All publications and documents

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) commissioned its First Scientific Conference in 2009 to deliberate on ways to improve the global monitoring and assessment of dryland degradation to support decision-making in land and water management. The papers included in this issue of Land Degradation & Development elaborate the reasoning behind the 11 recommendations that…

The land use sector represents almost 25% of total global emissions. these emissions can be reduced. there is also great potential for carbon sequestration through the scaling up, and scaling out, of proven and effective practices. improved land use and management, such as low-emissions agriculture, agro-forestry and ecosystem conservation and restoration could, under certain circumstances,…

Water harvesting systems in south-east Spain collect runoff from hillslopes in underground cisterns (aljibes). The characteristics of 51 aljibes were recorded. Aljibe volume increases non-linearly with catchment area (r2=0.29;N=51). This relationship becomes even stronger for the water harvesting systems on rocky slopes (r2=0.56;N=34). An empirical rainfall/runoff model indicates that the surface…

The total area of the Arab Region is about 14·2 million km2, 90% of it lies within arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. The area is characterized by harsh environment, fragile ecosystems and limited water resources and arable lands. Throughout its long history these lands were the main source of grain and animal production.The total area of the Arab Region is about 14·2 million km2, 90% of it…

Sequestration of Carbon in Soil Organic Matter (SOCSOM) in Senegal is a multi-disciplinary development project planned and refined through two international workshops. The project was implemented by integrating a core of international experts in remote sensing, biogeochemical modeling, community socio-economic assessments, and carbon measurements in a fully collaborative manner with Senegal…

The organic matter of the surface horizons of soils developed below scrub vegetation in a Mediterranean semi-arid area of great environmental interest (Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park, SE Spain) has been studied. The study mainly concentrates on examining the influence of two vegetation types, one evolved (according to its successional stage), and the other clearly degraded as a result of prior…