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Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Fall 1995

Publication Citation

3 Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 133 (1995)

Abstract

The media was once filled with images of encroaching deserts and

starving populations. Attention has since shifted to other issues, but

the problems remain. Desertification is acute not only in familiar

desert regions such as the Sahara, but in regions such as the Sahelian

and Other drylands which comprise nearly thirty-five percent of the

earth's total land area. Mr. Danish analyzes the Desertification

Convention of 1995, discussing both the Convention's efforts to

address the environmental degradation and the Convention's impact

on international notions of the state, crafting large-scale responses,

and generating centralized regulation. This Convention employs a

"bottom-up" approach; it focuses on local developmental issues and

the marginalized peoples living in the threatened areas. It provides

increased international recognition for non-governmental

organizations and local land users by obligating states to channel

authority and resources to them. The article presents an overview of

the Convention and analysis based on international environemental

legal norms. The author illustrates that, despite donor fatigue and

reticence on the part of developed nations, the "bottom-up" approach

in conjunction with creative financing methods will provide a more

effective means for dealing with a growing environmental crisis.

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