net Land Degradation (ZNLD) to be adopted at the upcoming Conference on Sustainable Development, known as Rio+20, in Brazil.

Biomass Plantations Can Power India

Valli, 50, and Sarasu, 60, have been working with Energy Plantation Projects India (EPPI) since inception in 2007, the income they earn forming an integral part of their household budgets. "We easily manage household work and a salary-paying job," they tell IPS.

HAITI: Partners in Deforestation and “Slumification”

More than 100 Haitian families now have new housing, thanks to the support of two non-governmental organisations working on reconstruction following the country's devastating 2010 earthquake.

ARGENTINA: Three-Quarters of “Breadbasket” Is Drylands

How has Argentina managed to maintain its image as one of the world's breadbaskets when a full three-fourths of its territory consists of drylands? This was one of the questions raised by the scientists who decided to create the National Observatory on Land Degradation and Desertification this year.