The activities summarized below were extracted from available records and reports at ROWA

1. A comprehensive project proposal “Integrated Natural Resources Management to Combat Desertification in West Asia” was prepared to cover pilot sites in all SRAP West Asia member countries and was submitted to GEF for potential funding. However, due to the difficulty of obtaining full funding from one source, the project is being implemented in phases and as funds become available. Start-up activities funded by the OPEC Fund for International Development at a total of US$ 350,000 are now being implemented in pilot sites in four countries over an initial period of four years. These countries included Lebanon and Yemen for the mountainous areas and Syria and Jordan for rangeland rehabilitation.
2. UNEP-ROWA participated in the Regional Workshop on Promoting Land Degradation Assessment in Western Asia and the Near East, organized by FAO, ACSAD and the Syrian Agriculture Ministry (Damascus, 25-28 July 2004).
3. Participation in the Arab MAB Coordinating Council, Bureau and Expert Meeting on Rehabilitation of Degraded Ecosystem in Arab Countries, Beirut, Lebanon, 14-18 March 2004, co-organised with UNESCO under the umbrella of CAMRE as part of the activities within the CAMRE Steering Committee on Land Degradation, Desertification, Biodiversity and Water
4. Organisation of the First Workshop of the Pilot Project of the SRAP/WA in Jordan, Amman, Jordan, 3-4 March 2004, to discuss the work plan and the activities for the first year of the pilot project
5. Participation in the Workshop on Mapping for Desertification, Monitoring and Assessment, Damascus, Syria, 25-26 February 2004
6. Participation in the 16th Meeting of CAMRE Steering Committee on Land Degradation, Desertification, Biodiversity and Water, Cairo, Egypt, 20-22 January 2000
7. Participation in the workshop on the implementation of Biodiversity Conventions, National Action Plans, and for preparation for COP7 and MOP1 was organized and held in collaboration with ACSAD, ICESCO, CAMRE, and UNEP in Damascus on 17-19 January 2004.
8. A Biodiversity Work Plan and Strategy is being developed, in partnership with ACSAD and ICARDA, to provide overall direction in terms of the protection of the region’s biodiversity in accordance with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
9. Cooperation with CITES secretariat to review and monitor the registration process and all measurers and efforts to manage falconry in the region and enhance the breeding of falcons and Hubara Bustard in the region.
10. Cooperation with CITES secretariat in the development of regional programme of reinforcement of the provisions of the Convention, capacity building and public awareness
11. UNEP/ROWA, CAMRE and ACSAD prepared study on the State of Desertification in the Arab Region and the ways and means to deal with it, which was published in Arabic and summary in English in 1996. This study is being updated and will be published this year by CAMRE, UNEP/ROWA and ACSAD.
12. GM/UNCCD made available US$ 150,000 to support SRAP implementation in West Asia and studies related to of Inventory and Regional Databases for the SRAP’s Thematic Networks of water resources (TN1) and vegetation cover (TN2). The preliminary outputs of these studies provided the basis for developing proposals addressing priority issues for combating land degradation in the region. Three priority areas were identified and endorsed by the Focal Points of the SRAP member countries and included: Mountainous areas; Rangeland improvement; and Coping with salinity problems.
13. UNEP/ROWA, ICARDA and CAMRE have developed a feasibility study on the establishment of a Gene Bank for Plant Genetic Resources in the Arab World. The report of the study was discussed during the 14th CAMRE Steering Committee on Combating Desertification and during a regional meeting on gene banks in 2003 in Aleppo, Syria.
14. UNEP/ROWA, provided assistance to several SRAP member countries in West Asia region in the preparation of their National Action Programmes. Examples of the assistance provided included a workshop held in Riyad, Saudi Arabia in 2002 to assist GCC countries in the preparation of their NAPs; guidelines for developing NAP; focal point meeting in the Arab States in 2001 in Salalah, Oman do discuss the preparation and implementation of NAP and SRAP. The National Action Programmes (NAPs) for Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates were prepared, reviewed and adopted by the concerned National Committees in May 2002 and May 2003 respectively. NAPs for Kuwait and Oman are currently being updated. Technical support was provided to Kuwait, UAE and Palestine in preparing their national reports.
15. UNEP/ROWA, UNDP/Yemen and ACSAD provided technical support to Yemen in the field of land degradation to ensure sustainable use of Yemen’s natural resources and study and maps on land degradation was published in Arabic and English in 2002
16. The Regional Office for West Asia (ROWA) and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Secretariat (MA) in partnership with the Division of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA) are jointly undertaking an Arab Region Millennium Ecosystem Assessment to Support Decision Making for the Sustainable Use of Ecosystems. The project supports the Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD), the Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD), and the Ramsar Wetlands Convention (Ramsar Convention) to contribute to the fulfillment of their assessment needs. It is being implemented in three selected sites in the Arab region (the Assir National Park, Saudi Arabia; the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt and the Tafilalt Oasis Morocco). An inception Meeting for the project was held on 29 September, 1 October 2003.
17. Participated in the Fifth Asian Focal Point Meeting in preparation of the 1st Session of the Committee for the review of the Implementation of the UNCCD (Damascus, 8-12 July 2002)
18. The Fourth Thematic Programme Network (TPN4) 'Water Resources Management for Agriculture in Arid, Semi-arid and Sub-Humid Lands was launched in Damascus (4-7 July 2002).
19. Technical support provided to the National Workshop on Land Degradation held in Yemen, 22-24 April 2002. The final report was adopted in June 2002.
20. Participated in the 26th FAO Regional Conference for the Near East (Kuwait, 10-13 March 2002), the AOAD General Assembly Meeting (Abu Dhabi, 28-30 April 2002) and the International UNESCO/MAB Workshop on Desertification: Rehabilitation of Degraded Drylands and Biosphere Reserves (Damascus, 2-4 May 2002).
21. Co-organised the Regional Meeting to discuss the proposed programme on sustainable development of rain-fed agriculture in West Asia and North Africa with ICARDA and GM (Aleppo, 22-24 March 2002)
22. A Joint CAMRE/AMCEN Workshop on Land, Water and Food Security was organised by UNEP-GEF (Cairo 22-24 January 2002)
23. In collaboration with ICARDA and ICRISAT the follow-up to the project 'Wind Erosion in Africa and Western Asia– Problems and Control Strategies' was completed in 1999
24. 'A Brief Study on Desertification', based on the World Atlas of Desertification was published in Arabic in 1999 with the support from Zayed International Prize for the Environment.