Land degradation control and its global environmental benefits

Abstract

Acknowledged by world leaders as a global problem, land degradation has been taken seriously in three ways: its extent and the proportion of the global population affected; international environmental policy responses; and its inter-relation with other global environmental issues such as biodiversity. Messages about land degradation have, however, suffered from abuses, which have rendered appropriate policy responses ineffective. For control to be effective, the paper argues that the synergies between land degradation and the two other main global environmental change components (biodiversity and climate change) should be more fully exploited. A focus on the interlinkages, of which there are six possible permutations, is fully supported by empirical findings that suggest that land degradation control would not only technically be better served by addressing aspects of biodiversity and climate change but also that international financing mechanisms and the major donors would find this more acceptable. The DPSIR (Driving Force, Pressure, State, Impacts, Response) conceptual framework model is used to illustrate how land degradation control could be more effective, tackling not only the drivers of change but also major developmental issues such as poverty and food insecurity.

The costs of soil erosion

“…The soil can be revitalized when nutritive substances run out, even if part of the soil is lost through erosion or destroyed in some other way. But if this degenerative process is not interrupted, it could irreversibly compromise the productive capabilities of farming land (Lal, 2001;Gisladottir & Stocking, 2005).…”

MODIS normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and vegetation phenology dynamics in the Inner Mongolia grassland

“…Land degradation in arid and semiarid regions, such as the Sahel in Africa and temperate grasslands in Australia, has become a critical threat (Gisladottir and Stocking, 2005;Prober and Thiele, 2005;Sop and Oldeland, 2013). China's vast grassland has also suffered from land degradation, mainly in the northern and western cold areas over long periods (Chen and Tang, 2005;Li et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2013).…”

Agricultural Intensification: Linking with Livelihood Improvement and Environmental Degradation in Mid-Hills of Nepal

“…The changing climate may not be favourable for some of the varieties of crops. Specific impacts, possibly, will be complex; however, most researches concluded that fauna and flora are very vulnerable to small changes in climate (Gisladottir and Stocking, 2005). For example, in middle and higher latitudes, global warming tend to extend the length of potential growing season, earlier planting, maturation and harvesting and the possibility of two or more crops within the same season.…”