Identification of the cause of land degradation is important in return influence the sustainability of the life and helps to take appropriate measurement to halt it. Desertification affects the livelihoods of millions of people, as. In this report, land degradation is defined as a negative trend 4 in land condition, caused by direct or indirect humaninduced processes. Desertification, a phenomenon referring to land degradation in arid, semiarid and dry subhumid regions as a result of climatic variations and human activities, is considered as one of the most severe environmental and socioeconomic problems o f recent times. The condition of the soil is one of the best indicators of land degradation. Land degradation food and agriculture organization of the united. Research by the economics of land degradation initiative in.
Land degradation has multiple and complex impacts on the global environment through a range of direct and indirect processes affecting a wide array of ecosystem functions and services gef 2006. As land is degraded and in some places deserts expand, food production is reduced, water sources dry up and populations are pressured to move to more hospitable areas. 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 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.
Desertification, land degradation and sustainability wiley. Pdf effects of land use change on land degradation reflected. The health impacts of desertification and drought pdf, 1. The impact of land degradation on food productivity. Land degradation is a complex process which involves both the natural ecosystem and the socioeconomic system, among which climate and land use changes are the two predominant driving factors. The impact of land degradation on food productivity library wur. In this guide, we look at what land degradation is including the sub land and soil issues it encompasses, along with the causes, the effects impacts, and the potential.
Land degradation therefore has potentially impacts on lakes and reservoirs that are designed to alleviate flooding provide irrigation and generate hydropower. Land degradation is often linked to sustainability in terms of keeping its productivity. Land degradation means a significant reduction of the productive capacity of land. It is a complex process involving various causal factors, among which climate changes, land usecover changes and human dominated land management play a dominant role barbier 1997. In summary, land degradation includes soil erosion, salinization, soil acidification or akalinisation and desertification. Soil degradation is, in itself, an indicator of land degradation. Annually land degradation costs an estimated usd 40 billion world wide eld initiative, 20, and degraded land is costly to reclaim lada. Key findings, policy implications and recommendations of white paper 1 pak sum low coordinating author and editor of white paper i unccd 2nd scientific conference 912 april 20, bonn, germany. 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. Economics of land degradation in china springerlink. Andersonb, robert costanzac, ida kubiszewskic a department of geography and the environment, university of denver, united states b school of natural and built environments, university of south australia, australia c crawford school of public policy, the australian national. This perception has been replaced by a feeling of scarcity, especially in arid lands undergoing severe processes of degradation. Land degradation is the temporary or permanent lowering of the productive capacity of land unep, 1992b. Conversion of agricultural land to nonagricultural usages in.
Land degradation and desertification have been graded as a major environmental and social dispute in most. Land degradation is the common environmental problem in ethiopia. Land degradation is a change to land that makes it less useful for human beings. Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water, and soil, the destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of wildlife. Land degradation is the blanket term usually used to describe a number of land and soil degradation issues such as soil contamination, soil erosion, desertification, and more. The soil integrates a variety of important processes involving vegetation growth, overland flow of water, infiltration, land use and land management. Sustainable land use can help to reduce the impacts of agriculture and livestock, preventing soil degradation and erosion and the loss of valuable land to desertification. Causes, impacts and rehabilitation techniques find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Land degradation can be defined in several ways depending upon the subject that needs to be emphasized. The importance of land degradation in calabar south is enhanced because of its impact on food security and quality of the environments. The map of the study area is presented on the next page. It thus covers the various forms of soil degradation, adverse human impacts on water resources, deforestation, and lowering of the productive capacity of rangelands. Pdf on nov 28, 2017, temesgen gashaw and others published land degradation in ethiopia.
Economic and social impacts of desertification, land. The potential impacts of desertification on health include. In this unique situation, environmental degradation is a specific instance of utilization or generation externalities reflected by uniqueness amongst private and social. However, the economic implications of land degradation are particularl y severe in subsaharan africa because. Reduced area losses to land degradation arable land in asia, africa, and latin. 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. The impacts and implications of humanrelated and climatic factors b. Economics of land degradation and improvement in ethiopia. Land degradation is a process in which the value of the physical environment is affected by a. This study takes the degradation of soil resources as its focus. Land is a vital resource to humankind, like air and water.
In turn, unsustainable land use is driving land degradation. To explore the possible impacts of land degradation on food security, we compared the baseline results with two alternative scenarios. Causes and impacts of land degradation and desertification. Loss of natural fertility of soil because of loss of nutrients.
Land degrading processes such as deforestation or soil erosion also contribute to climate change ipbes 2018, with 25%. Usually land degrad ation is described in terms of the loss in natural resources soil, water, fauna and flora or in the biophysical process by which it functions. 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. Water can be lost through evapotranspiration, evaporation, infiltration, runoff, pollution, or overuse. A general definition of land degradation is presented by wasson 1987 as. This can lead to unsustainable agricultural practices, further land degradation, exacerbated urban sprawl, and sociopolitical problems. The gef definition of land degradation ld sets the thematic boundaries of this. Pollution of water resources from the contamination of.
Desertification has been defined as land degradation in arid, semiarid, and dry subhumid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities11. Environmental degradation, to a large scale, is the result of market failure, namely the nonexistent or poorly functioning markets for environmental goods and services. It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious or undesirable. The devastating effects of environmental degradation a. Economic and social impacts of desertification, land degradation and drought. Impacts of mining and smelting activities on environment and landscape degradationslovenian case studies.
The impacts of land degradation and desertification include a reduction in crop and pasture. In addition, land degradation directly affected the type. Land degradation is the major consequences of direct interference of human activities in the natural phenomenon. This global phenomenon is caused by nature but also triggered by unsustainable land management, and embeds a cascade of environmental. Macaulay natural resources institute, university of greenwich, medway campus, united kingdom. Land degradation impacts extend beyond 18 the land surface itself, affecting marine and freshwater systems, as well as people and ecosystems far 19 away from the local sites of degradation very high confidence.
Solutions need to be developed and introduced which address both issues simultaneously. Land degradation is a concept in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by one or more combinations of human induced processes acting upon the land. The health of soil is a primary concern to farmers and the global community whose livelihoods depend on well managed agriculture that starts with the dirt beneath our feet. The principal aim of this study was to explore the impacts of desertification, degradation and drought on both the natural resources. The p rincipal aim o f th is study was to exp lore the impacts of desertification, degradation and drought on both the natural. A new international report makes for bleak reading on the state of the worlds soils. Cause of land degradation and its impacts on livelihoods. As sustainability and productivity are not easy to define, degradation of land can better be described in terms of non. To comprehensively and quantitatively analyze the land degradation process, this paper employed the normalized difference vegetation index ndvi as a proxy to assess land degradation. Soil degradation needs to be recognised, alongside climate change, as one of the most pressing problems facing humanity. Desertification, a phenomenon referring to land degradation in arid, semiarid and dry subhumid regions as a result of climatic variations and human activities, is considered as one of the most severe environmental and socioeconomic problems of recent times. The principal environmental impacts of land degradation include a.
Potential impacts of climate change on land degradation. It is one of the major causes of low and declining agricultural productivity and continuing food insecurity and rural poverty. Analysis of climate and land use changes impacts on land. Land degradation is a humaninduced or natural process which negatively affects the land to function effectively within an ecosystem. Land degradation is a process in which the value of the physical environment is affected by a combination of humaninduced processes acting upon the land. Potential impacts of climate change on land degradation and desertification. The result is a loss of land productivity with impacts on livelihoods and the. Pdf an assessment of economic impacts of land degradation.
Effects of land use change on land degradation reflected by soil properties along mara river, kenya and tanzania. Quantifying the impact of land degradation on crop. Land degradationthe 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. It predicts that land degradation will displace up to 700 million people worldwide by midcentury. Cause and effects of land degradation environmental. Impacts of climaterelated land degradation on poverty and livelihoods. Based on findings of previous studies, the next section tries to identify and examine the drivers of land degradation in ethiopia and its impacts on rural livelihoods and food security. Land degradation can be viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious or undesirable eswaran, 2001.
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