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

Institutional indicators

Subsidies: This indicator aims to assess how the structure of CAP support influences the choice of farmers in terms of agricultural land use and land management practices. European Union farm subsidies support has ensured an adequate income to farmers, and thus contributed to the development of regional economies and to the maintenance of landscapes especially in less favoured areas. However, the price support under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has also favoured the intensification and specialisation process in Europe by using more fertilizers, pesticides, irrigating of the land, increasing the number of animals, etc. Based on the new CAP, additional funds are available as a donation for people who apply measures for protection or improvement of the environment, and/or for improvement of the quality of the agricultural products. In order to manage and control these regimes of support, an Integrated Managing System has been created called "Integrated System". The system is implemented in the actions such as: compound support, special funding for the quality of the durum wheat, funding for the nutritious seeds, special support for rice, support/1000m² for fruits with skin, support for cultivation of plants for energy production, support for farinaceous potatoes, funding for the milk production and extra support, support in the sector of seeds for seeding, special support for cotton, support/1000 m² of the traditional olive orchards, production of durum wheat and corn, production of tobacco, production of olive oil and table olives, sugar beet production, beef meat production, sheep and goats feeding, etc. For the purpose of this project, subsidies are defined per hectare, per animal, per kg of product, for environmental protection.

Protected areas: This indicator shows the area of protected land expressed as a percentage of the total land. Protected areas can include areas important for conserving biodiversity, cultural heritage, scientific research, recreation, natural resource maintenance, and other values. These areas can be used to identify sustainable management practices to combat desertification. The aim of protected areas is to conserve biological resources, both common and rare, conserving ecosystems and preserving the ecological balance and promoting ecological tourism as part of the diversification of tourism. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) defines the following six management categories of protected areas in two groups: (1) totally protected areas; Category I, Strict Nature Reserves/Wilderness Area; Category II, National Park; Category III, National Monument; (2) partially protected areas for specific uses such as recreation, or to provide optimum conditions for certain species or ecological communities with Category IV, Habitat/Species Management Area; Category V, Protected Landscape/Seascape; and Category VI, Managed Resource Protected Area. The usefulness of this indicator depends on distinguishing the totally protected areas and partially protected areas, since they have different, although complementary, functions. Each requires a separate expression of the indicator as follows: Calculate the combined area of totally protected areas of 1000 ha or more. Calculate the combined area of partially protected area regardless of size. Calculate the percentage of the total land area occupied by each group. The degree of the implementation of existing regulations on environmental protection is assessed in the indicator "Policy enforcement"

Policy enforcement: It refers to the enforcement of the implementation of existing regulations on environmental protection. The policy enforcement indicator is used to assess the degree of application of the specific regulation on environmental protection. For example in a cultivated area some typical management practices for reducing tillage and water erosion are: (i) no tillage or minimum tillage, (ii) tillage of soil in the up-slope direction, (iii) contour farming, (iv) enhancement of vegetation cover. Therefore, protection of the land from soil erosion depends on the effectiveness of the implementation /enforcement of such actions. The information needed depends on the policy under consideration. For example, in the case of terracing protection policy, a relevant piece of information might be the ratio of protected to existing terraces. In the case of extensive agriculture policy, a relevant piece of information might be the percentage of farms (or farmers) or the percentage of area under extensive agriculture. Four classes of policy enforcement are distinguished: (a) adequate (>75% of the land is protected), (b) moderate (25-75% of the land is protected), (c) low (<25% of the land is protected), and (d) no protection.