The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) jointly with the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is organizing a training session on the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting for Water (SEEAW) for the Arab Gulf countries which will be held in UN House, Beirut, during the period 25-28 August 2008.

The ESCWA region has limited fertile land that is subject to different levels of degradation. With few exceptions, it is also considered a land scarce region. Land resources are being increasingly degraded and over-exploited. The degradation of agricultural land in the region to a large extent is caused by human induced factors, but natural factors such as, low and erratic rainfall and droughts are also playing a part. Land resources in the region are becoming increasingly scarce, and the quality of such resources is decreasing, mostly as a result of poor management.