Desertification, Land Degradation and Sustainability (PDF)

Desertification offers a comprehensive overview of the subject and
clearly emphasizes the link between local and global
desertification processes and how past and current policy has
affected arid environments and their populations.

This text adequately applies the research undertaken during the
last 15 years on the topic. Desertification has become increasingly
politicized and there is a need to present and explain the facts
from a global perspective. This book tackles the issues surrounding
desertification in a number of ways from differing scales (local to
global), processes (physical to human), the relationship of
desertification to current global development and management
responses at different scales. Desertification has been
mainstreamed and integrated into other areas of concern and has
consequently been ignored as a cross cutting issue. The book
redresses this balance.

Making use of much original data and information that has been
undertaken by many scientists andpractitioners during the last
decade in different parts of the world, Desertification, Land
Degradation and Sustainability is organised according to the
principles of adaptive management and hierarchy theory and clearly
explains desertification within a framework of evolving and
interacting physical and socio-economic systems. In addition to
research data the book also draws from the National Action Plans of
different countries, the IPCC Fourth Assessment on Climate Change
and the Millennium assessments.

Clearly structured throughout, the content of the book is
organised at different scales; local, regional and global. It also
specifically explains processes linking top-down and bottom- up
interactions and has a strong human component. The historical,
cultural and physical context is also stressed.

Clearly organised into the following distinct sections:

a) Concepts and processes

b) Data

c) Impacts

d) Responses

e) Case studies.

This text is essential for anyone studying desertification as
part of an earth and environmental science degree.