ENG - UN CC:Learn

ARAB STATES
LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA
SPOTLIGHT
TUNISIA Mediterranean Sea
Tripoli
Misurata Benghazi
ALGERIA
LIBYA
EGYPT
Database Facilitates Improved Natural Resource Monitoring 1
Agriculture has consistently been given the highest priority in Libya’s development
plans. Current growth in this sector is approximately 7%. Such rapid development
requires coordinated economic and physical planning at national, regional and
local levels.The country’s natural environment, however, presents severe obstacles,
including the climate,desert conditions,and limited water resources.Moreover,the unregulated exploitation of natural resources,
encroaching on arable lands, forests, and coastal areas, has jeopardised the reproductive capacity of the natural environment.
These ecological and socio-economic impacts demonstrate the urgent need for the establishment of appropriate policies for the
sound management and use of natural resources in Libya.
However, it was first necessary to strengthen the institutional capacity of the agencies responsible for regulating the conservation
and use of natural resources, make an inventory of the country’s natural resource base and integrate monitoring. In 2000, in
co-operation with the FAO, UNDP began to provide advisory assistance to the Government to establish a national agro-environmental
database to facilitate improved monitoring and management of natural resources. US$ 2.88 million was provided to
develop the digital database, using remote-sensing techniques and Geographical Information Systems.
The aim of this joint project was to build national expertise in information management, land evaluation, computer science,
remote sensing and resource monitoring, and to achieve the goal of creating a self-supporting natural resources monitoring
capacity that will be integrated into decision-making processes. As the underlying information infrastructure could also be of
benefit to inland monitoring programmes, following testing on the first priority area – the Gefara Plain on Libya’s northwestern
coast – this system could be applied to other management situations in the country.
NIGER
CHAD
SUDAN
BIODIVERSITY
QUICK FACTS
CURRENT PORTFOLIO BUDGET
Total UNDP-GEF and Co-Finance: $200,000
Total UNDP and Co-Finance: $11,182,109
Total MPU and Bilateral: $1,528,890
Total: $12,910,999
Cumulative Total ODS Phased-Out:
314.0 ODP tonnes
136