There is a strong emphasis on the importance of these technologies in contributing towards environmental protection policies and for the wellbeing of rural land users. Land resources include all those features and processes of the land, which can, in some way, be used to fulfill certain human needs. Land degradation and desertification a global crisis. Download 724 land degradation stock photos for free or amazingly low rates. As sustainability and productivity are not easy to define, degradation of land can better be described in terms of non. You use degradation to refer to a situation, condition, or experience which you consider. Land degradation stock photos download 724 royalty free. Land degradation has occurred on about 30 % of global land area between 1982 and 2006 chap. It also highlights state and impacts of degradation, along with policy and program responses. Land degradation is a process in which the value of the physical environment is affected by a. Land degradation can also lead to climate change and affect human health.
Any change that decreases productivity of the land land clearing poor land management practices 2 3. The annual global cost of land degradation due to land use and cover change lucc and lower cropland and rangeland productivity is estimated to be about 300 billion usd. Subsaharan africa ssa accounts for the largest share 22% of the total global cost of land degradation. Oct 01, 2016 land degradation involves change in the properties of land and soil texture, color, grain size and its functions water holding capacity, infiltration, supporting plant life. Jun 01, 2016 major causes of land degradation greentumble soil degradation june 1, 2016 whether it is through building homes and settlements, the cultivation of crops, the harvesting of plants for food, medicine, fiber, or fuel, or by setting fires to the landscape for hunting purposes, humans have always influenced the landscape around them.
Desertification has been defined as land degradation in arid, semiarid, and dry subhumid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities11. Established in 1994, the unccd is the only legally binding international agreement linking environment and development issues to the land agenda. Land degradation is, usually, the result of complex interrelationships between biophysical and socioeconomic issues which affect many people and their land, specially in the tropics and developing countries. Instead, drawing particularly on unrisd work, it focuses largely on the social impacts of and responses to environmental degradation in rural areas of the third world. Natural causes of land degradation are earth quakes, tsunamis, droughts, avalanche. The global problem of land degradation and desertification. Pdf urban growth and land degradation in developing. Click download or read online button to landdegradation book pdf for free now. In its definition of desertification, this geographic. Land degradation and rehabilitation in ethiopia society at large is also suffering from uncertain information about the rates of land use change and land degradation. Degradation definition and meaning collins english. Land degradation as the land use section earlier in this chapter shows, demands on the land for economic development and pressures from a burgeoning population are leading to unprecedented land use change.
The result is a loss of land productivity with impacts on livelihoods and the. Multiple linear regressions was deployed for this work in order to know the relationship between the anthropogenic factors of land degradation on crop productivity of rural households. Nov 12, 2015 land degradation is a serious potential threat to food production and rural livelihoods. The term land degradation involves both soil and vegetation degradation. Land degradation is a humaninduced or natural process which negatively affects the land to function effectively within an ecosystem. Environment, volume 82, issues, december 2000, pages 355370, issn 01678809, 10. The land degradation section of this report deals with causes of land degradation, both in terms of deterioration of soil quality and loss of land. Land is a vital resource to humankind, like air and water. Responses to halt land degradation and to restore degraded land. Barbier, edward b the economic linkages between rural poverty and land degradation. From food production to quality air and water, nutrient cycling and soil formation, we depend on our land for the very basics of existence. The causes of land degradation in this category will require immediate. World day to combat desertification 2016 united nations.
Of the total, 25% of land area is highly degraded, 8% moderately or slightly degraded, 36% stable and 10% improving faostate of the worlds land and water resources for food and agriculture. The emphasis on land, rather than soil, broadens the focus to include natural resources, such as climate, water, landforms and vegetation. Globally, about 24% of the global land area has been affected by degradation and over 1. Download pdf landdegradation free online new books in. Agrobiodiversityagrobiodiversity%20thematicsoilbiodiv. The decision to strive to achieve a land degradation neutral world in the context of sustainable. It does not attempt to cover the full range of social issues associated with all types of environmental degradation. Download landdegradation ebook pdf or read online books in pdf, epub, and mobi format. Land degradation food and agriculture organization of the united. Unplanned changes of land use and land cover have become a major problem in many parts of the word.
The drivers of land degradation are numerous, complex and interrelated nkonya et al. There are several issues related to land degradation that intersect with other concerns. Land degradation the deterioration or loss of the productive capacity of the soils for present and futureis a global challenge that affects everyone through food insecurity, higher food prices, climate change, environmental hazards, and the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Soil degradation is, in itself, an indicator of land degradation. Download pdf urban growth and land degradation in developing cities book full free. Forests are also helpful in binding up of soil particles with the help of roots of vegetation. It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious or undesirable. The areal extent of global degraded areas varies depending on the definitions eswaran et al. The economics of land degradation in africa eld initiative. Land degradation is a change to land that makes it less useful for human beings. The effect of deterrents on land degradation only applies in those areas using.
Definitions for land degradation land degradation here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word land degradation. It thus covers the various forms of soil degradation, adverse human impacts on water resources, deforestation, and lowering of the productive capacity of rangelands. Land degradation stock photos download 724 royalty free photos. Global drivers of land degradation and improvement. This can lead to unsustainable agricultural practices, further land degradation, exacerbated urban sprawl, and sociopolitical problems. It causes loss of natural fertility of soil because of loss of nutrients, less vegetation cover, changes in the characteristic of soil, pollution of water resources and changes in climatic. Poor land management practices include grazing of stock that has hard hooves, growing of crops that require large amounts of fertilisers and pesticides especially superphosphate and nitrogen. Pdf land degradation can be described as an environmental phenomenon affecting. A soil is a threedimensional natural body in the same sense that a hill, valley, or mountain has three dimensions. Overview and stocktaking of land degradation in general and in africa. India is facing a severe problem of land degradation ie. In turn, unsustainable land use is driving land degradation.
The concept of land degradation as mentioned above, land degradation means much more than the degradation of the landsoil. Land degradation causes land and soil process to stop completely or function in a stunted way. Land degradation or improvement is an outcome of many proximate and underlying causes. Reflecting the combined expertise of the authors, the enhanced second edition of land degradation considers the impact of biophysical and social systems on land conditions and identifies principles that further the pursuit of sustainable land use. Collectively, these contributions explicitly seek to understand not only the mechanisms responsible for the problem of land degradation but their social and economic implications, the means of overcoming the problems, and the policy instruments whereby remedial measures may be implemented. Land degradation can be observed when the potential productivity associated with a landuse system becomes nonsustainable, or when the land within an ecosystem is no longer able to perform its environmental regulatory function of accepting, storing, and recycling water, energy, and nutrients vlek et al. Flood, drought and salinity due to climate change are very common in bangladesh thus the result is land degradation. To fight this menace, india will convert degraded land of nearly 50 lakh 5 million hectares to fertile land in the next 10 years between 2021 and 2030. Land use statistics of maharashtra shows that of total land, around 57 percent is under the net sown area, around 17 percent is forest land, and the remaining is almost equally distributed between. Definition of land land is commonly used to refer to a section of the earth. This does not involve a reduction of the forest area, but rather a quality decrease in its condition. The paper suggests some rules of thumb for identifying the priority areas for government and donor intervention, including the need for targeted research on the productivity. When faced with desertification, people often respond by making use of land that is even less productive, transforming pieces of rangeland into cultivated land, or moving towards cities or even to other countries. Land degradation is the temporary or permanent lowering of the productive capacity of land unep, 1992b.
Environmental degradation caused by unsuitable land use is a worldwide problem that has raised the question of sustainability. An introduction towards one of the massive soil issues. On land degradation environmental degradation erosion. Desertification affects as much as onesixth of the worlds population, seventy percent of all drylands, and onequarter of the total land area of the world. Land degradation is often linked to sustainability in terms of keeping its productivity. Desertification includes land degradation in arid, semiarid and dry sub humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities. A general definition of land degradation is presented by wasson 1987 as. On land degradation free download as powerpoint presentation. Forest degradation is a process in which the biological wealth of a forest area is permanently diminished by some factor or by a combination of factors. Loss of natural fertility of soil because of loss of nutrients.
The condition of the soil is one of the best indicators of land degradation. Rural land degradationexamines the nature of the overall. The three degradation terms, environmental degradation, land degradation, and soil degradation, are defined as any change or disturbance to the environment, land, or soil perceived to be. Land degradation intruduction land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by a combination of humaninduced processes acting upon the land.
Deforestation is the conversion of forest to nonforest land and can result in land degradation. The ipbes assessment report on land degradation and restoration. However, if acted upon quickly, there is a possibility for land reclamation and reversal of desertification. Besides this, a nature itself is also responsible for land degradation. Because of the complex nature of land degradation processes it is essentially a geographical subject matt er. As can be seen from the definition of land given in chapter 1, these resources are numerous and complex. Pdf download land degradation and desertification assessment mitigation and remediation. By the provision of worked examples and field notes for specific techniques this manual will be invaluable for professionals in natural resources and as a training manual for. A major shortcoming of the available statistics on land degradation is the lack of causeeffect relationship between severity of degradation and productivity. The gef definition of land degradation ld sets the thematic.
Criteria for designating different classes of land degradation e. Read free full ebook download land degradation and desertification assessment mitigation and remediation full ebook. In the tranemission of han and animal pathogens, aerial transpor of the organism as a free. Land degradation is the major consequences of direct interference of human activities in the natural phenomenon. Pollution of water resources from the contamination of. This will create much drier soil, which in turn is more vulnerable to erosion and runoff.
Cause of land degradation and its impacts on livelihoods of. The forest is still there, but with fewer trees, or less species of trees, plants or animals, or some of them affected by plagues. Land degradation is defined as the temporary or permanent decline in the productive capacity of the land, and the diminution of the productive potential, including its major land uses e. History, nature, causes, consequences, and solutions conacher, arthur encyclopedia of life support systems eolss peoples attitudes, perceptions and knowledge, actions or inactions by government agencies, and inappropriate government policies. Healthy landscapes are fundamental to the health of life on earth. In this paper, land degradation will be discussed from the perspective of physical geography. Economics of land degradation and improvement a global. Causes and impacts of land degradation and desertification. This is a broad definition, notably including deforestation, but only. Fundamental concepts scoop on soil educational cd may 2006 nrcs helping people help the land figure 1. The unccd definition, which is mostly used by now, states that desertification is land degradation in arid, semiarid and subhumid tropics caused by a.
All of these factors will combine to create a very stable but very unproductive desert environment. Only about 11% of the land mass is humid and by definition is excluded from desertification processes. An exact assessment of the extent of land degradation remains elusive both because of the difficulties involved in measuring it and because of the different definitions used over time. This years world day to combat desertification advocates for the importance of inclusive cooperation to restore and rehabilitate degraded land and contribute towards achieving the overall sustainable development goals, which include a target to achieve a land degradation. Forest degradation is land degradation that occurs in forest land. The changes of land quality are the result of many highly interlinked factors including natural, socioeconomic and also policy and related agricultural practices. Desertification, land degradation and drought sustainable. Forests play an important role in maintaining fertility of soil by shedding their leaves which contain many nutrients.
In 2015, land degradation neutrality is likely to become a global target through the united nations convention to combat desertification and. Land degradation and desertification, largely due to deforestation and unsustainable land use, are amongst the most pressing problems facing the world today. The soil integrates a variety of important processes involving vegetation growth, overland flow of water, infiltration, land use and land management. Most of these changes occur without clear and logical planning, paying no attention to their environmental impacts. Information and translations of land degradation in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. Using a comprehensive analysis to determine the extent, degree, and drivers of soil degradation, oldeman et al. Urban growth and land degradation in developing cities available for download and read. Nine main causes of land degradation are as follows. Land degradation neutrality free pdf download established in 1994, the unccd is the only legally binding international agreement linking environment and development issues to the land agenda. Economics of land degradation in china springerlink. It may refer to the destruction or deterioration of the health of terrestrial ecosystems, thus affecting the associated biodiversity, natural ecological processes and ecosystem resilience. Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by a combination of humaninduced processes acting upon the land.
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