Although the benefits of preventive measures may be hard to see in the short-term - due to the slow response times of the desert environment and the fact that there is as yet no comprehensive The Gobabeb Training and Research Centre is located within the driest part of the Namib-Naukluft Park, and supports training and research activities from national, regional and international sources. Gobabeb is situated on the northern edge of the main Namib dune field, on the banks of the ephemeral Kuiseb River, and lies at the inland extremity of the coastal fog belt and near the western limits of scarce summer rainfall and the northern limits of occasional winter rainfall events. Source: Mary Seely Figure 4.10: Participatory training system to monitor the impacts of actions - the efforts to combat land degradation in deserts have multiplied over the years.

They have become more complex with time, and are increasingly taking into consideration the natural, economic, political and cultural peculiarities of each region and country. As a result of these growing efforts, the UN General Assembly has declared 2006 as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification, in an effort to send a strong message about the global importance of conserving and protecting these unique and often fragile environments.