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Art.1 |
Article 1 |
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Art.1.1x |
For the purposes of this Convention: |
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Art.1.1x.a |
(a) "desertification" means land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities; |
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Art.1.1x.b |
(b) "combating desertification" includes activities which are part of the integrated development of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas for sustainable development which are aimed at: |
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Art.1.1x.b.i |
(i) prevention and/ or reduction of land degradation; |
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Art.1.1x.b.ii |
(ii) rehabilitation of partly degraded land; and |
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Art.1.1x.b.iii |
(iii) reclamation of desertified land; 4 |
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Art.1.1x.c |
(c) "drought" means the naturally occurring phenomenon that exists when precipitation has been significantly below normal recorded levels, causing serious hydrological imbalances that adversely affect land resource production systems; |
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Art.1.1x.d |
(d) "mitigating the effects of drought" means activities related to the prediction of drought and intended to reduce the vulnerability of society and natural systems to drought as it relates to combating desertification; |
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Art.1.1x.e |
(e) "land" means the terrestrial bio-productive system that comprises soil, vegetation, other biota, and the ecological and hydrological processes that operate within the system; |
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Art.1.1x.f |
(f) "land degradation" means reduction or loss, in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, of the biological or economic productivity and complexity of rainfed cropland, irrigated cropland, or range, pasture, forest and woodlands resulting from land uses or from a process or combination of processes, including processes arising from human activities and habitation patterns, such as: |
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Art.1.1x.f.i |
(i) soil erosion caused by wind and/ or water; |
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Art.1.1x.f.ii |
(ii) deterioration of the physical, chemical and biological or economic properties of soil; and |
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Art.1.1x.f.iii |
(iii) long-term loss of natural vegetation; |
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Art.1.1x.g |
(g) "arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas" means areas, other than polar and sub-polar regions, in which the ratio of annual precipitation to potential evapotranspiration falls within the range from 0.05 to 0.65; |
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Art.1.1x.h |
(h) "affected areas" means arid, semi-arid and/ or dry sub-humid areas affected or threatened by desertification; |
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Art.1.1x.i |
(i) "affected countries" means countries whose lands include, in whole or in part, affected areas; |
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Art.1.1x.j |
(j) "regional economic integration organization" means an organization constituted by sovereign States of a given region which has competence in respect of matters governed by this Convention and has been duly authorized, in accordance with its internal procedures, to sign, ratify, accept, approve or accede to this Convention; |
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Art.1.1x.k |
(k) "developed country Parties" means developed country Parties and regional economic integration organizations constituted by developed countries. |
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Art.30 |
Article 30 |
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Art.30.1 |
1. Any Party may propose amendments to the Convention. |
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Art.30.2 |
2. Amendments to the Convention shall be adopted at an ordinary session of the Conference of the Parties. The text of any proposed amendment shall be communicated to the Parties by the Permanent Secretariat at least six months before the meeting at which it is proposed for adoption. The Permanent Secretariat shall also communicate proposed amendments to the signatories to the Convention. |
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Art.30.3 |
3. The Parties shall make every effort to reach agreement on any proposed amendment to the Convention by consensus. If all efforts at consensus have been exhausted and no agreement reached, the amendment shall, as a last resort, be adopted by a two-thirds majority vote of the Parties present and voting at the meeting. The adopted amendment shall be communicated by the Permanent Secretariat to the Depositary, who shall circulate it to all Parties for their ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. |
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Art.30.4 |
4. Instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession in respect of an amendment shall be deposited with the Depositary. An amendment adopted pursuant to paragraph 3 shall enter into force for those Parties having accepted it on the ninetieth day after the date of receipt by the Depositary of an instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession by at least two thirds of the Parties to the Convention which were Parties at the time of the adoption of the amendment. |
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Art.30.5 |
5. The amendment shall enter into force for any other Party on the ninetieth day after the date on which that Party deposits with the Depositary its instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval of, or accession to the said amendment. |
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Art.30.6 |
6. For the purposes of this article and article 31, "Parties present and voting" means Parties present and casting an affirmative or negative vote. |
