Rethinking Drylands Development. Sustainable Land Management in arid lands of Mendoza, Argentine. Lessons Learnt and still to be Learned

ABRAHAM E. M.

Londres

Simposio; Waterwheel World Day Symposium; 2013

Waterwheel

In drylands, characterized by the variability and restriction of their natural supplies, competition for water emerges as one of the major environmental conflicts, with deep political and social connotations. In Argentine`s drylands management of water resources is based on the appropriation of these resources, directed to irrigation systems. These ?oases? concentrate water, population, wealth and production. The remainder non-irrigated drylands are marginal areas, which have suffered an extractive and degrading use of their resources, with important losses of their natural and social capital, with people living on subsistence. A proposal is put forward about desertification assessment and mitigation achieved at the Monte desert, Mendoza, Argentina, which includes assessment and participatory monitoring of the processes and at the same time contributes to recovering desertified territories incorporating deserts to production circuits. The major goal is to contribute to an integrated/participatory system for desertification assessment, to strategies for sustainable land management, and to the implementation of demonstrative experiences reappraising the worth of drylands and improving people living standards. Activities were organised around research, transfer, technical assistance, management, and training. Desertification is approached as a complex system through an integrated assessment procedure, with a strong participatory approach that contributes to empowerment of local communities. Studies are articulated around natural, economic and socio-cultural components. An alternative dryland development model has been designed that contributes to improving desertified lands through a better use of the territory?s endogenous resources, by the integral management of the water resource (considering basic concepts such as, equity, efficiency and sustainability); diversifying goat production, reducing the stocking pressure on fields and raising the producers income level. A demonstrative experience has been implemented, associated with the design of an Observatory of natural and social processes. The challenge involved ?doing?, insofar as this ?doing? means generating knowledge and providing alternatives to the communities.