seven years after the 1992 Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, where countries around the world vowed to stop desertification, officials gathered in another Brazilian city of Recife to assess local as well as global regeneration measures undertaken so far. More than 150 countries signed the Recife Initiative, which aims to take stock of the mounting ecological and social catastrophes. The countries have resolved to protect fertile land from desertification.

Among other things, deforestation, increasing population pressures and excessive farming and grazing are to be blamed for turning approximately 150,000 sq km