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E-grāmata: Threatening Desert: Controlling desertification [Taylor & Francis e-book]

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Lands lost to desert may effectively be lost for ever, so desertification is humanity's most obvious despoliation to the planet. It is certainly one of the most serious environmental problems facing the world today. In this book the author describes what is happening and where. Although the problem is greatest in developing countries, it is by no means confined to them. Australia, Africa, the USA and India are all affected. In the 1970s an international Plan of Action was drawn up to bring the phenomenon under control, but it was never implemented. Now that the situation is more serious than ever before, this book urges new action and describes many of the myriad ways in which it is possible to arrest the progress of desertification. It describes, too, not just the failures, but the considerable successes that have been achieved.

Originally published in 1990
Figures and Tables
viii
Acronyms x
Preface xii
Introduction 1(6)
1 What Is Desertification?
7(58)
Desertification defined
8(1)
The distribution of drylands
9(4)
The arid zones
13(5)
Natural deserts and desertification
18(4)
The two main characteristics of desertification
22(11)
The direct and indirect causes of desertification
33(2)
Desertification and civilization
35(2)
Drought and desertification
37(24)
Questions remain about desertification
61(3)
A Complex Phenomenon
64(1)
2 The Causes of Desertification
65(42)
Overcultivation
65(11)
Overgrazing
76(14)
Poor irrigation management
90(5)
Deforestation
95(10)
Causes and solutions
105(2)
3 Desertification, People and Policy
107(20)
Population growth
108(2)
Economic development
110(2)
Desertification and underdevelopment
112(2)
The role of government
114(3)
Famine, poverty and desertification
117(3)
Desertification in developed nations
120(2)
A Broader Perspective
122(5)
4 The Scale of Desertification
127(31)
The regional distribution of desertification
127(5)
Estimates of the extent and rate of desertification
132(13)
Developing a new system of desertification indicators
145(4)
Using remote sensing to improve the monitoring of desertification
149(8)
The data imperative
157(1)
5 Controlling Desertification by Improving Crop Production
158(33)
Improving rainfed cropping
161(12)
Improving irrigated cropping
173(17)
The role of cropping in desertification control
190(1)
6 Controlling Desertification by Improving Livestock Raising
191(23)
Improving animal quality
192(3)
Reducing stock levels
195(2)
Improving rangelands
197(4)
More wells?
201(2)
Regulating nomads
203(7)
The prospects for livestock development
210(1)
Pastoral associations: the last hope?
211(2)
The livestock dilemma
213(1)
7 Controlling Desertification by Planting Trees
214(31)
The fuelwood crisis
215(1)
Large-scale fuelwood plantations
215(2)
Social forestry
217(9)
Does community forestry have a future?
226(8)
The role of non-governmental organizations
234(4)
Improved stoves
238(5)
Future tree-planting strategies
243(2)
8 Farm Forestry and Natural Woodland Management
245(31)
Farm forestry
245(2)
Agroforestry
247(21)
Managing natural woodlands
268(6)
The potential of agroforestry and natural woodland management
274(2)
9 Turning the Tide
276(17)
Progress in soil conservation
276(9)
Preventing sand dune encroachment
285(6)
The prospects for soil conservation and desert reclamation
291(2)
10 Controlling Desertification: Progress and Prospects
293(29)
Progress so far
293(11)
Constraints on progress
304(5)
Success or failure?
309(5)
Priorities for action
314(5)
Conclusions
319(3)
Appendix: Summary of the UNCOD Plan of Action to Combat Desertification 322(9)
Bibliography 331(26)
Index 357
Alan Grainger is a lecturer in geography at the University of Leeds, UK.