不斷擴大的沙漠面積，已威脅到人類的生存，為提升全球大眾的危機意識，聯合國宣示2006年為「國際沙漠與沙漠化年」。所謂沙漠化，是指因人為活動和氣候變遷，導致土地的生物生產力流失。
聯合國已安排一系列活動，尋求用各種方法保護佔全球面積三分之一的乾旱地區生物生產力，同時也要保護受沙漠化現象影響的20億人口的知識與文化襲產。
聯合國秘書長安南表示：「我期待與各國政府、民間社會、私人部門、國際組織及其他單位合作，將注意力聚焦在這個重要議題上，並且與日並進一同努力反轉沙漠化的趨勢，讓世界處於更安全、更能永續經營的道路上。」
根據聯合國防治荒漠化公約（UNCCD）秘書處，沙漠化和乾旱估計造成每年價值420億美金農產品損失，引起食物供應不穩定、飢荒和貧窮，同時也會升高社會、經濟和政治緊張，因而引起各種衝突、更嚴重的貧窮問題以及地力退化。
UNCCD執行長迪亞洛（Hama Arba Diallo）表示：「環境惡化對國家安全和國際情勢穩定具有一定的衝擊，這已是普遍共識。因此，沙漠化已被視為對人類安全的威脅。」
同時，這些天然棲息地連同極為多樣化的動物和鳥類生物，也是長久以來世界上最古老的部分文明的家鄉，公約秘書處希望今年也會舉行慶祝活動，彰顯全球各處沙漠中美麗而獨特、卻又極度脆弱，必須加以保護的遺產。
防治荒漠化公約將在2006年12月屆滿10週年。目前，秘書處預計各國將有191個慶祝盛會，讓起源於1992年里約地球高峰會的公約成為在環境保護上最具代表性的協定。
To raise global public awareness of advancing deserts as a major threat to humanity, the United Nations has declared 2006 to be the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Desertification is the loss of the land’s biological productivity, caused by human activities and climate change.
Activities planned for this year will explore ways to safeguard the biological diversity of the arid lands that cover one-third of the planet and to protect the knowledge and traditions of the two billion people affected by the phenomenon of desertification.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, "I look forward to working with governments, civil society, the private sector, international organizations and others to focus attention on this crucial issue, and to make every day one on which we work to reverse the trend of desertification and set the world on a safer, more sustainable path of development."
Desertification and drought cause an estimated loss of $42 billion a year from agricultural production, contribute to food insecurity, famine and poverty and can give rise to social, economic and political tensions that can cause conflicts, further impoverishment and land degradation, according to the Convention's Secretariat.
"It is widely recognized that environmental degradation has a role to play in considerations of national security, as well as international stability. Therefore, desertification has been seen as a threat to human security," said UNCCD Executive Secretary Hama Arba Diallo.
At the same time, these natural habitats with their incredibly diverse animal and bird life have been home to some of the world's oldest civilizations and the Convention's Secretariat hopes the Year will also celebrate the fragile beauty and unique heritage of the world's deserts, which deserve protection.
The Convention's 10th anniversary will be marked in December 2006. Currently, the Convention counts 191 states parties, making it one of the most representative treaties on environmental protection stemming from the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.
