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This Resolution of the Council of Ministers approves the New National Policy to Combat Desertification (PANCD) within the territory of Portugal. The new PANCD aims at the following aspects: a) focus on the four strategic objectives defined by the UNCCD, giving priority to people of the affected areas, the systems that form the basis of identified causes of desertification in Portugal, the major synergies with other convergent processes developing in the international and domestic agenda and aspects of resources management; b) Maintenance of PANCD operational structures, providing for their redefinition, particularly the National Coordinating Committee to Combat Desertification (CNCCD), which shall ensure the effective involvement of a number of institutions, national and regional levels, that until now were not represented, especially the scientific and technological system entities (NSTS), civil society and local authorities; c) Reviewing the structure and functioning of CNCCD, entitled to strategic direction, internal organization and external representation; d) Development of proposals for programmes and interventions related to soil and water, but also biodiversity and climate change, and resulting from the application and development of the respective conventions.The objectives of the NAPDB are to implement UNCCD guidelines, measures and instruments in the semi-arid and sub-humid areas of the national territory, as well as in the country's multilateral and bilateral cooperation initiatives, which fall under its scope. The process of revision and updating of the PANCD approved by the Resolution of the Council of Ministers no. 69/99, of July 9, derives from the Portuguese State's conventional obligation for its adequacy and compliance with the UNCCD Decadal Strategy 2008-2018, Adopted at the 8th Conference of the Parties (COP8) held in Madrid from 3 to 14 September 2007, hereinafter referred to as the 10-Year Strategy.The long-term vision states that "The goal of UNCCD is to create a global partnership to reverse and prevent desertification/land degradation and to mitigate the effects of drought in affected areas in order to support poverty reduction and Environmental sustainability. The strategic objectives established in the ten-year Strategy, associated with expected impacts and indicators are: 1) improve the living conditions of affected populations; 2) improve the conditions of the affected ecosystems; 3) generate global benefits from the effective implementation of UNCCD; 4) mobilize resources to support UNCCD implementation in building effective partnerships between national and international actors.
Repeals: Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 69/99 approving the National Policy to Combat Desertification (PANCD). (1999-06-17)
