Manual for describing land degradation indicators

Table of Contents

1. Editor
2. Introduction
3. Classification of indicators
4. Land degradation indicators
5. Evaluation and short-list of indicators
6. Explanations for filling the information sheets
   1. General information
   2. Climate indicators
   3. Water indicators
   4. Soil indicators
   5. Vegetation indicators
   6. Water runoff indicators
   7. Forest fires indicators
   8. Agricultural indicators
   9. Cultivation indicators
   10. Husbandry indicators
   11. Land management indicators
   12. Land use indicators
   13. Water use indicators
   14. Tourism indicators
   15. Social indicators
   16. Institutional indicators
7. Farm survey research
8. Focus group approach
9. References

Social indicators

Human poverty index:As it is defined by the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) Human Poverty Index is a compound index, based on a number of component measures that measures a summary statistic on the economic welfare of the poor in a society.

Since poverty is a multidimensional issue and relative concept, therefore different factors and different expectations need to be taken into account in different countries. The HPI-2 indices developed by the UNDP are proposed here. HPI-2 is based on four component measures of deprivation, each of which need to be defined:

• Longevity: the percentage of the population with a life expectancy of less than 60 years.
• Illiteracy: the percentage of the population aged 15 years or over who are unable, with understanding, both to read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life.
• Standard of living: the percentage of the population living below the poverty line (defined as 50% of the median disposable personal income).
• Exclusion: percentage of the work force in long-term unemployment (12 months or more).

These four components are computed arithmetically, as follows:

HPI-2 = [0.25(P2³+P4³+P5³+P6³)] ^0.33

Where: P2 = illiteracy rate
P4 = percentage of people not expected to survive to 60 years
P5 = percentage of people with disposable income < 50% of the median
P6 = percentage of people in long term unemployment.

The following classes have been defined: low (HPI-2 <10), moderate (HPI-2 = 10-20), high (HPI-2 = 20-50), and high (HPI-2 >50).

Old age index: The old age index measures the relationship between the population over the age of 65 divided by the total population. The purpose of the indicator is to emphasize the strong imbalance that exists between the large number of elderly people in relations to the total population. The old age index (R ) is calculated by the following equation:

The following classes are distinguished: low (R<5), moderate (R=5-10), high (R=10-20), and very high (R>20).

Population density: It is an indicator closely related with the level of human pressure to natural resources. This type of indicator constitutes a tool for socio-economic analysis, which at different scales, local, national regional and global, serves to assess the sensitivity of an area to degradation due to the human pressure.

Population density is defined as the ratio between (total) population and surface (land) area. This ratio can be calculated for any territorial unit, for any point in time, depending on the source of the population data. An alternative definition for population density is the number of persons per unit of area (which may include or exclude cultivated or potentially productive area). The following equation can be used for calculation of population density (PD) (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population density):

The following classes are defined: low (PD<50 people / km²), moderate (PD 50-100 people / km²), high (PD = 100-300 people / km²), and very high (PD> 300 people / km²).

Population growth rate: It is a measure how fast the size of the population is changing. The rate of population growth is identified by Agenda 21 of the United Nations as one of the crucial elements affecting long-term sustainability of natural resources. Rapid population growth can place a strain on a country's capacity for handling a wide range of issues of economic, social, and environmental significance, particularly when rapid population growth occurs in conjunction with poverty and lack of access to resources. Population Growth Rate (PGR) which is calculated as the increase in population during a period of time, usually one year, expressed as a percentage of the population at the beginning of the period. It reflects the number of births and deaths during the period and the number of people migrating to (immigration) and from (emigration) a country

(Source: http://www.worldbank.org/depweb/english/modules/social/pgr). The following equation can be used for calculating population growth rate (PGR):

The following classes are defined: low population growth rate (PGR <0.2% per year), moderate (PGR = 0.2-0.4), high (PGR = 0.4-0.6), and very high (PGR>0.6).

Population distribution: The population distribution is an indicator related to land management. This indicator classifies an area with two different ways according to: (a) the urbanization of the area, and (b) according to the physical environment. Specifically, the classification of population distribution can be defined as following:

• Urban population / Rural population
• Mountainous population / population in sloping areas / population in lowland

Based on the definition of urban population/rural population, the following classes are distinguished: >20%. 10-20%, 5-10%, and <5%).