Soil quality decline is one of the main causes of land degradation and is considered to be responsible for 84% of the ever diminishing acreage. The soil integrates a variety of important processes involving vegetation growth, overland flow of water, infiltration, land use and land management. A case study on keyain village of munshigonj district. Cause and effects of land degradation environmental. Causes and impacts of land degradation and desertification. Land is probably the most used natural resource in the world. Erosioncrop productivity relationships for soils of africa.
Globally, about 24% of the global land area has been affected by degradation and over 1. This practical handbook sets out rapid and nontechnical methods for measuring and assessing land degradation in the field. Learn about the uses of rangeland and the potential for rangeland degradation. Reduction in water quality is responsible for more than two million deaths and billions of illness annually across the globe. Unesco eolss sample chapters water resources management vol. It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious or undesirable. Land degradation is, usually, the result of complex.
The change in the characteristic and quality of soil which adversely affect its fertility is called as degradation. Axle load and tillage effects on soil degradation and rehabilitation in. Using a comprehensive analysis to determine the extent, degree, and drivers of soil degradation, oldeman et al. Land is a vital resource to humankind, like air and water. A basic introduction to preventing jpg image degradation. Environmental degradation can be a result of the dynamic interplay of socioeconomic, institutional and technological activities carried out by the human. Indeed some 31 countries do not even make the list because they have already removed most of their forests and even if that remain are seriously fragmented and degraded.
White paper i university of nairobi personal websites. Both extent and severity of the problem of land degradation spatial variations depending on different relief, ecology, rainfall, land use, land cover and soil types being as proximate and underlying causes. Land degradation is equally cause and effect of poverty klaus topfer, executive director. The following is a list of the most cited articles based on citations published in the last three years, according to crossref. Drylands are places of water scarcity, where rainfall may be limited or may only be abundant for a short period. Degradation of natural resources is one of the subjects of prime concern that the world is facing today. Soil erosion is a natural process that removes soil from the land.
The map of the study area is presented on the next page. Looking back into the past we find that the use of fire by the prehistoric people is the initiation of maninduced environmental degradation. The causes of rangeland degradation in many developing countries are complex, but we stress that it can be both a cause and a result of open conflicts. The range home, home on the range where the deer and the antelope play. Due to environmental degradation, the results include water scarcity and decline in quality foods. It causes land degradation through huge loss of top fertile soil along with plant nutrients through runoff water. 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. The term desertification has in the meantime been broadened to almost all forms of land degradation and is even used to include resource degradation in humid areas. The truth is that the present maninduced or anthropogenic factors are causing many times more damages to the environment than their natural counterpart. Background information land degradation in australia. Land degradation can be viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious or undesirable eswaran, 2001. Restoring rangelands and sustainable land management practices.
Soil degradation is, in itself, an indicator of land degradation. Research into the causes and effects of climate variations and longterm. Pdf land degradation control and its global environmental. Stocking and murnaghan demonstrate these by using indicators that are relevant and applicable to real farming situations. History, nature, causes, consequences, and solutions conacher, arthur encyclopedia of life support systems eolss above.
Degradation of natural resources causes, facts and its. The process works through a cycle known as land degradation cycle. The extent of degradation in developing countries is difficult to quantify because of the lack of monitoring, but certainly, concern exists that the human population is exerting significant. A synthesis of three studies commissioned by the global environment facility to strengthen the knowledge base to support the land degradation focal area prepared by the. Final submission land degradation in the limpopo province 2 c.
Land degradation food and agriculture organization of the united. All these have raised a question mark on the availability of natural resources. 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. Still land degradation lingers and presents the greatest threat to the survival of the nation d. Extent and rate of land degradation global assessment of land degradation is not an easy task, and a wide range of methods are used, including expert judgement, remote sensing and modeling. Year after year, huge acres of land lost due to soil erosion, contamination and pollution. Land degradation in arid, semiarid and dry subhumid areas as a basic result of adverse human conduct. In turn, unsustainable land use is driving land degradation. Overgrazing refers to excessive eating of grasses and other green plants by cattle. Deforestation causes fast degradation when the soil is steep sloppy or easily erodible. We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to, in particular, the governments of germany. 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. However, these studies have been few and isolated and it is interesting to note that until recently, there has been very little in. It reduces the depth of soil where it takes place, depletes the ground water table, limits the moisture storage capacity and feeding zones of the crops, deteriorates the soil organic matter, destroys soil structure and impairs fertility due to nutrient losses.
Answers to answers to preventative measures can often be found within the causes of land degradation. Conversion of agricultural land in nonagricultural uses is one of the main reasons to follow. Degradation in gef3 20022006, looking towards more evidencebased implementation based upon good science in gef4 20062010. Many human activities are leads to land degradation. White paper i economic and social impacts of desertification, land degradation and drought united nations convention to combat desertification 912 april 20 bonn, germany. Desertification has been defined as land degradation in arid, semiarid, and dry subhumid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities11. Along the way toward this end youll learn how this image compression method converts color photos into those smaller image files. Causes, effects and control strategies 5 deforestation are maintained. What are causes and effects of environmental degradation. According to global assessment of soil degradation glasod, deforestation is the main cause of soil erosion by wind in about 98% of the area. The changes in area of forest by region and subregion are shown in table 1.
Abu sayeed during the last few years the agriculture sector is facing danger in many ways. It results into reduced growth of vegetation, reduced diversity of plant species, excessive growth of unwanted plant species, soil erosion, and degradation of land due to cattle movement. Thus, arthur and jeanette conacher defined land degradation as alterations to all aspects of the biophysical. The main outcome of land degradation is a substantial reduction in the productivity of land. The areal extent of global degraded areas varies depending on the definitions eswaran et al. Among the variety of uses, the ones that top the list in terms of extent and intensity are agriculture and urban development. This short writeup is to outline some information about jpg images and editing these image files optimally. The land degradation processes include soil erosion, nutrient depletion, salinization, desertification and soil acidification or alkalinisation. A multistage random sampling technique was used to select six communities mostly affected by land degradation and a total of sixty respondents farmers was use for the study. Tools and techniques for measuring sediment delivery for large scale areas affecting. Mitigate the causes and negative effects of land degradation on the. The result is a loss of land productivity with impacts on livelihoods and. It is shown that if sediment load is to be reduced then efficient tools must be used to identify and treat the areas where sediment production is greatest.
The terms of reference for this study are to provide gefstap with. The study was undertaken to examine the effect of land degradation on agricultural activities in ethiope east local government area of delta state. Human health is heavily impacted by environmental degradation. There are very, very few places on land that humans havent yet used in some way for our activities directly or indirectly. Soil science society of america journal, 59, 661667.
Land degradation is the major consequences of direct interference of human activities in the natural phenomenon. Destruction of natural vegetation cover is a major factor responsible for erosion of soils by water and wind. The use of customary slm practices, both in forested areas and in agricultural and pastoral regions, officially supported by government programmes and by local community participation, as well as regulatory frameworks, have the potential to reduce the causes and effects of land degradation processes, and therefore contribute to znld. The increasing human population has given birth to the evils like the increase in pollution levels, deforestation, excessive use of nonrenewable resources, etc. The condition of the soil is one of the best indicators of land degradation. Degradation of environment causes effects pollution. Cause of land degradation and its impacts on livelihoods. The importance of land degradation in calabar south is enhanced because of its impact on food security and quality of the environments. Read this article to learn about the meaning, factors responsible, prevention and control measures of land degradation. It would not be wrong to say that rising human demands, as well as hunger, is also a major factor driving the environmental degradation. The causes, types and effects of land degradation are addressed in the next paragraphs. Tillage effects on soil degradation, soil resilience, soil quality, and sustainability. The impacts of land degradation and desertification include a reduction in crop.
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