Monitoring of land degradation

Dr. Pandi Zdruli Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari, Italy

ESBN WorkshopZagreb, Croatia

27 - 30 September 2006

CIHEAM and its Institutes (www.ciheam.org)

Main activities of CIHEAM• Training• Research• Cooperation• Knowledge Dissemination

Main scientific areas of MAI-B• Land and Water Resources Management• Integrated Pest Management• Mediterranean Organic Agriculture• Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development

in the countries with Mediterranean Climate

Land/soil degradation

Land degradationResource

base:

Natural processes

Human-induced processes

- Climate- Biosphere

- Water- Soil

- other

- Inefficiency to maintain economic and ecological functions of land - Reduction capacity of the land to perform its functions and produce goods and services

quantitative and qualitative changes

(i.e. climate change, volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunami)

Could mitigate (+) BUT could accelerate (-) effects on natural processes

Physical, chemical, and/or biological degradation of the SOIL loss of

its ability to fulfil its functions (productivity and environmental)

Soil degradation

THE MALTESE ISLANDS

Volcanic eruption ashes of Etna in Sicily covering the Maltese islands

Evolving concepts of land degradation

land1980-90

land- ecosystem functions and services1990-05

soils1970-80Adopted from Clemencia Licona Manzur, FAO 2005

Security & environment

are assessed in terms of well-being and quality of human life

Ecosystems=

places where people live and from which people obtain benefits.

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (UNEP)

What is land degradation and desertification?

• Land degradation in general is defined as a temporary or permanent lowering of the productive capacity of land (UNEP definition). It covers soil degradation, adverse human impacts on water resources, deforestation, and lowering of the productive capacity of rangelands.

• UNCCD (1994) defines “land” as “the terrestrial bio-productive system that comprises soil, vegetation, other biota, and the ecological and hydrological processes that operate within the system”. Soil degradation is, thus, only one aspect of land degradation

• UNEP (1994) defines desertification as a process of land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas of the world that is the result of natural phenomena (e.g. climate variation) and anthropogenic factors

Salinity build-up

Expansion of greenhouses in Andalusia in Spain

Dryland area is determined using the aridity zones definition and includes arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid zones based on values of aridity index. According the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) the aridity indexis calculated on the ratio between mean annual precipitation (PPT) to mean annual potential evapotranspiration (PET). Drylands of concern to the UNCCD include those lands with an aridity index between 0,05 to 0,65 (excluding polar and sub-polar regions).

How to identify drylands?

Salinity build-up

Expansion of greenhouses in Andalusia in Spain

Land Degradation Assessment in Dryland AreasLADA Project

• The project aims at developing and testing an effective methodology to assess causes status and impacts of land degradation in the drylands

• Standardised methodological framework for the assessment of degradation status, risk and causes

• A baseline map of dryland degradation at sub-regional scale based on the collection and collation of existing maps and databases with incorporation of new data where possible

• A global assessment of actual dryland degradation and degradation hazards

• A detailed assessment of land degradation at national level focusing on areas at great risk and areas where degradation has been reversed (FAO 2002)

Salinity build-up

Expansion of greenhouses in Andalusia in Spain

• A decline in soil's productivity through deterioration of the physical, chemical and biological properties

• Common degradation processes and causes are water and wind erosion, compaction, crusting, salinisation, alkalisation, acidification, leaching, fertility depletion, loss of organic matter, and soil pollution

• Soil quality is strongly dependent on the degree of these soil degradation processes as well as on land use and management practices

What is soil degradation?

Salinity build-up

Expansion of greenhouses in Andalusia in Spain

< 10,000 ha > 230,000 ha

Total land

Arable land < 10,000 ha > 230,000 ha

Source: Elaborations of MAI B based on FAO 2001 data

Arable land compared against total land per country

How is LD situation in the Mediterranean?

Salinity build-up

6 4 %11%

17%4 %

14 %3 0 %

1%2 3 %

6 %15 %

13 %3 5%

2 2 %6 1%

4 9 %3 7%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Albania

Alger ia

Cyprus

Egypt

France

Greece

Israel

Italy

Lebanon

Libya

Morocco

Syr ia

Spain

Slovenia

Tunis ia

Turkey

Human Induced Soil Degradation

Source: Oldeman, et.,al 1991 (GLASOD)

Arable land and population trend in the Mediterranean

Arable land per capita in Mediterranean countries

0.48

0.32

0.220.240.27

0.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

0.50

0.60

1961 1990 2000 2010 2020 years

ha/inhab.

Source: Elaborations of MAI B based on Plan Bleu 2005 data

Annual average growth rate of arable land 1990-2000

-0.1%

0.7%

-0.9%

2.4%

0.2%

-0.3%-0.3%-0.7%

0.9%0.0%

-3.1%

0.3%0.0%

-2.0%

-0.5%-1.0%

0.2%

-0.4%

-4%

-3%

-2%

-1%

0%

1%

2%

3%

Alba

nia

Alge

ria

Cyp

rus

Egyp

t

Fran

ce

Gre

ece

Isra

el

Italy

Leba

non

Liby

a

Mal

ta

Mor

occo

Pale

stin

ian

Terr

.

Port

ugal

Syri

a

Spai

n

Tuni

sia

Turk

ey

Arable land and population in Mediterranean countries

120.1 111.9114.5117.3120.2

428

380

477517

251

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

1961 1990 2000 2010 2020

Arable land Population

years

mill

ions

ha

mili

ons i

nhab

.

Main Soil Degradation factors in the Mediterranean and the Balkans

• Soil sealing and urbanisation• Water and wind erosion• Loss of organic matter and biodiversity

decline• Nutrient mining and lowering of soil

fertility• Chemical pollution and contamination• Floods and landslides• Salinisation• Overgrazing and vegetation degradation

Why bothering with SDSoil sealing and

urbanisation

Maltese coasts

Cairo

Barcelona coastal conglomerates

Maltese islands

Soil erosion and sea eutrification

Salinity build-up

Why bothering

with SD

Salinity build-up

Europe by night

Expansion of greenhouses in Andalusia in Spain

Drastic changes of land use

Pressures on coastal areas

50-70 % of Mediterranean population lives within 60 km from the coast

Environmental degradation and inequitable access to natural resources

increase the probability of conflict and instability and exacerbates human insecurities.

Environment andEnvironment and securitysecurity

environmental issues(Land degradation, climate change, biodiversity, water supply)

socio-economic issues(food security, poverty,

migratory flows and political stability)

Desertification is a complex process involving the interaction of various components

From the technical point of view, the fulfilment of this objectives requires adequate tools.

Desertification Monitoring Systems (DMS) provide a based-monitoring diagnosis of the state of natural resources and of populations on the desertification affected regions (UNCCD)

From the practical point of view a combination of expert-based assessments with remote

sensing tools is needed!!!

How to monitor Land How to monitor Land DDegradationegradation ??

Remote sensing in principle, is an ideal methodology for regional or global degradation assessments. (Van Lynden and Kuhlmann 2002),

Approach:The DesertWatch System is based on the integration of different nature data: ground data and remote sensing data for:• monitoring desertification and its trends• detecting land use and land cover changes

DesertWatch is a user-oriented project that aims at developing an operatonal monitoring system to support the implementation of UNCCD in Italy, Portugal, Turkey.

Some examples from Europe Some examples from Europe

Pre-Processing

Spatialisation

AutomaticClassification

Soil Sealing

Land Abandonment

Forest Fragmentation

Land Use and

Land Cover Maps

SpectralMixtureAnalysis

Land Degradation

IndexCalculation

Forest Fire

Desertification Scenario

Soil/Rock Abundance

Vegetation Cover

Land Degradation Index

Multitemporal Remote Sensing Images

Commune-level Socio-economic Data

Meteorological Data and Climate Quality

Digital Elevation Model

Soil Quality

Management Quality

DWSystem

Sensitivity to Desertification

Forest Area

Irrigated Area

GIS Modelling

Vegetation Quality Index

Land Use and Cover Changes

1

DesertWatch Monitoring System

The DPSIR ApproachThe DPSIR ApproachDriving ForcesDriving Forces

PressuresPressures

StateState

Impact Impact

ResponsesResponses

Results can’t be compared to each other

DPSIR main limits:

• It’s a static simplified descriptive model

• It doesn’t consider the multi-scale approach

DPSIR model can produce different results

In the framework of MEDCOASTLAND Project the analysis of some case-studies from southern Mediterranean basin prove that DPSIR application can result very effective if it is used on homogeneous land units (agro-ecological zones).

Mediterranean Soil

Bare rock

Leptosol

deposition

erosion

Luvisol

Regosol

VertisolGully erosion

Cambisol

Fluvisol River bank erosion

Nutrient miningSoil sealing

Rill and sheet erosion

Forest fires

SoilSoilss ofof the Mediterraneanthe Mediterranean

Management of sloping lands through terracing

Gender issue

MaltaTerracing Luvisols

Morocco SyriaTerracing Leptosols

Terracing Regosols

The Regional for Sustainable The Regional for Sustainable LLand and Soil Management in the Mediterraneanand and Soil Management in the Mediterranean

R O S O M R O S O M •• Complete and update the EuroComplete and update the Euro--Mediterranean Soil Mediterranean Soil

Database 1M scaleDatabase 1M scale•• Make a quantitative assessment of Soil Degradation in Make a quantitative assessment of Soil Degradation in

the Mediterraneanthe Mediterranean•• Promote combination of remote sensing estimates with Promote combination of remote sensing estimates with

ground truthing and field validationground truthing and field validation•• Prepare a Soil Atlas of the MediterraneanPrepare a Soil Atlas of the Mediterranean•• Establish a Mediterranean Soil MuseumEstablish a Mediterranean Soil Museum•• Organise soil survey summer schools, field assessments Organise soil survey summer schools, field assessments

of land degradation and practical applications of soil of land degradation and practical applications of soil conservation measuresconservation measures

Main activities

Thank you for your kind attentionThank you for your kind attention

www.iamb.it/5ICLD