On the basis of the questionnaires filled in by NGOs, the debates held in the context of working groups during the Mediterranean Conference and speakers’ contributions, the following Conclusions, Proposals and Recommendations of NGOs on the participation of civil society in combating desertification and drought in the Mediterranean were adopted:

• The conference attendants denounced the lack of NGO participation in drawing up, implementing and evaluating the National Action Programmes to combat desertification and the effects of drought in the majority of Mediterranean states, and in the drawing up of the annual National Reports sent to the Conference of the Parties.
• Of Annexe IV of the northern Mediterranean, only Italy and Portugal have made headway on the process of drawing up their National Action Programme to combat desertification (NAP), whereas Spain, Greece and Turkey have only drawn up the "Guidelines" which will serve as a basis for their respective programmes. The remainder of southern and eastern Mediterranean countries do not have a NAP.
• The work of NGOs to combat desertification is carried out on two levels: on-the-spot work in the form of small-scale projects with the base communities affected and a task of networking or coalition with other NGOs to reinforce lobbying work with various government agencies and international organisations.
• Most of the participating NGOs consider that the degree of representativeness of the base communities and citizens is only average. This does however allow them to successfully carry out the task of providing an interface between the base communities and the authorities or international organisations.
• Appreciation was expressed of the work carried out by MED Forum on outlining policies, lines of action and good practices projects to combat desertification, in the form of the Mediterranean Environment Forum, the MED Forum Agenda 2000 and the Negev Desert Declaration. It was also proposed that the positive experiences of other NGOs and Mediterranean networks be employed.
• The NGOs called for clearly specified financing for their projects to combat erosion and desertification and promote rural development, and stressed the need for partnerships with local authorities.
• It is necessary to inform, sensitise and educate people about good practices for combating desertification and the effects of drought, and provide training to establish links between the solutions put forward from different fields (political, technical and economic).
• The NGOs stated that a solid scientific base is needed in order to draw up proposals for action, and that close collaboration should be established with the universities and scientific and technical research centres.
• The participants stated that the fight against desertification cannot be separated from the rational management of natural resources and that territorial planning should be based on criteria of sustainability.
• Policies to combat desertification and the effects of drought require the acceptance of the community and, in many cases, immediate interests go against a rational use of the territory. In this sense, the protection of natural spaces has shown itself to be clearly compatible with and even beneficial to the maintenance of sustainable land use.
• An important challenge is to find a way for the community to contribute to financing the costs of managing rural spaces. To date, sustainable agriculture has met the costs, though rural spaces generate indirect benefits for society as a whole.
• There is a duality between intensive farming which depletes natural resources and a traditional form of agriculture which allows for their conservation, but which calls for urgent measures if the present serious crisis is to be overcome. The incorporation of new sustainable technologies and the multipurpose use of agricultural spaces is presented as one possible solution to the problem. The introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and intensive farming as an alternative is rejected.
• Our recognition of the important role of farming in the conservation of natural and cultural diversity means that we have to dignify traditional practices and knowledge and promote dialogue between all the agents involved.
• The scientific community expresses its concern at the lack of practical application of scientific advances and their incorporation into policies and action programmes. It expresses the need to establish prevention mechanisms (like early warning systems) to control and mitigate the processes of desertification.
• There is a need for dialogue between the different sectors affected, and consensus when it comes to deciding on policies and action programmes.
• Land conservation has to be seen as an integral part of territorial management and include participation and the control of decisions by social groups in the themes of territorial planning and management.
• A development model has to be promoted to allow integrated, sustainable management of resources, including land and water, and prevent speculation being imposed in the management and organisation of the territory. It is therefore necessary to support local government agencies against the pressure of speculation, and to control and denounce corrupt practices.
• The proposal of a participatory process to draw up Agendas 21 at all levels to define models of territorial management and organisation, conservation and integrated management of land, integrated sustainable management of coastal zones and to establish participatory forms of combating desertification.

The Conference also considered MED Forum’s Proposals and recommendations of NGOs on the participation of civil society in combating desertification and drought in the Mediterranean, and gave its support to these initiatives, which can be summarised as follows:

To the Conference of the Convention, its Annexes and the contracting party States:

1. to make progress in the implementation of an Inter-Regional Mediterranean Action Programme, drawn up and applied in collaboration with other regions or subregions’ programmes, on the basis of a spirit of international solidarity and association, with a view to improving co-operation and co-ordination at subregional, regional and international level, to channel financial, human, organisational and technical resources where they are most needed, by means of a "Mediterranean regional initiative to combat desertification";
2. to establish a suitable forum for exchange, participation and co-ordination to promote the "Mediterranean regional initiative to combat desertification", which will allow progress towards the creation of an Inter-Regional Mediterranean Action Programme. Other existing forums could be employed for this purpose, such as the Mediterranean Commission of Sustainable Development (MCSD);
3. for NGOs actively involved in combating desertification and particularly their networks, such as MED Forum, to take an active part in drawing up, implementing and evaluating the Regional Action Programme of the northern Mediterranean in organisations of co-ordination which already exist and/or are constituted to this effect. This same measure will be applied to the Subregional Action Programmes being drawn up for other areas in the southern and eastern Mediterranean;
4. representatives of national NGOs and other sectors must take an active part in drawing up, implementing and evaluating the National Action Programmes and drawing up National Reports to combat desertification and the effects of drought by forming part of National Committees to combat desertification and the effects of drought.

To members of MED Forum and other Mediterranean NGOs:

1. the realisation by MED Forum NGOs of a campaign of communication, sensitisation and environmental education in the Mediterranean basin, specifically on desertification and the effects of drought, directed at the main economic and social agents involved;
2. the realisation of a programme of capacity-building and training in the administration of natural resources directed at the main economic and social agents involved, decision-makers and government specialists. By:

1. organising conferences, seminars, etc. for the exchange of experiences and good practices and publication of the most significant experiences;
2. producing sectorial guides to environmental management and intervention directed at preventing, controlling and mitigating the causes and effects of desertification and drought.

3. the drawing up of a Mediterranean Charter for the sustainable management of the territory to combat desertification and the effects of drought, leading to the creation of a network made up of the signatory bodies and organisations which undertake to apply its contents: NGOs, farmers, stock-keepers, companies, consumer associations, universities, research centres, local government agencies, regional governments, etc.;
1. the celebration of "Mediterranean Day to combat desertification and the effects of drought" every 17 June, on the basis of the "Murcia Manifesto" read in the context of the badlands of Los Barrancos de Gebar (Murcia/Spain) in different Mediterranean languages by representatives of MED Forum NGOs, States and the Secretariat of the Convention;
2. the carrying out of Mediterranean-scale projects to combat desertification and the effects of drought in order to encourage and co-ordinate the initiatives of the different countries, promote co-operation and co-development and bring a joint front to the specific problems which exist throughout the basin.

Proposals for regional projects to be carried out by MED Forum NGOs and other bodies:

• regional project on "Participatory water management in Mediterranean arid regions", to be carried out in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Israel and Palestine;
• regional project "For sustainable tourism in the Mediterranean", to encourage sustainable land management, reduce the overexploitation of resources and promote agro-tourism or tourism in rural areas to prevent the land being abandoned;
• regional project on the "Conservation of terraces in the Mediterranean region" as a traditional method of combating erosion, conserving fertile land and preserving the landscape;
• regional project on "Maintenance of sustainable land uses and protection of biodiversity in semiarid zones";
• regional project on "Fair trade and combating desertification in the Mediterranean";
• regional project on a "Mediterranean school of sustainable agriculture", based at a training centre in Morocco.

Murcia, 18 June 2000

(102 NGOs from 23 Mediterranean countries)

Murcia Conference: 201 participants representing Mediterranean NGOs, experts, academics, farmers, stock-keepers, local, regional and national authorities and international organisations.