June 4, 2021
Summer Wave,
vol.
9,
no.
1,
Water Resources Research Center,
Tucson, AZ,
June 4, 2021
On May 24-26, the International Arid Lands Consortium (IALC) held a virtual conference commemorating 30 years of international collaboration on arid lands issues. The three-day program featured insightful keynote presentations and in-depth panel discussions on each of the day’s topics: Water and Agriculture, Land and Natural Environment, and Forests and Fire. In addition, a series of excellent student lightning talks were a conference feature. To close the conference and mark the sunsetting of the IALC as an organization, Board President Sharon B. Megdal read the IALC Conference Declaration on Addressing the Environmental Challenges of Arid Lands. The Declaration highlighted important points from the three-day program: “climate change has exacerbated the environmental challenges of arid and semi-arid lands and their people” and “regional and multi-disciplinary collaborative efforts are necessary and urgently needed to address these severe environmental challenges.” With the end of the conference and as the IALC wraps up its activities, the Declaration is a call to action. In the words of Honorary Conference Chair Joe Hess, “we, therefore, pass the baton to other consortiums, government agencies and universities to carry on this important endeavor that affects the well-being of all mankind and brings peace between nations.”