Desertification offers a comprehensive overview of the subject and clearly emphasizes the link between local and global desertification processes and how past and current policy has affected arid environments and their populations. This book tackles the issues surrounding desertification in a number of ways from differing scales (local to global), processes (physical to human), the relationship of desertification to current global development and management responses at different scales. Desertification has been mainstreamed and integrated into other areas of concern and has consequently been ignored as a cross cutting issue. Organised according to the principles of adaptive management and hierarchy theory and clearly explains desertification within a framework of evolving and interacting physical and socio-economic systems. In addition to research data the book also draws from the National Action Plans of different countries, the IPCC Fourth Assessment on Climate Change and the Millennium assessments.
Clearly structured throughout, the content of the book is organised at different scales; local, regional and global. It also specifically explains processes linking top-down and bottom- up interactions and has a strong human component. The historical, cultural and physical context is also stressed.
Chapter 7. Global Desertification Today
global desertification today; global or zonal patterns in land, soils vegetation; global land use transformations;
price of desertification; human-induced climate change threatening ecosystems; UNCCD, national versus world interests; millennium ecosystem assessment report; desertification and crash in property prices; DRFN, Namibian non-governmental organization; dust and sandstorms in China
Summary
This chapter contains sections titled: Desertification today, Global balances and fluxes, Case study: desertification and the crash in property prices, Brazil, Namibia, Dust and sandstorms in China
Chapter 9: The Way Forward: Global Soil Conservation and Protection
global soil conservation and protection; hierarchy in ecosystem processes; Iceland, and Selfoss Call for Action; call for action on global soil resource conservation; action for reversing soil degradation; earth observation and soil protection; working group on soil conservation and protection in Europe; SCAPE; internationally co-ordinated collaboration; protecting forests in Northern Brazil