MPCE hosts workshop on the Brazilian semi-arid region.

Ceara 247 - The Public Prosecutor's Office of the State of Ceará (MPCE) hosted, on the morning of Tuesday, the 31st, the validation workshop of the study "State of the Art of Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought in the Brazilian Semi-Arid Region: technologies and experiences for recovery and mapping of vulnerable areas". The work was carried out by the Center for Management and Strategic Studies (CGEE), an association linked to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, in partnership with the Ceará Foundation for Meteorology and Water Resources (Funceme).

Public Prosecutor Sheila Pitombeira, coordinator of the Project Management Center (Nugep) of the Attorney General's Office, explains that the MPCE (Public Prosecutor's Office of Ceará) is interested in the study to monitor the reality of the region, identifying dry areas and those undergoing desertification. The prosecutor attended the presentation by CGEE (Center for Geological and Environmental Studies) and Funceme (Ceará Foundation for Meteorology and Water Resources) and affirms that it is the MPCE's responsibility to demand public policies for the semi-arid region of Ceará.

The CGEE study presents the current state of knowledge and information on desertification, land degradation, and drought in the Brazilian semi-arid region, especially in the northeastern states. These areas are susceptible to recurring droughts and have territories exposed to desertification processes. The study also evaluates experiences and technologies available and potentially applicable to soil recovery, biodiversity restoration, and water resource conservation.

The CGEE study represents Brazil's contribution to the document "The Panorama of Drylands in Latin America and the Caribbean" (LAC Drylands Outlook). This work will be developed by the Science, Technology and Innovation Initiative for the Development of Drylands in Latin America and the Caribbean (AridasLAC), an organization of institutions working on sustainable development in the region's drylands, under the coordination of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC).

The CGEE and other institutions on the steering committee of the AridasLAC Initiative determined that the document should be developed in order to consolidate information on socioeconomic and biophysical aspects of drylands in Latin America and the Caribbean. “This study should be followed by similar work in other Latin American countries, if the methodology is considered adequate. The idea is to have a map of the entire region that identifies dry areas and areas undergoing desertification processes,” emphasizes Antônio Magalhães, technical advisor at CGEE and coordinator of the study.