The truth is that the present maninduced or anthropogenic factors are causing many times more damages to the environment than their natural counterpart. Unesco eolss sample chapters water resources management vol. Restoring rangelands and sustainable land management practices. Causes, effects and control strategies 5 deforestation are maintained. Final submission land degradation in the limpopo province 2 c. Land is probably the most used natural resource in the world. 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. Axle load and tillage effects on soil degradation and rehabilitation in. Land degradation is, usually, the result of complex. 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. We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to, in particular, the governments of germany. 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. Deforestation causes fast degradation when the soil is steep sloppy or easily erodible.
Causes and impacts of land degradation and desertification. Land degradation in arid, semiarid and dry subhumid areas as a basic result of adverse human conduct. The study was undertaken to examine the effect of land degradation on agricultural activities in ethiope east local government area of delta state. In turn, unsustainable land use is driving land degradation. Degradation in gef3 20022006, looking towards more evidencebased implementation based upon good science in gef4 20062010. The following is a list of the most cited articles based on citations published in the last three years, according to crossref. Research into the causes and effects of climate variations and longterm. Drylands are places of water scarcity, where rainfall may be limited or may only be abundant for a short period. Still land degradation lingers and presents the greatest threat to the survival of the nation d. History, nature, causes, consequences, and solutions conacher, arthur encyclopedia of life support systems eolss above. This practical handbook sets out rapid and nontechnical methods for measuring and assessing land degradation in the field. Background information land degradation in australia. Read this article to learn about the meaning, factors responsible, prevention and control measures of land degradation.
This short writeup is to outline some information about jpg images and editing these image files optimally. 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. Destruction of natural vegetation cover is a major factor responsible for erosion of soils by water and wind. 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.
Land is a vital resource to humankind, like air and water. It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious or undesirable. 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. The land degradation processes include soil erosion, nutrient depletion, salinization, desertification and soil acidification or alkalinisation. The areal extent of global degraded areas varies depending on the definitions eswaran et al. Along the way toward this end youll learn how this image compression method converts color photos into those smaller image files. 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. Due to environmental degradation, the results include water scarcity and decline in quality foods. What are causes and effects of environmental degradation. Human health is heavily impacted by environmental degradation. The changes in area of forest by region and subregion are shown in table 1.
Environmental degradation can be a result of the dynamic interplay of socioeconomic, institutional and technological activities carried out by the human. Degradation of natural resources is one of the subjects of prime concern that the world is facing today. Soil science society of america journal, 59, 661667. The importance of land degradation in calabar south is enhanced because of its impact on food security and quality of the environments. 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. It causes land degradation through huge loss of top fertile soil along with plant nutrients through runoff water. Looking back into the past we find that the use of fire by the prehistoric people is the initiation of maninduced environmental degradation. Land degradation is equally cause and effect of poverty klaus topfer, executive director. Desertification has been defined as land degradation in arid, semiarid, and dry subhumid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities11.
A case study on keyain village of munshigonj district. The range home, home on the range where the deer and the antelope play. 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 causes, types and effects of land degradation are addressed in the next paragraphs. Abu sayeed during the last few years the agriculture sector is facing danger in many ways. Land degradation is the major consequences of direct interference of human activities in the natural phenomenon. The process works through a cycle known as land degradation cycle.
Stocking and murnaghan demonstrate these by using indicators that are relevant and applicable to real farming situations. Soil erosion is a natural process that removes soil from the land. The condition of the soil is one of the best indicators of land degradation. 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. Overgrazing refers to excessive eating of grasses and other green plants by cattle. Conversion of agricultural land in nonagricultural uses is one of the main reasons to follow. A basic introduction to preventing jpg image degradation. Among the variety of uses, the ones that top the list in terms of extent and intensity are agriculture and urban development. The map of the study area is presented on the next page.
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. Learn about the uses of rangeland and the potential for rangeland degradation. The result is a loss of land productivity with impacts on livelihoods and. Mitigate the causes and negative effects of land degradation on the. White paper i university of nairobi personal websites. Year after year, huge acres of land lost due to soil erosion, contamination and pollution. All these have raised a question mark on the availability of natural resources. 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. There are very, very few places on land that humans havent yet used in some way for our activities directly or indirectly. The change in the characteristic and quality of soil which adversely affect its fertility is called as degradation.
Many human activities are leads to land degradation. Erosioncrop productivity relationships for soils of africa. In this report, land degradation is defined as a negative trend 4 in land condition, caused by direct or indirect humaninduced processes including anthropogenic. However, these studies have been few and isolated and it is interesting to note that until recently, there has been very little in. Soil degradation is, in itself, an indicator of land degradation.
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. The main outcome of land degradation is a substantial reduction in the productivity of land. Tillage effects on soil degradation, soil resilience, soil quality, and sustainability. Reduction in water quality is responsible for more than two million deaths and billions of illness annually across the globe. Degradation of natural resources causes, facts and its. Cause of land degradation and its impacts on livelihoods. White paper i economic and social impacts of desertification, land degradation and drought united nations convention to combat desertification 912 april 20 bonn, germany. 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 increasing human population has given birth to the evils like the increase in pollution levels, deforestation, excessive use of nonrenewable resources, etc. 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. The impacts of land degradation and desertification include a reduction in crop. Cause and effects of land degradation environmental. Land degradation food and agriculture organization of the united. Degradation of environment causes effects pollution. Pdf land degradation control and its global environmental. Using a comprehensive analysis to determine the extent, degree, and drivers of soil degradation, oldeman et al. Tools and techniques for measuring sediment delivery for large scale areas affecting. Answers to answers to preventative measures can often be found within the causes of land degradation. Land degradation can be viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious or undesirable eswaran, 2001. It would not be wrong to say that rising human demands, as well as hunger, is also a major factor driving the environmental degradation.
1004 946 1172 1072 1281 1508 29 1384 1128 1111 1254 809 204 1172 279 1306 1268 229 880 1376 695 867 314 165 628 482 564 1470 1023 730 1479 868 754 1286 514 1363 35