FAO: Land Degradation on the Rise
July 4, 2008| |
Land degradation is increasing in severity and extent according to a new report released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UN Environment Programme and the World Soil Information (ISRIC). The report revealed that more than 20 percent of all cultivated areas, 30 percent of forests and 10 percent of grasslands are degrading. Some 22 percent of degrading land is in arid areas, while 78 percent of it is in humid regions.
Land degradation results to reduced productivity, migration, food insecurity, damage to basic resources and ecosystems, and loss of biodiversity through changes to habitats at both species and genetic levels. FAO estimated that 1.5 billion people, or about a quarter of the world's population, depend directly on land that is being degraded.
View the complete article at http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2008/1000874/index.html Download the complete report at http://lprlada.fao.org/lada/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=58&Itemid=157
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