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. Unccd, have implemented a joint project in order to measure the economic value of land degradation taking into account alternative scenarios of climate change. Conversion of agricultural land in nonagricultural uses is one of the main reasons to follow. Desertification has been defined as land degradation in arid, semiarid, and dry subhumid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities11. The main outcome of land degradation is a substantial reduction in the productivity of land. Socioeconomic aspectsimpacts of land degradation in mid. The findings reveal the commonest problems in the study area were physiological disorders and bacterial diseases followed by scorch and fire. Cost assessment of environmental degradation and policy recommendations the objective of this country environmental analysis is to report on the state of the environment and the key environmental issues, and to estimate these issues health and economic costs. Soil erosion is a natural process that removes soil from the land. Analysis of climate and land use changes impacts on land. Our land, water and soil are compromised when people exhaust resources or release harmful chemicals into the air. The impact of wetland degradation and conversion on. Jan 28, 2011 socio economic impacts of land degradation and the need for leadership for a complex world.
Despite the severe impact of land degradation on the poor and the crucial role that land plays in human. Productivity impacts of land degradation are due to a decline in land quality on site where degradation occurs e. The gunda scenario rejoice paul mbaya m sc, pgde, b sc, department of geography, kashim ibrahim college of education maiduguri. Land degradation indicators and management options in the. 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 scientific and technical. An introduction and overview chapter 2 concepts and methods of global assessment of the economics of land degradation and improvement chapter 3 institutional framework of inaction against land degradation chapter 4 biomass productivitybased mapping of global land degradation hotspots chapter 5 evaluating global land. Land degradation has a negative implication to household food security status and contributes directly to the reduction in livelihoods among the rural communities in ethiopia. This paper scopes out the linkages between resource degradation and socio economic outcomes, focusing on land and water degradation. The report comes at a time when the land degradation focal area has completed its first 4 years of existence in gef3, and when a more mature, coherent and focused scope for the gefs land degradation interventions has been called for in gef4.
Figure 7 relation between land degradation and poverty national and local land degradation studies. Economics of land degradation in subsaharan africa. 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 is supported by five case studies, which will investigate for specific sites the effects that soil. Economic and social impacts of desertification, land. The eld initiative was cofounded in 2011 by the secretariat of the united nations convention to combat desertification unccd, the german federal ministry for economic. Urbanization and environmental degradation in jordan. Assessing the economic impacts of soil degradation 5 2 aim and scope of the study the current study was undertaken in order to take stock of the existing knowledge on the economic impacts of soil degradation in europe and abroad, and to provide initial estimations of the total economic impact of soil degradation in europe.
Land degradation can be viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious or undesirable eswaran, 2001. Economics of land degradation initiative wikipedia. Assessing the economic impacts of soil degradation 9 surveys empirical research and quantitative estimates of soil degradation impacts in different european countries in order to give an overview of the relevance of the problem. The analysis of the possible impact of social and economic policies on the main driving forces of land use change and desertification focuses. The soil integrates a variety of important processes involving vegetation growth, overland flow of water, infiltration, land use and land management. Past assessments of land degradation have focused on the biophysical impacts rather than on the overall societal and economic costs and benefits of degradation prevention. Assessing the economic impacts of soil degradation final. Economics of land degradation and improvement in ethiopia. The demand for npp is a result of the high levels of consumption characteristic of the population of a western european nation. This proxy measure of land degradation is the ratio of actual npp to potential npp.
Vegetation degradation in central asia under the impact of human activities. Protection of the resource base has thus become a policy. Pdf this paper examines the relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation in ecuador from 1971 to 2010. Land degradationthe deterioration or loss of the productive capacity of the soils for present and futureis a global challenge that affects everyone through food insecurity, higher food prices, climate change, environmental hazards, and the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Unccd 2nd scientific conference, prepared with the contributions of an international group of scientists. Climate impacts of land degradation in the worlds drylands. Chapter 7 economic consequences of land degradation. However, the onsite impacts of land degradation on productivity are easily masked due to use of additional inputs and adoption of improved technology and have led some to. Land degradation is a process in which the value of the physical environment is affected by a combination of humaninduced processes acting upon the land. V climate impacts of land degradation in the worlds drylands r. Measuring the economic value of land degradation desertification considering the effects of climate change. Unesco eolss sample chapters human settlement development vol. As you read on, consider what ways humanity can do things differently to reverse this land degradation.
This paper scopes out the linkages between resource degradation and socioeconomic outcomes, focusing on land and water degradation. Increase in demand for goods and resources has led to land degradation. Every year, 20 million hectares of fertile land become degraded and within the last 40 years, around one third of the total agricultural land on earth has become unproductive through degradation processes. Land degradation can be defined in several ways depending upon the subject that needs to be emphasized. The map of the study area is presented on the next page. Socioeconomic impacts of land degradation and the need for. Andersonb, robert costanzac, ida kubiszewskic a department of geography and the environment, university of denver, united states. This stage of the work involves a desk analysis of. The condition of the soil is one of the best indicators of land degradation. The economic cost of land degradation agricultural land degradation results in impacts costs both onsite and o. Land degradation is an important problem in ethiopia, with more than 85 % of the land degraded to various degrees. Pdf social and economic dimensions of land degradation and. Subsaharan africa ssa has experienced the most severe land degradation in the world.
The principal aim of this study was to explore the impacts of desertification, degradation and drought on both the natural resources. Cause and effects of land degradation environmental sciences. Policy department economic and scientific policy land. Buyinza m, mugagga f 2010 economics of land degradation in midhills of mt. At about 50 percent of the total land use, agriculture is one of the biggest uses of land on our. Soil degradation limits water productivity in cases where absolute quantities of water.
The resources which are affected include water, air and soil. Farmers were asked to respond on the trends of land use change in wetlands for the last 30 years based on 10 years interval. Encyclopedia of life support systems eolss clearly recognize the overarching importance of the desertification issue, including its. This study suggests management options for each land degradation type. Causes and impacts of land degradation and desertification. 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. Cause of land degradation and its impacts on livelihoods. The ranking was given from 1 to 4 1, 2, 3 and 4 for very high, high, low and very low degradation of wetland respectively. To evaluate the possible impact of land degradation on tourist activity, w e suppose that a fraction of tourist is lest interested in visiting the region, or the permanence is shorter if landscape. A general definition of land degradation is presented by wasson 1987 as. Unesco eolss sample chapters land use, land cover and soil sciences vol. Finally, the third group of the studies found no causality between environmental degradation and economic growth. Borno state, nigeria abstract several studies have been carried out on the effects of.
Economics of land degradation describes a holistic approach for estimates of the total economic valuation of land and land based ecosystems. Agricultural land degradation results in impacts costs both on. To comprehensively and quantitatively analyze the land degradation process, this paper employed the normalized difference vegetation index ndvi as a proxy to assess land degradation and further applied the binary panel logit regression model to analyze the impacts of the driving factors on land degradation in the north china plain. Economics of land degradation in eastern africa econstor. In turn, unsustainable land use is driving land degradation. Climate change and land degradation co 2induced climate change and land degradation remain inextricably linked because of feedbacks between land degradation and precipitation. The degradation also impacts our wildlife, plants, animals and microorganisms. For those drivers and impacts that are related to land use this is a logical approach for classifying ld. Of the total, 25% of land area is highly degraded, 8% moderately or slightly degraded, 36% stable and 10% improving faostate of the worlds land and water resources for food and agriculture. In order to assess the economic impacts of soil degradation, this study has used a methodology. Land degradation processes are ongoing over large part of the earth land surface figure 3.
In this perspective, the neutrality hypothesis is confirmed by ocal et al. The ecosystems services that the land provides are at breaking point. A case study on keyain village of munshigonj district. Land degradation and desertification threaten peoples livelihood on a global scale. Chapter 1 economics of land degradation and improvement. The economics of land degradation eld initiative is a global initiative which aims to increase awareness of the benefits of sustainable land management and economic consequences of land degradation.
Briones abstract land degradation in the philippines is a serious environmental problem with longterm implications for the sustainability of agricultural production. Given that livelihoods of the majority of the rural poor heavily depend on natural resources, countries in the region have designed a number of policies and strategies to address land degradation and to enhance productivity. The land degradation processes include soil erosion, nutrient depletion, salinization, desertification and soil acidification or alkalinisation. Soil degradation is, in itself, an indicator of land degradation. Measuring the economic value of land degradation desertification. Socioeconomic impacts of land degradation and the need for leadership for a complex world. White paper i university of nairobi personal websites.
Higgitt encyclopedia of life support systems eolss 352 countries are, at the present time, overshooting the sustainable resource base. Land degradation is a change to land that makes it less useful for human beings. What are the economic, social and environmental costs of land degradation and net benefits. The result is a loss of land productivity with impacts on livelihoods and the. Pdf an assessment of economic impacts of land degradation. Impacts of land degradation costs of land degradation costs of land improvement measures. Assessing the economic impacts of soil degradation final report. Understanding the effects of resource degradation on socioeconomic outcomes in developing countries iii executive summary the links between the environment and the economy have risen on policy and academic agendas. Economics of land degradation and improvement ifpri.
Offsite effects can account for a sizeable proportion of the total economic impact of soil degradation. This perception has been replaced by a feeling of scarcity, especially in arid lands undergoing severe processes of degradation. Impacts of land degradation on rural livelihoods and food security. Cause of land degradation and its impacts on livelihoods of the population in toke kutaye woreda, ethiopia feyera deresa tsetadirgachew legesse mizan tepi university, school of agriculture and natural resource, department of natural resource management. Recent estimates using satellite imagery show that land degradation hotspots over the last three decades cover about 23 % of the land area in the country. Desertification, a phenomenon referring to land degradation in arid, semiarid and dry subhumid regions as a result of climatic variations and human activities, is considered as one of the most severe environmental and socioeconomic problems of recent times. Une etude pour lamerique latine et les caraibes eclacgm. Economics of land degradation, sustainable land management. Socioeconomic impacts of land degradation and the need. Economic and social impacts while sustainable land management is an important measure for tackling desertification, research into entitlements, environmental justice and vulnerability suggests that tackling desertification is not just about adopting physical remedies, as social remedies are equally important. Most of the degradation is due to soil erosion and biodiversity loss in the less populated. This paper explores the socioeconomic impacts of land degradation in the midhills of mt. Understanding the effects of resource degradation on socio economic outcomes in developing countries iii executive summary the links between the environment and the economy have risen on policy and academic agendas.
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. I urbanization and environmental degradation in jordan david l. The importance of land degradation in calabar south is enhanced because of its impact on food security and quality of the environments. Land degradation indicators and management options in the desert environment of abu dhabi, united arab emirates mahmoud ali abdelfattah currently, soil resources dep. This paper is part of a series of case studies, which attempt on a pilot country basis to examine the costs of land degradation. Climate change might exacerbate land degradation through alteration of spatial and temporal patterns in temperature, rainfall, solar radiation, and winds. The eld approach covers economic, social and environmental factors as well as the costs and benefits of sustainable land management.
Degradation occurs when earths natural resources are depleted. Desertification, a phenomenon referring to land degradation in arid, semiarid and dry subhumid regions as a result of climatic variations and human activities, is considered as one of the most severe environmental and socio economic problems of recent times. The ma 2005a also uses a similar but not identical systems classification forest. Additionally, past studies have largely addressed how land. Understanding the effects of resource degradation on socio. Cause of land degradation and its impacts on livelihoods of. The consequence of a complex, wideranging suite of processes which exert pressure on land and resources, land degradation is. Political, economic and social impact of land degradation. Cause and effects of land degradation environmental. Encyclopedia of life support systems eolss e a decrease in the intensity of easterly waves in the region. Abu sayeed during the last few years the agriculture sector is facing danger in many ways. Andersonb, robert costanzac, ida kubiszewskic a department of geography and the environment, university of denver, united states b school of natural and built environments, university of south australia, australia c crawford school of public policy, the australian national. Jun 01, 2016 the following are many of the major causes of land degradation that have led to problems for our earth.
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