This work is intended for advanced readers interested in methods of sustainable land management - the prevention and control of land degradation. It offers a coherent view of the situation concerning land degradation and the human response to the problem. It is generally recognized that technological solutions alone cannot solve the problems of land degradation. This book discusses the role of land use and land management policies, programmes, insitutional innovations, and economic incentives for the control and prevention of land degradation. Special attention is given to legal issues at the international level and in individual countries.
Foreword
Preface and Acknowledgments
Contributors
Ch.1 Introduction
Box. 1.1 Using the Soil DPSIR framework-driving forces, pressures, state, impacts, and response-for evaluating land degradation
Box. 1.2 Ecological soil standards
Ch. 2 Setting the scene
Land and civilization: An historical perspective
Land degradation: An overview
Food Production and environmental degradation
Box. 2.1 What happens on earth in one minute?
Ch. 3 Driving forces and pressures
Demographic transition, resource management, and institutional change
Land pressure and soil nutrient depletion in sub-Saharan Africa
Box. 3.1 Population and land quality on tropical hillsides
Adoption of soil conservation practices in developing countries: Policy and institutional factors
Box. 3.2 Giant tiger shrimp cultivation and the salinization of arable land in Thailand
Box. 3.3 Causes and impacts of land degradation in the arid environment of Kuwait
Box. 3.4 Climate change and land degradation in Iceland
Ch. 4 State of the world’s land resources
Land quality and food security in Asia
Box. 4.1 Land degradation in Malaysia
Box. 4.2 Soil degradation and land use: A case study from India
Box. 4.3 Land degradation and land use policy in Vietnam
Land resource stresses and desertification in Africa
Box. 4.4 An assessment of land degradation in Thailand
Box 4.5 Land resource stress and desertification vulnerability in Thailand
Land degradation in Bangladesh
Landscape-scale changes in soil properties between 1967 and 1995 in Bangladesh
Soil degradation in Sri Lanka
Land degradation in Hungary
Box 4.7 Soil acidification under Stylosanthes seed production systems in Thailand and Australia
Box. 4.8 Soil degradation through deforestation in Petchabun, Thailand
Box. 4.9 Rehabilitation of the organic carbon pool in red soils of China
Ch. 5 Impacts on society and the environment
The future food security and economic consequences of soil degradation in the developing world
Land degradation, food security, and agro-biodiversity-examining and old problem in a new way
Productivity growth and resource degradation in Pakistan’s Punjab
Box. 5.1 Economic implications of land degradation in a large irrigation project in India
Valuing the off-site effects of land degradation
Box. 5.2 Impacts of land clearing on biodiversity and environmental quality in the Western Australian Wheatbelt
The global environmental impacts of agricultural land degradation in developing countries
Box. 5.3 A critical approach to indications of degradation: A case study from northeastern Botswana
Box. 5.4 Mass movements in East Africa: Transient or long-term land degradation?
Ch. 6. Tools for monitoring and assessment
Linking methodologies for assessing land resources, their problems and possible solutions at small scales
Spatial natural resource monitoring in Mpumalanga Province of South Africa
Tools for identification, assessment, and monitoring of land degradation
Box. 6.1 Remote sensing and GIS-aided land degradation monitoring: The case of Chi sub-waterhsed, Thailand
Application of remote sensing techniques for the study of soil salinity in semi-arid Uzbekistan
The economic appraisal of soil and water conservation measures
Box. 6.2 Assessing soil erosion and water pollution hazards associated with logging in New South Wales, Australia
Box. 6.3 Soil loss map of Thailand
Box. 6.4 Soil productivity rating for soil degradation assessment in the Philippines: A case study in Isabela Province
Box. 6.5 Soil microbial community structure as an indicator of soil pollution caused by gasoline spills
Box. 6.6 Participatory GIS as a tool for land use planning in northern Thailand
Ch. 7. Conservation and rehabilitation
Land degradation and renewal in the Gran Chaco of South America
Strategies to address land degradation issues in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas
Thailand’s response to land degradation: The need to control soil erosion
Uncertain steps? Terraces in the tropics
Box. 7.1 Land degradation and soil conservation in China
Box. 7.2 Occurrence, prevention, and amelioration of soil salinity
Box. 7.3 Using Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT) for soil management on Sri Lanka tea lands
Box. 7.4 Sludge utilization in degraded and agricultural land
Box. 7.5 Sylvipasture system to rehabilitate degraded grassland
Box. 7.6 No-tillage system in Parana State, south Brazil
Box. 7.7 A participatory approach towards integrated soil management
Box 7.8 Sustainable rehabilitation of degraded volcanic ash soils in Mexico
Ch. 8. Institutional innovations
Incentives for soil conservation
Box. 8.1 Land tenure and soil conservation- new evidence from Southeast Asia
Application of a land management model to address land degradation in New South Wales, Australia
Box. 8.2 The catchment approach to soil and water conservation in Kenya
Box. 8.3 Conservation of biodiversity through Landcare
Box. 8.4 Farmer-led community institutions to reverse land degradation in the 21st century
Box. 8.5 Environmental regeneration for poverty eradication in India
Participatory technology development for sustainable land management
Ch. 9. Law and policy
A global view of the law and policy to manage land degradation
Land degradation and native vegetation clearance in the 1990’s: Addressing biodiversity loss in Australia
Law and policy to manage land degradation in the Philippines
Conservation policy and socioeconomic development in Russia during the 20th century
Box. 9.1 Strategies for rehabilitation of degraded in Vietnam
Box. 9.2 ASIALAND: A policy for sloping land management
Box. 9.3 Laws and policy to manage land degradation in Malaysia
Box. 9.4 Laws and policy for managing land degradation in Thailand
Box. 9.5 Waste minimization strategies in the USA
Ch. 10. International initiatives
Land degradation and international environmental law
Box. 10.1 The World Soil Charter
Box. 10.2. Land degradation and biodiversity conservation: International challenges
Land degradation: Information needs and challenges to research Investments in land improvement by the Asian Development Bank
Rangeland development for the rural poor in developing countries: The experience of IFAD
Lessons from World Bank natural resource management projects
Box. 10.3 The Soil Fertility Initiative for Sub-Saharan Africa
WOCAT: World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies
Box. 10.5 The Asia Soil Conservation Network for the Humid Tropics (ASOCON)
Ch. 11. Future responses
Index
The Editors
Biography
E M Bridges
