National

Land degradation a global worry

CHENNAI: Land degradation is growing around the world in terms of “severity and extent,” affecting more than 20 per cent of all cultivated areas, 30 per cent of forests and 10 per cent of grasslands, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has said in a major report.

Basing its findings on a study of data spanning 20 years, the FAO has cautioned that continuing land degradation would affect about 1.5 billion people who directly depend on land.

India has its share of worries. About 592,000 sq km of its land has deteriorated and this will affect about 177 million people.

Land degradation is defined as a long-term decline in ecosystem function and productivity and is a cumulative phenomenon.

The report says 15 per cent of the global land surface was degraded by 1991. Since then, 24 per cent of the land area has been affected. The areas degraded earlier, the report observes, remain severely affected and have settled to low levels of productivity. This will affect productivity and food security and cause loss of biodiversity. The principal reason for this situation is poor land management, cautions the report.

The silver lining: 15.7 per cent of the land area has shown some improvement due to better irrigation in rain-fed cropland and pastures in the prairies and plains of North America and western India. Increasing tree cover due to forest plantations in Europe and land reclamation projects in regions such as North China has added to the improvement.

The report is part of a study conducted by the FAO, the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Soil Information (ISRIC) on global land degradation.

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