The result is a loss of land productivity with impacts on livelihoods and the. Jun 01, 2016 major causes of land degradation greentumble soil degradation june 1, 2016 whether it is through building homes and settlements, the cultivation of crops, the harvesting of plants for food, medicine, fiber, or fuel, or by setting fires to the landscape for hunting purposes, humans have always influenced the landscape around them. Success in fighting land degradation requires an improved understanding of its causes, impact, degree and relationship with climate, soil, water, land cover and socioeconomic factors 46. Inappropriate agricultural practices are a major cause of land degradation in grenada. 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. It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious or undesirable. Land degradation development is an international journal which seeks to promote rational study of the recognition, monitoring, control and rehabilitation of degradation in terrestrial environments. Soil erosion is a serious problem in hills, arid and semiarid areas.
Some of the practices include slash and burn, use of chemicals during land preparation, indiscriminate use of inorganic fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides and planting of shallow rooted crops on steep slopes. Glossaryterms closely related to assessment of land degradation. All of these factors will combine to create a very stable but very unproductive desert environment. 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. Natural hazards are the conditions of the physical environment which lead to the existence of a high degradation hazard, for example steep slopes as a hazard for water erosion. Overgrazing refers to excessive eating of grasses and other green plants by cattle. Soil is a complex body and forms the thin outer layer of the earth.
Thus, arthur and jeanette conacher defined land degradation as alterations to all aspects of the biophysical environment by human actions to the. Land degradation is the major consequences of direct interference of human activities in the natural phenomenon. Soil degradation is, in itself, an indicator of land degradation. Land degradation and rehabilitation in ethiopia society at large is also suffering from uncertain information about the rates of land use change and land degradation. Land degradation can cause or exacerbate poverty and inequality by disproportionally impacting on populations that largely depend on land resources for their livelihoods. History, nature, causes, consequences, and solutions conacher, arthur encyclopedia of life support systems eolss above. However, if acted upon quickly, there is a possibility for land reclamation and reversal of desertification. Land degradation is a concept in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by one or more combinations of human induced processes acting upon the land. Population pressure including urban sprawl and commercial development.
Land use change and inappropriate land management practices major causes of soil degradation, soc reduction and ghg emissions. The condition of the soil is one of the best indicators of land degradation. It encompasses physical soil erosion, chemical salinity and alkalinity, pollution and biological deterioration pollution and. Physical degradation refers to a deterioration in physical properties of soil whereas biological degradation refers to reduction in soil organic matter, decline in biomass carbon and decrease in activity and diversity of soil fauna. This will create much drier soil, which in turn is more vulnerable to erosion and runoff. Grenada land degradation neutrality national report. Land degradation is a process in which the value of the physical environment is affected by a. Soil degradation is a serious global environmental problem and may be exacerbated by climate change. Livestock including overgrazing inappropriate irrigation.
Major causes of land degradation in central asia are found to be lack of access to markets and credit, lack of extension, monoculturecropping and insecure land. A case study on keyain village of munshigonj district. Indias population of over million people is more than that of. The term land degradation involves both soil and vegetation degradation. Land degradation is defined as the temporary or permanent decline in the productive capacity of the land, and the diminution of the productive potential, including its major land uses e. Soil degradation refers to negative changes in the physical. Abu sayeed during the last few years the agriculture sector is facing danger in many ways. The history of soil degradation in southern brazil is related to the history of agriculture castro filho et al. Unesco eolss sample chapters water resources management vol. Chapter 6 causes of land degradation food and agriculture. 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. Land degradation, soil erosion and soil conservation pmf ias.
The main reasons for unproductiveness or degradation of soils are as follows. Natural resource degradation in general and land degradation in particular has a great effect on the economies of developing countries. Land degradation is categorized into three types i. Evolution of land resource management policies and approaches. Soil degradation causes include agricultural, industrial, and commercial pollution. Land degradation is, usually, the result of complex interrelationships between biophysical and socioeconomic issues which affect many people and their land, specially in the tropics and developing countries. History, nature, causes, consequences, and solutions conacher, arthur encyclopedia of life support systems eolss peoples attitudes, perceptions and knowledge, actions or inactions by government agencies, and inappropriate government policies.
In ethiopia, population growth is the repeatedly mentioned cause of land degradation in general and soil erosion in particular. The health impacts of desertification and drought pdf, 1. Land degradation is a global problem largely related to agricultural use. This article throws light upon the seven main causes of land degradation in india. Estimates of the extent of land degradation have varied hugely due to divergent definitions. Deforestation is taking place at a faster rate due to increasing demands of timber, fuel and forest products which results into degradation of land resources. The paper suggests some rules of thumb for identifying the priority areas for government and donor intervention, including the need for targeted research on the productivity. While land degradation can occur as a result of natural processes, there is a widespread opinion that it mostly happens as a result of the impact of users activity on the land and is often a social problem, which can be prevented if the underlying causes are addressed properly vlek et al. Land use change over the past four decades is an important component of land degradation. Mitigate the causes and negative effects of land degradation on the structure and. Land degradation soil degradation is the decline in soil quality caused by its improper use, usually for agricultural, pastoral, industrial or urban purposes. Pollution of water resources from the contamination of. Cause of land degradation and its impacts on livelihoods.
The soil integrates a variety of important processes involving vegetation growth, overland flow of water, infiltration, land use and land management. Mar 02, 2020 land pollution is another name used to describe land degradation. Conversion of agricultural land in nonagricultural uses is one of the main reasons to follow. While, in other parts of the world it is considered as a resource. For example, according to berry 2003, the cause of land degradation involves two interlocking complex systems. Following independence, the large amount of land that had been reserved for grazing, primarily in the valleys and steep hillsides, was distributed to farm families. May 01, 2019 land degradation soil degradation is the decline in soil quality caused by its improper use, usually for agricultural, pastoral, industrial or urban purposes. Cause of land degradation and its impacts on livelihoods of. Degradation of the soil is caused by natural processes as well as by human activities. A process which tends to wear down the land surface it is usually applied to a river and involves the deepening of its valley by the river.
Support farmers, land owners and communities in their efforts to prevent and reverse land. Causes and consequences of land degradation in india. Land clearance, such as clearcutting and deforestation. The main causes of the land degradation include climate change, land clearance and deforestation, depletion of soil nutrients through poor farming practices, overgrazing and over grafting, inappropriate irrigation, urban sprawl and commercial development and soil pollution. Forest degradation is land degradation that occurs in forest land. Because there is more than three times as much organic carbon in the soil as there is carbon in the atmosphere lal 2004, small changes in soc levels can have a large impact on atmospheric carbon dioxide. In turn, unsustainable land use is driving land degradation.
Land degradation the 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. Land use changes and unsustainable land management are direct human causes of land degradation very high confidence, with agriculture being a dominant sector driving degradation 14 very high confidence. Causes and impacts of land degradation and desertification. The economics of land degradation eld initiative estimates the cost of lost ecosystem services to land degradation to be between 6. Criteria for designating different classes of land degradation e. Loss of natural fertility of soil because of loss of nutrients. As a result of waterlogging, water saturates the root zone leading to oxygen deficiency. Deforestation is the conversion of forest to nonforest land and can result in land degradation. The causes, types and effects of land degradation are addressed in the next paragraphs. This section describes land degradation trends in kenya as an introduction to the following pairs of. There are different causes for the different typesforms of land degradation, and causes may differ from one country or stateprovince to another depending on factors like agricultural practices, other environmental pollution factors and so on. Pdf land degradation control and its global environmental. L10 land degradation assessment of a selected study area in somaliland.
A major shortcoming of the available statistics on land degradation is the lack of causeeffect relationship between severity of degradation and productivity. Land degradation food and agriculture organization of the united. Identification of the cause of land degradation is important in return influence the sustainability of the life and helps to take appropriate measurement to halt it. Land shortage and poverty, taken together, lead to nonsustainable land management practices, meaning the direct causes of degradation. The direct cause of land degradation is mismanagement of the land by man. Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by. The following are the research question of the study. Agricultural depletion of soil nutrients through poor farming practices. Key strategic implementation actionsmeasures to achieve the set voluntary target the key implementation strategic actions are to. 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. Land is a vital resource to humankind, like air and water. 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. Though the subjects of land, agriculture and water are subjects with the states as per the constitution, the concerns for arresting and reversing land degradation and desertification have been reflected in many of the national policies for nearly 40 years.
In india alone, about 188 million hectares or almost 57% of total land area is degraded sehgel and abrol, 1994. It is directly or indirectly developed from the mineral constituents of the rocks. It causes land degradation through huge loss of top fertile soil along with plant nutrients through runoff water. The causes of land degradation in this category will require immediate application or available technology and the development of new technology to prevent. The causes of land degradation can be divided into natural hazards, direct causes, and underlying causes. For reasons outlined above, poor farmers are led to clear forest, cultivate steep slopes without conservation, overgraze rangelands, make unbalanced fertilizer applications, and the other causes noted above.
While the direct cause of land degradation is mismanagement. Pdf l10 land degradation assessment of a selected study. Policy brief may, 2016 addressing land degradation in. The causes of dry land degradation are complex, and may be the product of anthropogenic or climatic factors, such as the impact of drought and desiccation on ecosystems, the overgrazing of these rangelands, unsustainable land tenure rights, the undervaluation of land resources, and pricing failures, and numerous other social and economic. A conceptual framework for linking policy and land management choices iv 4 12 14 6 6 10. 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 annual loss of land is expected to go up to 10 million hectares by 2000 a. Soil degradation is the loss of lands production capacity in terms of loss of soil fertility, soil biodiversity, and degradation.
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