French Scientific Committee on Desertification

Comité Scientifique Français de la Désertification

Scientific expertise to be mobilised for GGW

Researchers co-authored this paper entitled “Accelerate the Mobilization of African and International Scientific Expertise to Boost Interdisciplinary Research for the Success of the Sahelian Great Green Wall by 2030” Abstract : The Sahelian Great Green Wall (SGGW) is an influential project to combat desertification and promote sustainable land management on a large scale, involving 11 […]

2030 – Making the Great Green Wall in the Sahel a success; scientific research in action

The first progress report on the impact of the Great Green Wall (GGW) initiative in the Sahel
(September 2021) highlighted the urgency of coordinated actions involving all stakeholders
if the ambitions announced in 2007 were to be achieved. Today, these actions have fallen
short. To support the Pan Africa Agency of the Great Green Wall, the GGW Accelerator was
created in 2021 to ensure more coordinated support to the member states, organisations and
institutions of the GGW through a multi-player, structured, five-pillar approach.
This article highlights the importance of co-constructing more accurate knowledge and
developing processes to further GGW projects, in the light of these aims. It provides various
examples of projects demonstrating the role of scientific research in implementing and
achieving the goals of the GGW.

The CSFD is at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille

The CSFD is at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille The IUCN World Conservation Congress takes place from September 3 to 11, 2021 in Marseille, France.The CSFD, with CARI (Centre d’Actions et de Réalisations Internationales, France), will participate in several highlights of the Congress: Jean-Luc Chotte, CSFD President, will participate at the event organized […]

Jean-Luc Chotte, new CSFD Chair

Jean-Luc Chotte, Senior Scientist at IRD, has been appointed Chairman of the French Scientific Committee on Desertification by the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation for a three-year term.jean-luc-chotte This new mandate will give him the opportunity to strengthen the land issue on the international agenda and to promote CSFD as a Science-Policy-Society […]

English version of the last CSFD dossier on gender issues in drylands areas

Women’s resource access rights more precarious, under-rated and -valued work, under-representation in decision-making and leadership structures… Yet women are active in defending their rights and combating desertification, i.e. many are involved in counteracting land degradation or even in its restoration via associations, farmers’ organizations and individual initiatives. Operators and policymakers must now take these women […]

The African Great Green Wall project : publication of a new CSFD Topic Brief

The African Great Green Wall initiative has reopened discussions on this concept, its significance with respect to combating desertification, as well as its effectiveness and cost. Based on fragmentary knowledge culled from sometimes very early experience, the scientific community, civil society organization and the media have focused on the situation and issued public criticisms and […]

The French Scientific Committee on Desertification at UNCCD COP14

Jean-Luc Chotte, a CSFD member, will be part of the French delegation, in order to give scientific advice to the negotiators. He will also participate to several side events, one of which being dedicated to gender issues in drylands. Jean-Luc Chotte will also be present at the COP as a member of the Science-Policy Interface […]

Desertif’actions 2019: near 400 actors in combating desertification met in Burkina Faso

The 4th international civil society Summit (Desertif’actions, D’a19) was held for the first time in Africa (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso) from 19 to 22 June 2019. It gathered 380 actors from 230 organizations from all around the world (40 countries) (local communities, NGOs, scientists, local authorities, international organizations, etc.) in order to debate and share their […]

Publication of a new dossier dedicated to desertification monitoring by remote sensing

This Dossier begins with a presentation of a few physics concepts that are essential for understanding remote sensing, and a description of the main parameters that can be monitored by satellite. Several recent examples regarding the various possible uses of satellite images for the purpose of combating desertification are then proposed. The Dossier concludes by […]

Publication of “Ecological engineering for sustainable agriculture in arid and semiarid West african regions”

Based on the authors’ and contributors’ experience, West Africa is focused on to illustrate the ecological intensification to agricultural production in the broad sense. Examples from non-African tropical dryland areas worldwide are also discussed to illustrate the potential of agroecological engineering to sustainable land management and therefore to the fight against desertification. Dominique Masse (Agronomy-Ecology, […]