20 January 2012: In an address to the 18th session of African Forestry and Wildlife Commission and the second African Forestry and Wildlife Week, Luc Gnacadja, the Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), said “Sustainable forest management and sustainable land management are the two sides of the same coin. These two requirements must be jointly implemented within policies, strategies and action programmes if we want them to be successful.”

The 16-20 January events convened in Cotonou, Benin. Gnacadja also emphasized that the management and conservation of dry forests are essential for combating desertification. He further stressed that Africa is the most vulnerable continent to land degradation and desertification. He also underscored the need to establish quantitative objectives and to establish a “no net land degradation” as a sustainable development goal. [Statement (in French)]