Land Degradation
In November 2011, the first-ever global assessment of the state of the land was published by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The report concludes that fully one quarter of the planet’s total land area (i.e. not ocean) is highly degraded.
In this report, the FAO stated that degraded land and water systems “…face the risk of progressive breakdown of their productive capacity under a combination of excessive demographic pressure and unsustainable agriculture use and practices…”
“The greatest threat is the loss of soil quality, followed by biodiversity loss and water resources depletion... land areas are being degraded through farming practices that result in water and wind erosion, the loss of organic matter, topsoil compaction, salinization and soil pollution, and nutrient loss.” Read more about the FAO report here.
In December 2015, a report from the University of Sheffield’s Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures revealed that "... nearly 33 per cent of the world’s arable land has been lost to erosion or pollution in the last 40 years and vital action must now be taken to prevent the devastating knock-on effects... A sustainable soil-centric reengineering of the agricultural system would reduce the need for fertiliser inputs and pesticide application, and require less irrigation, thus contributing towards safeguarding finite natural resources.” Read more here.
Lester Brown's book "Full Planet, Empty Plates" details some of the widespread impacts of soil degradation, including the ever-increasing loss of soil due to inappropriate farming systems. The author cites many examples, including Nigeria, "...losing 868,000 acres of rangeland and cropland to desertification each year. ... No other environmental change threatens to undermine its economic future so directly."
Chapter 5, "Eroding Soils Darkening our Future", can be read online here.
In this report, the FAO stated that degraded land and water systems “…face the risk of progressive breakdown of their productive capacity under a combination of excessive demographic pressure and unsustainable agriculture use and practices…”
“The greatest threat is the loss of soil quality, followed by biodiversity loss and water resources depletion... land areas are being degraded through farming practices that result in water and wind erosion, the loss of organic matter, topsoil compaction, salinization and soil pollution, and nutrient loss.” Read more about the FAO report here.
In December 2015, a report from the University of Sheffield’s Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures revealed that "... nearly 33 per cent of the world’s arable land has been lost to erosion or pollution in the last 40 years and vital action must now be taken to prevent the devastating knock-on effects... A sustainable soil-centric reengineering of the agricultural system would reduce the need for fertiliser inputs and pesticide application, and require less irrigation, thus contributing towards safeguarding finite natural resources.” Read more here.
Lester Brown's book "Full Planet, Empty Plates" details some of the widespread impacts of soil degradation, including the ever-increasing loss of soil due to inappropriate farming systems. The author cites many examples, including Nigeria, "...losing 868,000 acres of rangeland and cropland to desertification each year. ... No other environmental change threatens to undermine its economic future so directly."
Chapter 5, "Eroding Soils Darkening our Future", can be read online here.