Desertification and drylands development: what can be done?

The Economics of Desertification, Land Degradation, and Drought Toward an Integrated Global Assessment

“…There are ecological (naturally occurring) 62 and anthropogenic (human-induced) causes of desertification, land degradation, and drought (DLDD) (Mainguet and Da Silva 1998). 63 The latter is governed by the corresponding -rules of the game‖ (institutions), which act as constraints and incentives for actors' decisions (North 1990).…”

The effect of climate warming and permafrost thaw on desertification in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

“…However, it is difficult to summarize a general cause for desertification because there are quite different spatial and temporal patterns involved in its occurrence and development. For example, in Africa, a change in precipitation and changes in colonization were believed to be responsible for desertification in the 1960s, whereas climate change was blamed in the 1970s and the traditional land-use system was blamed after the 1980s (Mainguet and Dasilva, 1998). In addition, although some studies have found that it is virtually impossible to separate the impact of drought on desertification from that of human activity and that the two processes often work together (Nicholson et al, 1998;Mainguet and Dasilva, 1998), overcultivation of pastures in areas with less than 300 mm of annual rainfall is still considered to be the primary cause of local desertification in Northern China Xue et al, 2005).…”

Climate Change and Carbon Sequestration in Dryland Soils

“…The annual rate of desertification is estimated at 5.8 million hectares (Mha) or 0.13% of the dryland in mid latitudes. Also desertification is considered as a biophysical process driven by socio-economic and political factors (Mortimore, 1994;Mainguet and Da Silva, 1998). Two principal biophysical processes leading to desertification are erosion and salinization.…”