Desertification

Learn about desertification and its causes. Desertification starts when soil does not receive enough precipitation or can no longer hold enough moisture to sustain plants. Other factors can contribute, such as wind and water erosion, loss of nutrients in the soil, and the spread of salts. Unchecked, the degradation can become irreversible. Although natural processes play a role, desertification is principally caused by human activity.

• When forests are cut and cleared, both the soil and the local climate dry out. In Haiti, 60 percent of the original forest has been cut down, resulting in eroded land and desertification.
• Excessive tillage, monocropping, fallow fields, and compaction dry out soils, causing the loss of soil carbon and triggering erosion. Here is a case study from Israel highlighting the loss of organic matter in the soil as a leading cause of desertification.
• Chemicals kill soil biology, damaging water cycles and plant vigor. In India, chemicals used in the Green Revolution hastened desertification.
• Denuding vegetation by overgrazing dries out the soil and makes it susceptible to wind and water erosion. Here is a case study from Cyprus that demonstrates how overgrazing by goats has caused severe land degradation.
• Hotter temperatures over longer spells reduce soil moisture, essential to plant health. This IPCC report explains the issue in detail.
• Excessive water withdrawals from aquifers can cause falling water tables, accelerating desertification. Poor water management on the surface can change hydrology patterns and cause soil erosion.
• Urban encroachment, new development, agricultural expansion, and removing forests by clear-cutting or conversion to another use, such as grazing, all contribute to desertification.
• Mining activities can degrade land, causing erosion, pollution, and damaged waterways. Here is a map and an explanation from the World Atlas of Desertification.
• Invasive and non-native plant and animal species can disrupt the ecological health of drylands.
• Plants are sensitive to soil, water, and air pollution, which can reduce their vigor and contribute to desertification.

Learn about the effects of desertification. Nearly 40 percent of the planet’s land is degraded. Every year, 24 billion tons of fertile soil are lost to erosion brought on by drought and desertification. In combination with the effects of climate change, desertification is increasing food insecurity. More than 60 percent of central Asia is vulnerable to desertification, as are significant parts of Africa. By 2030, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) calculates two-thirds of Africa’s productive soil will be lost if desertification continues. It’s also happening in southern Europe, western North America, and many other places. Effects include:

• Decrease in crop yields and forage. Desertification and climate change are causing reductions in crop and livestock productivity and modifying the composition of plant species across drylands. These reductions can contribute to poverty and hunger.
• Loss of aquifers. Most of the major aquifers in the world’s arid and semiarid zones are experiencing rapid depletion rates because of water use, mainly for agriculture.
• Endangerment and extinction of species. Desertification alters the habitats of local plants and animals, often making it impossible to sustain their populations. It can result in a species becoming endangered or extinct, especially if it is already ecologically stressed.
• Floods. The loss of plants and vegetative cover due to desertification can elevate the risk of flooding.
• Dust storms. Desertification can lead to more frequent dust storms. Particulate matter, pathogens, and allergens in dust are detrimental to human health. In the Sahara region, the Middle East, and East Asia, dust storms have been attributed to approximately 15–50 percent of all cardiopulmonary deaths.
• Inequality. Poor rural communities, smallholder farmers, Indigenous peoples, youth, and other at-risk groups are disproportionately affected by desertification. Women are impacted more than men by environmental degradation, particularly in drylands.
• Migration. The loss of livelihoods due to desertification will cause millions of people to migrate in search of food, water, shelter, and jobs.

Prevent desertification where you live. If you live in a dry place, there are activities you can implement, many based on Indigenous or traditional practices. Examples include:

• Permaculture principles and practices are especially well adapted for dry areas. Here is a guide to starting a permaculture garden at home. Water-management structures can be scaled to fit your property. Here is an example from Portugal.
• If you grow food, ethnobotanist Gary Nabhan’s Growing Food in a Hotter, Drier Land details many simple techniques to adapt to a changing climate where you live.
• Dryland water harvesting expert Brad Lancaster offers many ways to significantly reduce your water use at home.
• In Burkina Faso, the construction of stone bunds, known as diguettes, hold back rainwater and allow it to soak into the soil rather than run off.

Prevent desertification by supporting one or more regenerative solutions at regional levels. The scale and complexity of desertification make it a daunting challenge. Individuals can help by participating in one or more of the solutions found on these Nexus sites:

• Buy food and other items produced by regenerative agriculture (See Regenerative Agriculture Nexus). For example, here is a list of companies and organizations involved with the Regenerative Organic Alliance.
• Reduce meat consumption (See Plant Diversity Nexus). Growing and eating various foods, including wild-harvested ones, significantly benefit individuals, farmers, communities, cultures, and the planet.
• Recycle organic waste via compost or by transforming it into biochar (See Compost Nexus and Biochar Nexus). Both have been practiced for thousands of years by Indigenous and traditional communities and can improve the carbon content of the soil, especially in semiarid areas.
• Become involved in degraded land restoration where you live (See Degraded Land Restoration Nexus). Many conservation groups have ongoing restoration projects, such as the Katy Prairie Conservancy in Texas and the Borderlands Restoration Network in southern Arizona.
• Support the reintroduction of beavers in their native habitats (See Beavers Nexus). One of the few mammals on the planet that modifies its habitat, beavers can be employed to restore streams, wetlands, and floodplains and repair eroded ecosystems.
• Support Indigenous rights and the education of girls through organizations that promote access to free, safe, quality education for every girl (See Girls Education Nexus).
• Purchase or grow products made from sustainable bamboo and agroforestry (See Bamboo Nexus and Agroforestry Nexus). Organize your garden to grow like a forest, an idea first introduced by Robert Hart in his book Forest Gardening. In a traditional garden, plants, and trees are kept separate, but in a forest garden, they are combined to resemble nature.
• Mitigate your carbon footprint by using (See Onsets Nexus). Support projects or organizations that reduce greenhouse gases while advancing social and ecological health. Use a credible carbon trader such as the Gold Standard and ClimeCo.

Prevent desertification. Taking steps to prevent the spread of desertification on your land is more effective and less costly than attempting to restore damaged areas later, especially at larger scales. Many causes of desertification are linked to unsustainable land management (see list above) and can be corrected by adopting regenerative practices.

• Integrate crop, soil, and water management. There are many regenerative agricultural practices appropriate for drylands that prevent desertification by improving soil health and water infiltration and storage (see Regenerative Agriculture Nexus). Consider integrating them to reduce soil degradation and increase the resilience of agricultural systems.
• Protect soil from erosion. Protecting the vegetative cover from wind and water erosion helps to prevent desertification. Cover crops, agroforestry systems, and proper grazing management can help.
• Integrate animals into your operation. Integrating animals and crops where conditions are favorable allows for a more efficient cycling of nutrients within the agricultural systems (see Animal Integration Nexus).
• Plant and nurture trees. The roots of trees hold the soil together and reduce erosion from wind and rain. Canopy provides shade. Nurturing native trees from rootstocks or locally adapted seeds and planting only where ecologically appropriate is best (see  Agroforestry Nexus).
• Implement progressive grazing methods. Well-managed livestock can prevent desertification and restore damaged rangelands (see Grasslands Nexus).
• Use compost. Composted organic matter, including animal manure, can be used to fertilize both crops and rangelands, improving the quality of the soil, increasing water infiltration, and protecting the land from erosion (see Compost Nexus).
• Manage water sustainably. There are a wide variety of water storage structures, traditional and new technologies to manage water supplies in drylands that can fight desertification. Regenerative water management systems such as permaculture and keyline design work on larger scales. In Pakistan, Indigenous management techniques, known as karez, utilize tunnels that follow a natural gradient to deliver groundwater.
• Stabilize dunes. If you have dunes on your land, it is essential to implement practices that stabilize them against erosion, including tree planting and mechanical barriers.
• Diversify. Consider economic diversification strategies that increase the resilience of rural households against desertification and extreme weather events, such as greenhouse agriculture and tourism-related activities.

Implement restoration. Although restoration in areas that are undergoing desertification can be difficult and expensive, it has been shown to be effective and can have positive economic returns. Many restoration practices are the same ones that can help prevent desertification (see above).

• In Niger, West Africa, a farmer-led movement is restoring highly degraded land using an effective, low-cost woodland management technique that grows indigenous trees and shrubs from stumps, roots, and seeds. Called farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR), this agroforestry system had its origins in the severe famines that struck the region in the 1980s.
• Bamboo is an important tool for restoring degraded ecosystems. Its root systems can stabilize damaged land, protecting it from wind and water erosion (see Bamboo Nexus).
• In Burkina Faso, degraded land has been restored with thousands of small pits called zaï that are filled with manure and compost and crop seeds.
• Here are additional examples from Ethiopia and Jordan.
• The U.S. Geological Survey has tips for landowners who wish to do restoration in drylands.

Fill research gaps to both prevent desertification and help communities adapt to drier conditions. Further research is needed on interlinkages between desertification, land degradation, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes.

• According to the IPCC, data and knowledge about adaptation to the combined effects of climate change and desertification are insufficient. Potential limits to adaptation include losses of land productivity due to irreversible forms of desertification. Even when solutions are available, more research is needed on effective implementation.
• Develop local-level early-warning systems of drought and desertification. The use of remote-sensing technologies can provide reliable and timely information for aiding in the implementation of strategies that can reduce the impacts of desertification.

Support regenerative land use in every facet of your company. Land degradation in general and desertification in particular is bad for business. According to the World Economic Forum, by 2050, only 10 percent of land globally could be healthy, intact, and resilient. The result will be major disruptions in everything from access to basic resources, to food and beverages and construction materials. Look for opportunities to invest in regenerative land use in diverse environments. Examples include:

• Watershed protection and degraded land restoration, local food production, investment in regenerative supply chains and enterprises,  wildlife corridors, and Indigenous management. See Companies in Regenerative Agriculture Nexus, Degraded Land Restoration Nexus, Agroforestry Nexus, Silvopasture Nexus, Tropical Forests Nexus, Wetlands Nexus, Grasslands Nexus, Wildlife Corridors Nexus and Indigenous Rights Nexus.

Action Against Desertification by the FAO (4 mins.)

Fighting Desertification in Spain by FRANCE 24 English (6 mins.)

World Day to Combat Desertification 2019 by UNCCD (7 mins.)

How to Green the World's Deserts and Reverse Climate Change by Allan Savory / TED (22 mins.)

Land Degradation Neutrality: What It Matters, How It Is Done by UNCCD (15 mins.)

Desertification: The Invisible Frontline (UN)

Land Degradation Neutrality for Biodiversity Conservation (UN)

Global Land Outlook: 2nd ed. (UNCCD)

Desertification: A Special Report of the IPCC

Desertification: How Can We Save Two Billion People (24 mins.)

How a Great Green Wall Is Bringing Life Back to the Desert (33 mins.)