Table Of ContentWater Scarcity, Land Degradation
and Desertification in the Mediterranean Region
uglisi_FM.indd i 3/24/2009 6:41:52
NATO Science for Peace and Security Series
This Series presents the results of scientifi c meetings supported under the NATO Programme: Science
for Peace and Security (SPS).
The NATO SPS Programme supports meetings in the following Key Priority areas: (1) Defence
Against Terrorism; (2) Countering other Threats to Security and (3) NATO, Partner and Mediterra-
nean Dialogue Country Priorities. The types of meeting supported are generally "Advanced Study
Institutes" and "Advanced Research Workshops". The NATO SPS Series collects together the results
of these meetings. The meetings are coorganized by scientists from NATO countries and scientists
from NATO's "Partner" or "Mediterranean Dialogue" countries. The observations and recommenda-
tions made at the meetings, as well as the contents of the volumes in the Series, refl ect those of
participants and contributors only; they should not necessarily be regarded as refl ecting NATO views
or policy.
Advanced Study Institutes (ASI) are high-level tutorial courses intended to convey the latest
developments in a subject to an advanced-level audience
Advanced Research Workshops (ARW) are expert meetings where an intense but informal exchange
of views at the frontiers of a subject aims at identifying directions for future action
Following a transformation of the programme in 2006 the Series has been re-named and re-organised.
Recent volumes on topics not related to security, which result from meetings supported under the
programme earlier, may be found in the NATO Science Series.
The Series is published by IOS Press, Amsterdam, and Springer, Dordrecht, in conjunction with the
NATO Public Diplomacy Division.
Sub-Series
A. Chemistry and Biology Springer
B. Physics and Biophysics Springer
C. Environmental Security Springer
D. Information and Communication Security IOS Press
E. Human and Societal Dynamics IOS Press
http://www.nato.int/science
http://www.springer.com
http://www.iospress.nl
Series C: Environmental Security
Water Scarcity, Land Degradation
and Desertification
in the Mediterranean Region
Environmental and Security Aspects
Edited by
José L. Rubio
Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificació n-CIDE,
Valencia, Spain
Uriel Safriel
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Raul Daussa
OSCE Secretariat, Vienna, Austria
Winfried Blum
University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences,
Vienna, Austria
Fausto Pedrazzini
NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme, Brussels, Belgium
Published in Cooperation with NATO Public Diplomacy Division
Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Water Scarcity,
Land Degradation and Desertification in the Mediterranean Region - Environment
and Security Linkages
Valencia, Spain
10-11 December 2007
Library of Congress Control Number: 2009927445
ISBN 978-90-481-2525-8 (PB)
ISBN 978-90-481-2524-1 (HB)
ISBN 978-90-481-2526-5 (e-book)
Published by Springer,
P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
www.springer.com
Printed on acid-free paper
All Rights Reserved
© 2009 Springer Science + Business Media B.V.
No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form-or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or o therwise, with-
out written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically
for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the
purchaser of the work.
Contents
ExecutiveSummary............................................................... 1
Introduction ....................................................................... 3
BackgroundPaper............................................................ 5
RaulDaussa
PartI KeyNotesPresentations
GroundingSecurity,SecuringtheGround .................................. 19
Gre´goiredeKalbermatten
StatusofDesertificationintheMediterraneanRegion...................... 33
UrielN.Safriel
DesertificationandWaterScarcityasaSecurityChallengein
theMediterranean............................................................ 75
Jose´ L.Rubio
FacingWaterCrisesandShortagesintheMediterranean.................. 93
Henri-LucThibault
Reviewing Land Use and Security Linkages
intheMediterraneanRegion................................................. 101
W.E.H.Blum
PartII ReportsoftheWorkingsGroups
WGI–SECURITYIMPLICATIONSOFUNSUSTAINABLE
WATERMANAGEMENTANDLANDUSE................................ 121
Facilitators:Prof.UrielSafrielandProf.WinfriedE.H.Blum
Rapporteur:VicenteAndreu
v
vi Contents
WG II – LOSS OF LIVELIHOODS AND INCREASED
MIGRATION................................................................. 123
Facilitators: Dr. Tamer Afifi, Dr. David Mouat,
andDr.Jose´ L.Rubio
Rapporteur:PhilipReuchlin
WG III – LINKAGES BETWEEN COMBATING LAND
DEGRADATION,DESERTIFICATION ANDCONFLICT
PREVENTION ............................................................... 125
Facilitators: Mr Boubacar Cisse and Dr. Abdel Gilil
Rapporteur:GabrielLeonte
WGIV–MANAGINGWATERSCARCITY ............................... 127
Facilitators:Prof. MohamedBadraouiand Mr. Javier Ferrer
Rapporteur:PhilipReuchlin
AnnexI........................................................................ 129
Prof.MohamedBadraoui
AnnexII....................................................................... 131
Dr.TamerAfifi
Conclusions ................................................................... 145
Jose´ L.RubioandUrielSafriel
ListofParticipants................................................................ 149
Executive Summary
Based on the suggestions made by the speakers of Plenary Session IV “Chal-
lenges to the management of water resources and to countering desertification in
the Mediterranean region” during the 15th Economic and Environmental Forum,
the OCEEA proposedto organizea workshopon “Water Scarcity,Land Degrada-
tion and Desertification in the Mediterranean region – Environment and Security
Aspects”.
In order to build on common synergies, OSCE sought co-operation with col-
leagues from NATO, in particular from the Science for Peace and Security Pro-
gramme. NATO has a longstanding expertise on the issue and had organised in
Valencia,in December2003,a NATOscientific workshopon“Desertification and
Security in the MediterraneanRegion”. The objective of the new proposed work-
shop would be to broaden its focusfrom the scientific communityto include also
policymakers.
Theworkshop,aimedatgovernmentofficialsfromtheMediterraneanRegion,1
gathered representatives of Water management, Land degradation and Desertifi-
cation Departments of Ministries of Environment and representatives from the
Ministries of Foreign Affairs. In addition, policy makers, scientists and experts
were also invited. The aim was to discuss how the OSCE, NATO and other com-
petentorganizationslike the UNCCD, UNEP, MAP, and the EU couldplay a role
inensuringthatenvironmentandsecuritylinkagesintermsofwater scarcity,land
degradationanddesertificationareaddressedintheMediterraneanRegion.
TheworkshopwasstructuredinthreePlenarySessions,withkeynotespeakers,
andfourWorkingGroupstofacilitatethedialogueandexchangeofideasbetween
theparticipantsonthedifferentkeytopics.
A total of 65 participants from 19 different countries attended the workshop,
contributing with their ideas and experience to its success, reflected in the large
numberofspecificrecommendationsfortheOSCEandNATO.
1ThedocumentusesarestrictivenotionoftheMediterraneanregion,limitedtotheOSCEMediter-
ranean Partners for Co-operation (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco andTunisia) andthe
NATOMediterraneandialogue(alltheOSCEMediterraneanpartners,plusMauritania).
J.L.Rubioetal.(eds.),WaterScarcity,LandDegradationandDesertificationinthe 1
MediterraneanRegion,NATOScienceforPeaceandSecuritySeriesC:Environmental
Security,(cid:2)c SpringerScience+BusinessMediaB.V.2009
2 ExecutiveSummary
Amongthe recommendations,the importanceof implementinga surveyand/or
an assessment on water scarcity, land degradation, desertification and security in
the MediterraneanRegion, was underlinedby many participants. An international
initiativeatthislevelcouldbeimplemented,accordingtoexampleoftheENVSEC
initiative which aims at addressing environmental risks to security and fostering
stabilitythroughenvironmentalco-operation.
As a conclusion, participants agreed that the synergies between scientitss and
diplomats and the intense brainstorming regarding different issues resulted in a
fruitful debate producing valuable ideas and possible initiatives for a near future.
AnotherconclusionisthattheadvanceinaNorth–SouthMediterraneanco-operation
withamaintaineddialoguebetweencountriescanbethebest,andperharps,theonly
waytoassuresustainabilityandsecurityofthewholeregion.
Introduction
Water scarcity, land degradation and desertification are factors which have direct
negativeconsequencesonthegeneralstatusoftheecosystemaffectedbythesephe-
nomenaandonthepeoplewholiveinthesameecosystem.Thedecreaseofavailable
resources,thecompetitiontogetaccesstothem,thesocialandpoliticalinstability
and migration, are also consequencesof a degraded environmentand are directly
relatedtothesecurityofpopulations.
Essentially,thisistherationaleonwhichNATOandOSCEdecidedtoorganise
the workshop held in Valencia on 10 and 11 December 2007. The challenge was
to gather scientists, expertsand policy makers from differentcountries to analyse
the environmentalconditions of the Mediterranean region; to discuss the security
aspectsofwatermanagementandlanduse;toassessthelossoflivelihoodsandto
identifymeansofcombatinglanddegradationandtopreventpossibleconflicts.
The organizers of the workshop never presumed to examine exhaustively the
issues related to the topics discussed at the meeting. However, NATO and OSCE
playedanimportantpositiverolebyprovidingaforumofdiscussionforrepresenta-
tivesofdifferentinstitutions.Bydoingso,afirstimportantresultwasachieved:to
increasetheawarenessofissuessuchaslanddegradationanddesertificationinthe
MediterraneanRegionasapotentialrisktosocialandpoliticalstability.
Thepresentationsatthegeneralsessionswerequalifiedanddetailed;thediscus-
sionsintheworkinggroupswerelivelyandpracticallyoriented.Manyitemswere
putforwardforfurtherconsiderationbytheexpertsandthepolicymakerssuchas:
(cid:129) TheanalysisofcasestudiesintheMediterraneanregion
(cid:129) Theidentificationofbestpractices
(cid:129) Thelaunchofpilotprojectsforlandremediation
(cid:129) The establishment of national information centers on land degradation and
desertification
(cid:129) TheenvironmentsecurityassessmentfortheMediterraneanBasin
The debate and the activities on the above-mentionedtopics should involve other
internationalorganizationsbesidesOSCEandNATOanditisurgenttoincreasethe
dialoguebetweentheconcernedcountriesintheMediterraneanBasin.
J.L.Rubioetal.(eds.),WaterScarcity,LandDegradationandDesertificationinthe 3
MediterraneanRegion,NATOScienceforPeaceandSecuritySeriesC:Environmental
Security,(cid:2)c SpringerScience+BusinessMediaB.V.2009
4 Introduction
Theexistenceofnationalplanstocounterenvironmentaldegradationanddeser-
tificationwasnotedandtheimportancewas stressed ofanincreasedcollaboration
across political boundaries. Here there is again a potential role for international
organizationswhichcouldserveasplatformsfortrans-nationalcollaboration.
Some important issues were only approached in a preliminary way and need
furtherdiscussionsuchas:
(cid:129) Evaluatingtowhatextentimproperwaterandlandmanagementaffectspopula-
tionsinawaythatreducestheirsecurityandalsomayleadtoconflictswithinthe
community(these conflictsmayconcerna largesegmentof thepopulationand
mayevencrosspoliticalboundaries,thusaffectingregionalpoliticalstability).
(cid:129) Better defining the concept of “Environment Security”. As a matter of fact,
scientists and policy makers do not always have the same perception of this
concept. Consequently future meetings and analysis should be more related to
specific cases in which land degradation and desertification have shown to be
unequivocallyasdriversofsecurityloss.
The recommendations and the concepts elaborated during the two-day workshop
will be brought to the attention of the National Representatives in NATO and in
OSCEandwillalsobeacontributiontoanexpandedsecurityconcept,whichshould
betackledfromdifferentangles,bothatthenationalandattheinternationallevel,
forelaboratingintegratedstrategies.
OSCE and NATO, together with the UNCCD, played a pioneering role in this
respect.Inamorepracticalterm,suchcollaborationcouldbefurtherimplemented
by launching in the Mediterranean Region a cooperative partnership such as the
ENVSEC initiative (in which UNDP, UNEP, UNECE, REC, OSCE and NATO
are working together) aimed at addressing environmental risks to security and at
fosteringstabilitythroughenvironmentalcooperation.
F.PedrazziniandR.Daussa
