Useful Links

Category 1 – other networks, collaborative projects and alliances working on dryland issues

ASA

The Brazilian ‘Articulação no Semi-Árido Brasileiro’ (ASA) is a forum for CSOs working in the semi-arid area of Brazil.
http://www.asabrasil.org.br/

DesertNet

A European network of interdisciplinary groups of scientists, active in basic and applied research on land degradation/desertification, directly related to poverty alleviation.
http://www.european-desertnet.eu/

eniD – European Networking Initiative on Desertification

This European working group is dedicated to the implementation of the UNCCD in general and to the participatory approach of the Convention in particular.
http://www.bothends.nl/index.php? page=1_2&projectId=20

WOCAT database

WOCAT is a tool for documenting and evaluating Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) activities. A set of three comprehensive questionnaires and a database system have been developed to document all relevant aspects of SWC technologies and approaches, through which the reader can browse for appropriate and inspiring ways to tackle land degradation and desertification.
http://www.wocat.net/

The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)

As an independent international research organisation, IIED are specialists in linking local to global. In Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central and South America, the Middle East and the Pacific, IIED works with some of the world’s most vulnerable people to ensure they have a say in the policy arenas that most closely affect them — from village councils to international conventions. http://www.iied.org/blogs/more-people-more-trees

The Man Who Stopped the Desert

“The Man Who Stopped the Desert”, a documentary film about desertification and re-greening in the Sahel region.
http://www.1080films.co.uk/Yacoubamovie/

African Re-greening Initiatives

A blog about re-greening by Chris Reij from the Centre for International Cooperation.
http://www.africa-regreening.blogspot.com/

Category 2: linkages to UN-related dryland resources

Global Mechanism (GM)

The GM provides advisory services to the country Parties to the UNCCD. The GM is defined as an organizational entity mandated “to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of existing financial mechanisms…[and]…to promote actions leading to the mobilization and channelling of substantial financial resources to affected developing country Parties”. The GM also manages the FIELD database, a dynamic knowledge management system for searching, sharing and harnessing information related to sustainable land management financing.
http://www.global-mechanism.org/

UNEP

The activities and programmes of the UN Environment Programme linked to land use and desertification can be found here.
http://www.unep.org/

Category 3: linkages to general drylands resources

IFAD – Rural Poverty Portal

Powered by IFAD, the Rural Poverty Portal is a website where rural poor people, policy-makers, donors, research institutes, non-governmental organizations and other development partners can share information about eradicating rural poverty. Desertification is one of the dimensions on the portal on which you can find a lot of information there.
https://www.ifad.org/en/

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment assessed the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being. There is a full chapter on Dryland Systems and a Desertification synthesis.
http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.aspx

Category 4: linkages to organisations working in drylands

Drylands Research

Drylands Research is an informal consortium committed to understanding the linkages between policy strategies, long-term change, environmental management and rural livelihoods in semi-arid areas. http://www.drylandsresearch.org.uk/drylands_publishedarticles.html

IIED

Check this page of the International Institute for Environment and Development for the Haramata, Bulletin of the drylands, for cutting-edge and action research, and for lots of resources related to pastoralism.
http://www.iied.org/tags/drylands

IUCN

IUCN helps develop conservation science, manages field projects all over the world, and brings together players from different domains and sectors to develop and implement policy, laws and best practice. This link brings you to their work related to dryland ecosystems.
http://www.iucn.org/about/work/programmes/ecosystem_management/about_work_global_prog_ecos_dry/

OSS

OSS is an independent international organisation based in Tunis, Tunisia. Their main objective is to give impetus to the combat against desertification and the mitigation of drought by providing member countries and organisations with a forum where they can share experiences and harmonise the ways in which data on early warning and monitoring systems for agriculture, food security and drought in Africa is collected and processed to feed into decision-support tools.
http://www.oss-online.org

SOS Sahel UK

We seek long-term, sustainable solutions to the poverty experienced by millions of people across the semi-arid lands of the Sahel region of Africa. We want to see the people of the Sahel have more influence over the decisions that affect their lives and more control over the natural and economic resources they need for a secure and fulfilling life.
http://www.sahel.org.uk/

Category 5: Linkages to capacity building materials on lobby, advocacy, fundraising and project management

Convention on Biological Diversity

A Good Practice Guide. Pastoralism, Nature Conservation and Development. Montreal 2009
http://www.cbd.int/development/doc/cbd-good-practice-guide-pastoralism-booklet-web-en.pdf

Networklearning.org

The purpose of this site is to make resources available, free, to NGOs working in the development or humanitarian fields. We make or find manuals that can help NGOs build skills, and suggest other websites with good resources.
http://www.networklearning.org

Provoking change – A toolkit for African NGOs

This Advocacy Toolkit was developed for local and national NGOs, but specifically for those based in West Africa. This toolkit was produced by FERN at the request of a network of environmental NGOs in West Africa: the Green Actors of West Africa (GAWA).
http://www.fern.org/node/3914