UNITED NATIONS, June 17 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for a renewed commitment on Tuesday to reversing land degradation and desertification.

    "The time has come for the international community to recognize that drylands and marginal lands, where nearly half of the world's poor live, are not waste land," Ban said in a message marking World Day to Combat Desertification.

    "Rather, they are potential areas for agricultural intensification for both food and energy needs," he said.

    Ban said that the theme of this year's observance of the day - Combating land degradation for sustainable agriculture - "reminds us of the importance of land as a global heritage which no human being can live without."

    He pointed out that land degradation affects a significant portion of the Earth's arable lands, directly impacting the well-being of people and economic development of countries.

    "Let us renew our commitment to reversing land degradation and desertification. Let us ensure that the 10-year strategy adopted last year in Madrid is fully supported and implemented," Ban said.

    The United Nations says that desertification threatens between 30 and 40 percent of the world's fertile land and that more than a billion people live in the regions concerned, two-thirds of them in Asia and Africa.