Sustainable Drylands Management

Drylands cover nearly 40% of the world's land area and are increasingly vulnerable to desertification and climate change. The document highlights two successful community-led initiatives: the Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR) in Maharashtra, India, which focuses on watershed regeneration and water harvesting, and the Community-Based Rangeland Rehabilitation (CBRR) project in Bara Province, Sudan, which emphasizes rangeland restoration and carbon sequestration. Both cases demonstrate that integrating local knowledge, ensuring strong participation of women, and balancing immediate socio-economic needs with long-term ecological goals are essential for building climate resilience.

• Drylands cover almost 40 per cent of the world's land area and support over two billion people, but 70 per cent of these regions are already affected by desertification due to unsustainable land use and ineffective governance.
• Climate change is expected to worsen dryland degradation by increasing temperatures, creating drier conditions, and causing rainfall events to become shorter and more intense.
• In Maharashtra, India, the Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR) has improved resilience in over 150 watersheds covering 160,000 hectares, leading to increased groundwater levels, expanded irrigation, and significant rises in milk production.
• The Community-Based Rangeland Rehabilitation (CBRR) project in Sudan's Bara Province exceeded its goals by improving over 700 hectares of rangeland (against a 100 ha target) and stabilizing 5 km of sand dunes to stop desert encroachment.
• Successful climate adaptation in drylands requires a combination of community-driven implementation, the active involvement of women as resource managers, and the blending of traditional knowledge with modern technical skills.

APA

Lobo, C. (2003). Sustainable Drylands Management. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/envsec_livelihoods_3.pdf

Chicago

Lobo, Crispino. Sustainable Drylands Management. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2003. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/envsec_livelihoods_3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lobo |first1=Crispino |title=Sustainable Drylands Management |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=3 December 2003 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/envsec_livelihoods_3.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lobo2003sustainable, author = {Lobo, Crispino}, title = {{Sustainable Drylands Management}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2003}, month = dec, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/envsec_livelihoods_3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }