Director of Qeshm Island UNESCO Global Geopark announced the holding of a photography contest named “Nahal-e-Man” ( My Seedling ) for the students of the southern part of the island to commemorate Desertification and Drought Day ( until this year known as The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought ) aiming to emphasize the significance of this day.

Published on : Jun 17, 2020

Director of Qeshm Island UNESCO Global Geopark announced the holding of a photography contest named “Nahal-e-Man” ( My Seedling ) for the students of the southern part of the island to commemorate Desertification and Drought Day ( until this year known as The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought ) aiming to emphasize the significance of this day.

Alireza Amri Kazemi, according to the Public Relations and International Affairs of Qeshm Free Area Organization, stated : Qeshm Island UNESCO Global Geopark holds annual workshops and educational courses for children in the southern villages of the island on Desertification and Drought Day with the intention of broadening their level of knowledge and encouraging them to plant trees and plant species that help combat desertification.

He pointed out that this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the management decided to hold a photography contest to call everyone’s attention to the importance of Desertification and Drought Day.

Director of Qeshm Island UNESCO Global Geopark also added that students had to summit photographs of the seedlings they had planted the previous year to be reminded of the value of protecting plants and the environment.

As stated by Amri Kazemi, the observance of Desertification and Draught Day reminds everyone that “Land Degradation Neutrality” is achievable through a problem-solving approach, active community participation and cooperation at all levels. People’s and private institutions under the framework of NGOs can contribute a great deal to these areas.

Desertification, as defined by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), is the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors including climatic variations and human activities. Therefore, any process that may undermine the productivity of the land can be classified as desertification.

Director of Qeshm Island UNESCO Global Geopark restated that the 2020 Desertification and Drought Day, under the slogan “Food.Feed.Fibre”, ( attempting to combat desertification, promote sustainable production and consumption ) focuses on changing public attitudes towards relentless production and consumption as the leading drivers of desertification and land degradation and endeavors to educate individuals on how to reduce their impact on the nature.

Amri Kazemi emphasized that Desertification and Drought Day is an occasion to fight one of the main Earth’s issues that jeopardizes the destiny of all humankind.

It is worth mentioning that in 1992 the problem of desertification in Africa was addressed in Rio Conference leading to the establishment of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). In 1994 the United Nations General Assembly marked 17 of July as the World Day to Combat Desertification in order to promote public awareness on the subject matter and pursue the Convention’s programmes with strong commitment. Iran was the third country to join the Convention.