Desertification and land degradation: origins, processes and solutions

Table of Contents

1. Authors and acknowledgements
2. Introduction
   1. Aims
   2. Definitions and key concepts
   3. Synthesis of previous and ongoing projects
   4. Key issues and outline
3. Evolution of desertification in the Mediterranean
   1. Climatic fluctuation
   2. Human influence
4. Primary drivers of desertification
   1. Biophysical and socio-economic causes
   2. Pathways of desertification
   3. Driving forces in the Mediterranean
   4. Synthesis of causes for DESIRE hotspots
   5. Conclusions
5. Processes and consequences of desertification in the Mediterranean
   1. Socio-economic and political factors
   2. Biophysical processes
   3. Conclusions
6. Indicators: monitoring desertification
   1. History of monitoring
   2. Indicators
   3. Monitoring and mapping techniques
   4. Concluding remarks
7. Modelling desertification
   1. Definition of modelling
   2. Model types
   3. Biophysical modelling
   4. Socio-economic and participatory modelling
   5. Gaps and progression in modelling
8. Solutions
   1. Biophysical solutions
   2. Political and socio-economic solutions
9. References

Conclusions

From the two case studies of Tunisia and Sardinia that review causes of desertification in a general way, it is clear that both biophysical as well as socio-economic factors need to be considered. These studies and the overview of DESIRE hotspots confirm this, with both urbanization (entirely socio-economic) and livestock management and salinization (incorporating a biophysical dimension). Also, multiplicity seems to be a recurrent theme in both the general reviews and the case studies presented here. A slight difference between the two types of studies can be seen in the role of climatic change. In the overviews, climatic change is an underlying factor that may play a role in determining the extent of degradation. In both case studies, however, climatic change is not considered important for the (recent) desertification problems. This may be due to the scale that the researchers are considering: at the local spatial and short-term temporal scale, climatic changes may not seem to be important or change is even not noticed. However, when reviewing several cases at, probably, larger temporal and spatial scales, climatic change can become an important underlying force of land degradation and desertification.