It also highlights state and impacts of degradation, along with policy and program responses. Generally, our understanding of the land degradation processes is. This erosion is the dominant form of soil degradation troeh et al. Pdf on apr 9, 2014, velibor spalevic and others published land degradation, land use and soil erosion. Land degradation is one of the worlds most pressing environmental problems, happening at an alarming pace, and it will worsen without rapid remedial action. Soil erosionthe removal of topsoil by water, wind, and agriculture. The severe and moderate erosion of soils has caused the degradation of 80% of the agricultural land of the planet. Methods of soil conservation shortcut i terrace farming ii shelter belts iii contour ploughing. Total soil erosion on all cropland and land in crp declined since 1982 as well. Soil is subject to a series of induced degradation processes, which humannamely are displacement of soil material, and internal soil deterioration dwivedi, 2002.
In addition to soil being lost, agriculture has caused many devastating changes in soil. Indirect drivers of land degradation in grenada the indirect drivers of land degradation in grenada are the driving forces of the direct causes of land degradation. Soil degradation is the decline in any or all of the characteristics which make soil suitable for producing food. Federal democratic republic of ethiopia ethiopia land.
The overall effect of breaking down and weathering the land is called denudation. Natural erosion has sculptured landforms on the uplands and built landforms on the lowlands. Including soil compaction, loss of soil structure, nutrient degradation, and soil. Without soil and plants the land becomes desertlike and unable to support life. Grenada land degradation neutrality national report.
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. Overstocking and overgrazing inappropriate farming techniques such as deep ploughing land 2 or 3 times. In general, the communal areas are significantly more degraded than the commercial farming areas. Erosion, degradation and conservation mh 7 download pdf for free. Soil erosion soil erosion is the detachment and movement of soil material. Soil science institute of athensnational agricultural. An assessment of the global impact of 21st century land use change on soil erosionhuman activity and related land use change are the primary cause of accelerated soil erosion, which has substantial implications for nutrient and carbon cycling, land productivity and in turn, worldwide socioeconomic conditions. The loss of soil from land surfaces by erosion is widespread and reduces the. Soil degradation occurs through the deterioration of the physical, chemical and biological properties of soil that results in soil compaction, salinisation, acidification, and soil loss from wind and water erosion.
Furthermore, world population growth, combined with increasing climate change and related natural hazards, is likely to worsen the impact of soil erosion and land degradation. Deforestation is occurring mainly throughout the central and southwestern ends of the island, specially in the parish of st. Land degradation and improvement in argentina i main points 1. Further disagreements emerge around finding the appropriate way to measure land degradation. The world is losing 10 ha of arable land each minute5 ha to soil erosion, 3 ha from salinity, and 2 ha by other degradation processes.
Uptodate, quantitative information is needed to support policy and action for food and water security, economic development, environmental integrity and resource conservation. But, in the field, further variables are used as indicators of the occurrence of soil degradation. Land degradation in south africa is a significant environmental problem throughout the whole country meadows and hoffman, 2002. The world is losing 10 ha of arable land each minute5 ha to soil erosion, 3 ha from salinity, and 2 ha by. The earliest assessment of the area affected by the land degradation was made by the national commission on agriculture in 1976 at 148 m ha i. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves. Causes of soil erosion erosion occurs when farming practices are not compatible with the fact that soil can be washed away or blown away. Globally, about 25 percent of the total land area has been degraded.
Compaction compaction is where soil particles pack together increasing soil density and reducing pore space. Chapter 6 land department of environmental affairs. The soil integrates a variety of important processes involving vegetation growth, overland flow of water, infiltration, land use and land management. Land and soil are important components of abu dhabi emirate desert ecosystems and of the wider environment in which all plants and animals live. The result is a loss of land productivity with impacts on livelihoods and the. Soil degradation is, in itself, an indicator of land degradation. The erosion is favored by the ve r y hilly landscape of the country that increases erosivity index and the high erodibility give n by an elevated annual rate of rainfall with irr e gular distribu t i o n.
In the present study landsat satellite images for the years of 1977, 1990 and 2000 have been used to identify the change in degraded land in the region. Determination of net soil erosion rate using 7cs in a. Erosion frequently leads to the formation of badland features on. Loss of natural fertility of soil because of loss of nutrients. Delivery the land degradation products can be delivered along with geodata geotiff, ascii, or similar metadata inspire or similar cartographic presentations pdf, png or similar the derived maps and information from the land degradation mapping service is typically made available in one or more of. Land degradation food and agriculture organization of the united. Routing runoff and soil particles in a distributed model with gis. Magisterial districts with the highest soil degradation index values include herschel, qumbu, mount fletcher, engcobo and middledrift.
This section describes land degradation trends in kenya as an introduction to the following pairs of. Soil erosion resulting from overgrazing of animals is evident on the island of carriacou, where rearing of animals, sheep, goats and cattle is part of the culture. Trafficking by animals as well as by vehicles and cultivation are the primary causes of this form of soil degradation. Because of soil erosion, half of the topsoil on the plant has been lost in the last 150 years. Soil loss from conventionally tilled land exceeds the rate of soil formation by. These impacts include compaction, loss of soil structure, nutrient degradation, and soil salinity. Land degradation indicators and management options. Between 1982 and 2003, total soil erosion dropped from an estimate of over 3. Assessing the economic impacts of soil degradation final report. Eastern africa including ethiopia has experienced moderate to severe land degradation problems as shown in. Soil erosion and degradation eastern local school district.
The combined reclassification is shown in the following map and table figures 4 and 5. Soil erosion definition the removal of the top soil cover by water, wind and human activities is called soil erosion. The effects of soil erosion go beyond the loss of fertile land. Land degradation leads to the reduction or loss of the biological or economic productivity and complexity of land. As far as were concerned, erosion is the breakdown of the continents and the land around you. Erode erosionto wear away, or remove, rock or soil particles by water, ice, andor gravity horizona layer of soil with properties that differ from the layers above or below it humusorganic matter such as highly decomposed leaves notilla way of growing crops that doesnt disturb the soil surface minimizing soil erosion. Research by the economics of land degradation initiative in 2015 calculated. Land degradation classes biophysical land degradation classes are identified by the combination of the overall status in provisioning biophysical ecosystem services and the trend of these services biomass, soil, water and biodiversity as described above. The human dimension of land degradation and forest degradation. Depending on the local landscape and weather conditions, erosion may be very slow or very rapid. Background information land degradation in australia. The details of all publications are in the researchgate in full text pdf forms. Research by the economics of land degradation initiative in.
Soil degradation needs to be recognised, alongside climate change, as one of the most pressing problems facing humanity. Gully erosion is endemic, particularly along rural footpaths and roads wahab et al. Land degradation here mainly refers to the loss of lifesupporting land resource through soil erosion, desertification, salinization, acidification, etc. Pdf land degradation, particularly soil erosion, is currently a major challenge for nepal. The land degradation section of this report deals with causes of land degradation, both in terms of deterioration of soil quality and loss of land. There are several issues related to land degradation that intersect with other concerns. In nature, large things are broken down into smaller things. Soil erosion is a natural process in mountainous areas, but is often made much worse by poor management practices. In addition to erosion, soil quality is affected by other aspects of agriculture. The nature, extent and causes of land degradation in south. Similarly the devastating impacts of these disasters left a wave of soil erosion particularly on steep slopes with limited protection.
The severity of the problem of depletion of this vital resource is only now becoming widely appreciated. Most of the soil eroded from the land together with the chemical fertilizers and pesticides utilized in agricultural. Rangeland degradation and resultant soil erosion often occurs in. Land degradation is a global environment and development issue. The process may be natural or accelerated by human activity. These key drivers are also mentioned as the main causes of land degradation in the nap to combat desertification document of ethiopia. In other words, soil degradation takes away the soils natural capability of holding water thus contributing to more and more cases of flooding.
In one research site in the sudouest region, 60 percent of soils were. Soil erosion and its control in chile an o verview. Erosion rate soil erosion soil loss sediment yield land degradation these keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. The present rate of land degradation is estimated at 5 to 7 million hectares per year, suggesting that 0. World overview of conservation approaches and technologies. This is indeed the most visible effect of soil degradation, but does not cover all of its aspects. Evidences suggest that the rate of encroachment of arable land is high and is. Land degradation and desertification ecologic institute.
When land is degraded, soil carbon and nitrous oxide are released into the atmosphere, making land degradation. Accelerate erosion in chile is a consequence from land use that degrade soil such as compaction, loss of organic matter and soil s t r ucture. Land degradation issues the eastern cape has one of the highest provincial indices of soil degradation see over. Solutions need to be developed and introduced which address both issues simultaneously. Effects of soil erosion on farmland in shottisham near woodbridge. Deforestation accounts for the major land degradation problem as it results in severe soil erosion, flood, and loss of fertile soil. Assessing soil erosion although soil erosion has been taking place very slowly in natural ecosystems throughout geologic time, its cumulative impacts on soil quality over billions of years have been significant. Field manual for local level land degradation assessment in. Pollution of water resources from the contamination of.
Sloping agriculture, without soil conservation measures, together with the occurrence of extreme climatic events, increasingly frequent, as a consequence of climate change, has accelerated these phenomena, at rates of 57 million. Nearly 10 million hectares of arable land are lost to erosion and other forms of soil degradation every year 1 countries all over the world are battling with worrisome sight of deepening gullies crisscrossing the landscape and barren fields stripped of the fertile topsoil. Soil erosion and degradation on mediterranean type. Land degradation in the form of soil erosion is a major problem in the semiarid region of lower chambal valley.
539 1516 1021 308 874 713 893 868 1239 647 1574 913 970 1047 959 214 42 462 1417 1216 740 1185 748 557 887 768 470 1527 135 1561 438 113 1508 1327 1361 715 918 717 1276 1196 991 94 1133 707 27