Promoting sustainable land management through trade: examining the linkages between trade, livelihoods and sustainable land management in degraded areas

Drylands have potential for economic activity now markets are emerging for natural products such as aloe or gum Arabic. However it is difficult to take advantage of these opportunities because there is a lack of structure for this market. A regulatory framework providing an enabling environment for increasing investment in the sustainable use and management of land and natural resources would be beneficial.
Interactions are required among trade and environment stakeholders which might be facilitated through the trade strategies of the various multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). Incentive mechanisms have to be created through adequate policies and interventions at the international, regional and national levels.
Conclusions and recommendations of the report include:

when stringent enforcement mechanisms are not in place in MEAs, incentives can be created with a regulatory regime to meet sustainable development objectives
international trade regimes and related government policies can directly or indirectly affect the resilience of dryland ecosystems, by increasing agricultural production for exports
diversification of production has proved to be a promising way of enabling new opportunities for sustainable production to emerge
persistent distortions need to be reformed and new market access opportunities in the international trade regime opened for generating further investment for sustainable land management
existing opportunities within the international trade regime could be enhanced under the ongoing Doha negotiations in the areas of special products, sensitive products, the liberalisation of EGS (Environmental Goods and Services), and assistance in developing country capacity
WTO members must give priority to achieving progress in these negotiations and the sustainable development implications need to be highlighted
it is also crucial that global-level discussions be brought to the country-level, translating international level policies and dialogue into country-based interventions
it is fundamental that sustainable land management is no longer seen as a technical concern of environmentalists, but rather as a means to contribute to sustainable development and poverty reduction
multi-stakeholder processes for dialogue, information exchange and mutual learning are required to build synergies and better understand gaps in capacity, needs and resource availability