This edition of Nature & Faune journal will be a special Issue to mark the International Year of Soils. It is planned to be issued during the Conference of the African Soil Society taking place in Ouagadougou - Burkina Faso from 2nd to 10th December 2015.

FAO’s full office in Eritrea became operational in 1995, when the field programme at the time was dedicated to recovery from the devastation caused by the protracted war of independence. The focus was on the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the agricultural sector and the resettlement of returning displaced people.

FAO and the Global Mechanism of the UNCCD have joined efforts to prepare this discussion paper on sustainable financing for FLR. It provides an overview of existing funding sources and financial instruments that could be used and adapted specifically for the implementation of FLR efforts at the national, regional and global levels.

Land degradation and desertification are among the biggest environmental challenges of our time. In the last 40 years, we lost nearly a third of the world’s arable farmland due to erosion, just as the number of people to be fed from it almost doubled. That’s why the UN General Assembly declared 2015 as the International Year of Soils.

Basándose en datos más completos y fiables como nunca antes, y abarcando 234 países y territorios, la Evaluación de los recursos forestales mundiales 2015 da evidencia de signos esperanzadores del logro de una gestión forestal mejorada y de una disminución de la deforestación en todas las regiones del mundo.

Drought is one of the major climatic hazards impacting on the various sectors including crop and livestock in the West African Sahel.

This edition of the journal has set out to explore the theme " Forests and People: Investing in Africa’s Sustainable Future”. The academia, research, development community, civil society and individuals working in the forestry sector and related fields are contributing short articles to this edition of the journal.

Crown diameter and tree density were measured in 52 communities in the Sudan-Sahel using satellite imagery to determine the relationships between rainfall and distance from community center to crown size diameter and tree density. As distance from the community center increased, tree density and crown diameter decreased.

In Africa, where most agriculture is rainfed, crop growth is limited by water availability. Rainfall variability during a growing season generally translates into variability in crop production.