Conceptual issues in dealing with land degradation/conservation problems in developing countries

Among experts in the field, there is general agreement that land degradation/conservation is a matter of life or death to hundreds of millions of people. There is general agreement too that in spite of the great efforts being made to combat desertification in the last 10 years, the problem is growing worse every day. On the other hand the technology and know-how to deal with all sorts of land degradation problems is available everywhere in abundance. Why then do we in the developing world, the most affected by the problem, seem handicapped or not able to deal effectively with it? What do we really lack? Do we lack the knowledge, the experience, the money or do we lack the will to live? This paper, while trying to give at least partial answers to all those questions, assumes that the right way of thinking in dealing with resources degradation is the most serious thing we are lacking. With some examples from Egypt and other developing countries, the paper will point to some aspects that may constitute part of the conceptual framework that is required to save our world and to keep the forthcoming disasters at an acceptable level.     

Explanation of land use in mountainous area,China: from field to village level

Few studies of land use change were particularly considered the hierarchical data structure originating from different scales and levels. Using interviewing data collected from 107 villages, 1,050 households and 4,780 fields between November 2003 and August 2005, the objective of this paper is to predict the occurrence of land use from field to village level in mountainous area, China, and to improve our understanding of the causes of land use. Household’s behavior in the choice of land use type is guided by multiple, often confiding, household objectives, subject to the available resources, possible productive activities, and external economic and biophysical constraints. For rice model, the household level variables cannot be substituted by village level aggregates. Aggregated variables at village level do not capture any of the variability at the household level. Village level variables can virtually be explained in virtue of the variables of field and household level. The households and the villages show significant clustering of the occurrence of rice, and they explain the 11.3 and 4.5% variance, respectively. For corn model, corn as dependent variable does not show any significant variance component. The variables of household and village level have lower effects on the occurrence of corn. There is a significant relation between slope of a field and the choice to cultivate corn and a significant random effect at the village level. However, cropland size, input–output, transportation cost, even family income in household level and road density and food market development in village level, at some extent, are controlled by slope. These variables do not influence corn cultivation significantly and that those are predominantly determined by slope. In a word, the household level can be crucial in explaining land use at the field level. Multilevel analysis can be applied to statistically model the occurrence of land use, and to explore a number of cross-scale propositions. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Land degradation risk assessment of El Fayoum depression, Egypt

The main objective of this study is to assess the land degradation risk of cultivated land in El Fayoum depression. The physiographic map of the depression was produced by using remote sensing and land surveying data. The depression comprises lacustrine plain, alluvial–lacustrine plain, and alluvial plain representing 12.22%, 53.58%, and 34.20% of the total area, respectively. The soil, climate, and topographic characteristics of the depression were extracted from land surveying, laboratory analyses, digital elevation model, and available reports. A simple model was designed to employ these data for assessing the chemical and physical risk of land degradation using Arc-GIS 9.2 software. The obtained results indicate that severe risk to chemical and physical degradation affect 54.15% and 29.23% of the depression, respectively. The current status of soil salinity, sodicity, and water table indicate that most of lacustrine and alluvial–lacustrine soils are actually degraded by salinization, sodification, and waterlogging. The results of degradation risk and the actual hazard indicate that the human activities are not sufficient to overcome the degradation processes in the most of the depression (80. 22%). Moreover, a negative human impact affects 26.29% of the area mostly in the alluvial plain. Great efforts related to the land management are required to achieve the agriculture sustainability.     

Land access constraints for communities affected by large-scale land acquisition in Southern Sierra Leone

While national figures of land availability are used to justify accepting large-scale land investors, not very much is known about the local level realities of land availability. By combining remotely sensed data with fieldwork, system dynamics modelling and qualitative research methods, we examine local level realities of land use and availability in the Malen Chiefdom of Southern Sierra Leone. Here, local communities are experiencing the outcomes of large-scale investments in oil palm for biodiesel and other industrial purposes by the SOCFIN Agricultural Company. We find that beyond agricultural production, there are other land uses that are vital for the socio-cultural, economic and environmental realities of communities. The Company does not respect engagements promised to local people to set aside buffer zones around living areas to serve as biodiversity corridors. Local communities are severely deprived of agricultural land and other land resources. The operations of SOCFIN do not take account of present or future land needs of local people. A baseline requirement of food crop land should be set aside for each community, to ensure the attainment of food security in communities affected by land acquisitions. Such baseline requirement should be augmented with local level needs assessments to meet new demand for cropland necessitated by changing demography. This model of land planning can be applied to other land use and additional engagements of large-scale land investors.     

Land degradation in the source region of the Yellow River, northeast Qinghai-Xizang Plateau: classification and evaluation

Land degradation imposes a great threat to the world. It is not merely an environmental issue, but also a social and economic problem. Land desertification is among the main aspects of environment changes in the source region of the Yellow River. Previous studies focused on water resource utilization and soil erosion, but land degradation in the source region of the Yellow River even the whole Qinghai-Xizang Plateau received little attention. Based on the data obtained by field investigation and TM satellite images of 2000, this study provides the classification and evaluation information of the land degradation in the source region of the Yellow River. There are six types of land degradation in this region: water erosion in the northern mountains around the Gonghe Basin, sandy desertification in the Gonghe Basin and Upland Plain Area, aridization in the lower reaches, salinization in the Gonghe Basin, vegetation degradation in the intramontance basin and freezing and thawing erosion in the high mountains. The total degraded area is 34,429.6 km², making up 37.5% of the land in the study area. Finally, land degradation in the source region of the Yellow River was evaluated according to changes in the physical structure and chemical component of soils, land productivity, secondary soil salt and water conditions.     

Assessment of land degradation east of the Nile Delta, Egypt using remote sensing and GIS techniques

Land degradation is one of the most common issues in the eastern part of the Nile Delta area that threatens the ongoing agricultural activities and prohibits further reclamation expansions. The different degradation types and the associated risk assessment of some soils types of western Suez Canal region during the period from 1997 to 2010 is discussed. The assessment of the different degradation degrees in the investigated area has been carried out through integrating remote sensing, GIS and GLASOD approaches. Results revealed that the salinization, alkalization, soil compaction and water logging are the main types of land degradation in the area. The main causative factors of human induced land degradation types are; over irrigation, human intervention in natural drainage, improper time use of heavy machinery and the absence of conservation measurements. Low and moderately clay flats, gypsifferous flats, have high to very high risk in both salinization sodication and physical degradation. Values such as EC, ESP, and ground water level reach 104.0 dS/m, 176? % and 60 cm, respectively. These results will be of great help and be basic sources for the planners and decision makers in sustainable planning. The spatial land degradation model was developed based on integration between remote sensing data, geographic information system, soil characteristics and DEM.     

Sustainable multivariate analysis for land use management in El-Sharkiya,Egypt

In Egypt, major sustainability variables could be identified as scarce of soil and water resources, environmental degradation, rapid population growth, institutional arrangement that includes land tenure and farm fragmentation, agricultural administration, lack of infrastructure, and credit utilization. The main objective of the current work is to evaluate the sustainable land use management (SLM) model through biophysics and socioeconomic elements for the purpose of combating sustainability constraints that preclude the agricultural development geospatially. In this research, from the geomorphologic point of view, the obtained results showed three main landscapes. They were identified in the study area as: fluviolacustrine plain, Aeolian deposits, and flood plain. The study area was dominated by some physical and chemical degradation processes with different scales breaking down the equilibrium of soil stability. The SLM model was implemented and assessed from multivariate perspective points of productivity, security, protection, economic viability, and social acceptability. Four SLM classes were outlined as follows: class I, land management practices that did meet sustainability requirements with a score ≥0.65, which represented 31.0 % of the considered agricultural study area; class II, land management practices that were marginally above the sustainability threshold and represented 12.6 %; class III, land management practices that were slightly below the threshold of sustainability and represented 8.60 %; class IV, land management practices that did not meet sustainability requirements with index values >0.1 that represented 47.86 %. As a general conclusion, it is found that land management practices tend to be unsustainable in the area under investigation for certain constraints that play motivated roles in lowering the targeted land sustainability.     

贵州省喀斯特地区土地退化与生态重建研究进展

喀斯特地区环境独特、生态脆弱，一直是科学界关注的热点地区。早期的研究多集中在喀斯特地区的水文、地质和地球化学等领域。近10多年来，喀斯特地区的土地退化乃至石漠化的问题日益严重，人类活动对生态的压力逐渐成为人们关注的焦点。我国西南喀斯特地区是世界上最大的喀斯特连续带，贫困人口集中，人口压力大，经济落后，土地退化严重，人地矛盾异常尖锐，如何开展生态建设、促进社会经济发展，成为西部大开发中最为紧迫的任务之一。贵州省是西南喀斯特地区的典型代表，部分地区已经失去了依靠自身力量进行生态恢复和发展的可能性，因而需要在科学研究的基础上，制定合理的规划和管理措施，针对性的增加外部投入，进行生态重建。对生态重建的理论、方法、技术和模式进行了总结，认为喀斯特地区土地退化是区域人地复杂巨系统结构损害和功能紊乱的集中表现，片面的环境保护和单独的生态治理工程无法解决这个系统问题，区域的生态重建需要采用系统科学的思路。在此基础上，提出喀斯特地区土地退化和生态重建研究中需要深入研究的一些问题。     

Environmental degradation assessment in arid areas: a case study from Basra Province, southern Iraq

Evaluation of recent land degradation affecting Basra Province, Iraq, resulted in the identification of five prominent environmental degradation processes: desertification, secondary salinization, urbanization, vegetation degradation, and loss of wetlands. This analysis was carried out using ‘3S’ technologies [remote sensing, geographic information system (GIS), and global position system], with the layers extracted and manipulated from available topographic, climatic, and soil maps, as well as satellite image (thematic mapping in 1990 and enhanced thematic mapping in 2003) and field survey data analyses. Rates of conversion were calculated and distribution patterns were mapped with the aid of a GIS. The results revealed that land use changes have affected the wider environment and accelerated land degradation, with severe damage located in southwestern Basra Province representing 28.1 % of the total area. Areas of high to moderate degradation characterize the rest of the south, representing 52.7 % of the total area; while the north of the study region is characterized by very low and low degradation levels accounting for 8.5 and 10.7 %, respectively. Iraq faces serious environmental degradation problems that must be addressed immediately; failure to do so will greatly compound the cost and complexity of later remedial efforts, with environmental degradation beginning even now to pose a major threat to human well-being, especially among the poor.     

Land degradation impacts on tropical agricultural basins and their management: the Nigerian example

This study uses the fault-tree technique to identify the major effects of land degradation caused by the adoption of a malfunctioning shifting cultivation technology for food production in tropical basins. Through reference to existing empirical research, the sequence of events in the process of degradation of the Nigerian agricultural basins and the adjoining river systems was identified and related to the appropriate causal agent. A complete picture of the cost of land degradation goes beyond the degraded terrain and includes damage in areas where there is an unloading of large quantities of run-off and sediments. The causal pathway showed that existing land degradation management policies have focused on the symptoms rather than on the cause of the degradation process. Through a thorough examination of those malfunctioning components of the traditional farming technology, appropriate management strategies are proferred. An institutional organization for land degradation management in Nigeria which includes the federal, state and local governments is strongly recommended.     

Soil erosion, policy and people's perceptions in a rural community in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

In South Africa the science and practice of soil conservation have been dominated by a technical approach which does not take into account the perceptions, knowledge and needs of people living in rural areas. Attempts to incorporate land users into soil conservation programmes have not had much influence on conservation policies. In order to compare the scientifically-based physical appraisals of an area with the community's perceptions of soil erosion on their land, a project was established in a rural area of KwaZulu/Natal. This paper briefly reviews soil conservation policy in former homeland areas. It then considers the historical development of the community of Cornfields and their responses to changing government policies. The research indicates that rural dwellers have valuable knowledge concerning soil conservation, but that the neglest of such communities by agricultural and conservation authorities has led to the unsustainable use of the land. The area is severely eroded and soils in the area are amongst the most highly erodible in the province. Therefore levels of degradation would be high even without dense human occupation. This evidence is clearly important in future conservation planning and recommendations are made regarding a policy for the management of soil resources in rural areas.     

中国土地荒漠化的概念、成因与防治

荒漠化是指人类历史时期以来,由于人类不合理的经济活动和脆弱生态环境相互作用造成土地生产力下降,土地资源丧失,地表呈现类似荒漠景观的土地退化过程。在中国北方荒漠化形成因素中过度放牧占30．1％,过度农垦占26．9％,过度樵采占32．7％,水资源利用不当占96％,工矿交通建设中不注意环境保护占0．7％,在地区上以北方农牧交错及旱农地区荒漠化最为严重。要采取因地制宜措施和建立健全而完善的治理实施系统以达到生态、经济和社会三个效益的目的。     

Sediment yield assessment at basin scale using geospatial technique

Soil erosion and sediment yield from catchments are key limitations to achieving sustainable land use and maintaining water quality in nature. One of the important aspects in protecting the watershed is evaluation of sediment produced by statistical methods. Controlling sediment loading in protecting the watershed requires knowledge of soil erosion and sedimentation. Sediment yield is usually not available as a direct measurement but is estimated using geospatial models. One of the geospatial models for estimating sediment yield at the basin scale is sediment delivery ratio (SDR). The present study investigates the spatial SDR model in determining the sediment yield rate considering climate and physical factors of basin in geographic information system environment. This new approach was developed and tested on the Amammeh catchments in Iran. The validation of the model was evaluated using the Nash Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient. The developed model is not only conceptually easy and well suited to the local data needs but also requires less parameter, which offers less uncertainty in its application while meeting the intended purpose. The model is developed based on local data. The results predict strong variations in SDR from 0 in to 70 % in the uplands of the Basin.     

A physical and numerical investigation of the failure mechanism of weak rocks surrounding tunnels

The large-scale construction of railway tunnels in China is hindered by several challenges, including large depths, large tunnel cross-sections, and fragile geological conditions. In this paper, we explored a new physical and numerical simulation method that improves upon the currently used methods to investigate the deformation and failure modes of weak rocks surrounding a tunnel. We also compared the results from physical tests and numerical simulations with the field measurements to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed numerical simulation method. In the physical model test, an artificial speckle field was developed by staining quartz sand particles and mixing the particles with barite powder and petroleum jelly in preset proportions. The artificial speckle field was employed in the digital speckle correlation method (DSCM) to monitor the evolution of the strain field on the surface of the plain strain model for tunneling during loading. A secondary strain-softening constitutive model using the numerical modeling code FLAC^3D was developed (degradation constitutive model) by considering the deformation modulus degradation in the numerical simulation. The failure mode of weak rocks surrounding a tunnel in the physical model test was examined using the developed degradation constitutive model. Both the physical and numerical results revealed that the least stable area was the shear wedge along the minimum principal stress, which was confirmed in the damage zone of the surrounding rocks. The results were consistent with previous research findings. The results of the DSCM in the physical model test indicated that the shear wedge in the middle part of the tunnel and the cracks around the arch of the tunnel were induced by shear strain, whereas the collapse of the arch was attributed to a combination of tensile strain and shear strain. A comparison of the physical and numerical simulation results demonstrated that the degradation constitutive model can be used to describe the extent and depth of the excavation damage zone of tunneling. A comparison of the displacements from the numerical simulation and field measurements indicated that the degradation model can be used to capture the displacement of weak rocks surrounding tunnels.     

The Alta case: Learning from the errors made in a human ecological conflict in Norway

This paper explores the historical, geographical and human ecology aspects of an extreme conflict between development and conservation in northern Scandinavia. Development of hydro-power projects not only affects the physical environment but also conflicts with the culture of a distinct ethnic community, the Sami Lapps. Over one hundred power and mining projects have now been constructed in Sami territory, the cumulative effects of which have focused opposition to the Alta—Kautokeino Waterway. The long- and short-term origins of the conflict are analysed in the light of Sami ecology and Norwegian administrative principles. How the Sami ecology has affected the national frontiers and recent resource management issues are described. Finally, the importance of environmental protests and public hearings in the resolution of fundamental resource/land use conflicts is discussed. The author concludes that the basic aspects of land use conflict may be analysed by using a symbiotic ecology model and applying this to technical human activities.     

苏锡常地区地面沉降风险评价管理模型研究初探

平原区超采地下水引发的地面沉降地质灾害已成为影响这些地区经济可持续发展的重要制约因素,如何从收益、成本、风险三个方面为决策者提供制定地面沉降相关防治措施的综合支持,实现灾害防治从被动应对向主动防御转变,是地面沉降防治研究领域的新课题。在综合考虑苏锡常地区技术、经济、人类活动等因素基础上,从地面沉降总体风险和地区差异水平出发,提出构建地面沉降风险评价模型及决策支持系统的初步研究思路和方法,为实现地面沉降防治的科学化决策管理进行了探索。     

Dynamic stochastic estimation of physical variables

A fundamental problem facing the physical sciences today is analysis of natural variations and mapping of spatiotemporal processes. Detailed maps describing the space/time distribution of groundwater contaminants, atmospheric pollutant deposition processes, rainfall intensity variables, external intermittency functions, etc. are tools whose importance in practical applications cannot be overestimated. Such maps are valuable inputs for numerous applications including, for example, solute transport, storm modeling, turbulent-nonturbulent flow characterization, weather prediction, and human exposure to hazardous substances. The approach considered here uses the spatiotemporal random field theory to study natural space/time variations and derive dynamic stochastic estimates of physical variables. The random field model is constructed in a space/time continuum that explicitly involves both spatial and temporal aspects and provides a rigorous representation of spatiotemporal variabilities and uncertainties. This has considerable advantages as regards analytical investigations of natural processes. The model is used to study natural space/time variations of springwater calcium ion data from the Dyle River catchment area, Belgium. This dataset is characterized by a spatially nonhomogeneous and temporally nonstationary variability that is quantified by random field parameters, such as orders of space/time continuity and random field increments. A rich class of covariance models is determined from the properties of the random field increments. The analysis leads to maps of continuity orders and covariances reflecting space/time calcium ion correlations and trends. Calcium ion estimates and the associated statistical errors are calculated at unmeasured locations/instants over the Dyle region using a space/time kriging algorithm. In practice, the interpretation of the results of the dynamic stochastic analysis should take into consideration the scale effects.     

Simulation Experiments of Land Surface Physical Processes and Ecological Effect over Different Underlying Surface

Based on the existing Land Surface Physical Process Models(Deardorff, Dickinson, LIU, Noilhan, Seller, ZHAO), a Comprehensive Land Surface Physical Process Model (CLSPPM) is developed by considering the different physical processes of the earth‘s surface-vegetation-atmosphere system more completely. Compared with SiB and BATS, which are famous for their detailed parameterizations of physical variables, this simplified model is more convenient and saves much more computation time. Though simple, the feas...     

Effects of Salt Stress on Plant and the Mechanism of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Enhancing Salt Tolerance of Plants

Soil salinization is one of the global land degradation problems due to the impacts of climatic variations and human activities. As a beneficial soil microorganism, Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) are abundant in saline-alkaline land and form a mutual symbiosis with plants, which can improve salt tolerance of plant and reduce salt stress from the soil. Based on the mechanism of salt stress on the plant, the effects of AMF on plant physiological characteristics were introduced. Three main aspects of the AMF effects were summarized as follows: reconstructing the ion balance in plants to alleviate the toxic effects of specific ions; expanding the absorption range of plant roots and improving the osmotic regulation ability to alleviate the water deficit in plant; maintaining the integrity of cell membrane system and photosynthetic system to resist the damage caused by oxidative stress. Also, the future research direction in this field was evaluated, then a reference for the reconstruction of the saline-alkaline environment was provided.     

Land alienation,land tenure,and tourism in Vanuatu,a Melanesian Island nation

Land is a primary resource for international tourism development. The relation of indigenous systems of land tenure and the history of land alienation to tourism in Pacific Island nations, however, is problematic. Governments of some Pacific Island nations are now emphasizing the traditional land rights of indigenous people in determining land use for economic development. Land is a key resource for the local participation of Islanders in development, and indigenous land claims are a volatile political issue. There has been little substantive research on tourism and land tenure in Melanesia. This paper examines the history of the problem of land alienation, the nature of traditional land tenure, and the relation of current land claims to tourist development in Vanuatu. Land alienations are tied to modern tourist developments, and issues of land tenure are a central aspects of political debate in local cultures. Suggestions are offered for regional planning for tourism, and local control of tourist development and land use.