LAND DEGRADATION

What is Land?
 basis for agriculture and other rural and urban land uses, encompassing soils, climate, vegetation,
topography and other natural resources
 “a delineable area of the earth’s terrestrial surface, encompassing all attributes of the biosphere immediately
above or below this surface including those of the near-surface climate, the soil and terrain forms, the
surface hydrology (including shallow lakes, rivers, marshes and swamps), the near-surface sedimentary
layers and associated groundwater reserve, the plant and animal populations, the human settlement pattern
and physical results of past and present human activities”

Land degradation
 degradation or destruction of the Earth’s surface and soil, directly or indirectly as a result of human activities

TYPES OF LAND DEGRADATION

1. DEFORESTATION
- biggest threat to forests worldwide
- occurs when forests are converted to non-forest uses, such as agriculture and road construction
- Forest degradation occurs when forest ecosystems lose their capacity to provide important goods and services
to people and nature.

Causes

Deforestation causes can either be direct or indirect.

 Direct causes are:

o Natural causes as hurricanes, fires, parasites and floods
o Human activities as agricultural expansion, cattle breeding, timber extraction, mining, oil extraction, dam
construction and infrastructure development.

 Indirect causes are:

o Insufficient political actions and governance failure as inadequate land tenure system, corruption, wrong
public administration investments
o Political and socio-economic causes as population growth, military conflicts and climatic changes

 The main causes of deforestation can actually be lead back especially to:
o substitution of forest areas with cultivations and breeding
o timber extraction
o firewood collection
o road and infrastructure construction

Dealing with deforestation

 Forest landscape restoration (FLR)

o FLR brings people together to identify and implement the most appropriate restoration interventions in a landscape
o seeks to accommodate the needs of all land users and multiple land uses
o can include multiple activities like agroforestry, erosion control and natural forest regeneration
o addresses the underlying drivers of forest loss
 The Power of the Marketplace
o companies can make an impact by introducing and implementing “zero deforestation” policies that clean up their
supply chains
o set ambitious targets to maximize the use of recycled wood, pulp, paper and fiber in their products
o for the non-recycled products that they buy, they should ensure that any virgin fiber used has transparent, credible
assurances that it was sourced in a legal way that respects principles of environmental and social responsibility
 Standing with Indigenous Peoples
 Promoting Sustainable Choices
 Changing the Politics
o NIPAS LAW (REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7586 (The NIPAS Act of 1992))
- The National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 1992 (Republic Act No. 7586, NIPAS Act)
- “to secure for the Filipino people of present and future generations the perpetual existence of all native
plants and animals through the establishment of a comprehensive system of integrated protected areas
within the classification of national park as provided for in the Constitution” (Section 2, NIPAS Act)

- provides the legal framework for the establishment and management of protected areas (PAs) in the
Philippines, and that the use and enjoyment of these protected areas must be consistent with the principles
of biological diversity and sustainable development
2. DESERTIFICATION
 A form of land degradation
 Loss of soil moisture to the point where the land loses some
or all of its productivity or ability to produce vegetation
 Occurs primarily in areas with arid climate
 Does NOT literally mean “conversion of land to desert”, only
in some extreme cases

Causes
 Natural:
o severe and prolonged drought
 Human activities:
o farming
o deforestation
o mining
o urbanization
o overgrazing by livestock
- occurs when too many animals graze for too
long, exceeding the ability of a grassland
area to support them
- compacts the soil which decreases its ability
to hold and absorb rainwater
Note: graze lands are renewable, as long as they
Conceptual pathway of rangeland desertification
are not overused. Overgrazed lands have exposed
soil and grasses that were eaten down to its soil
level.

Consequences
 lower farming sustainability
 possible hunger in the future
 flooding
 overpopulation due to migration to more sustainable areas

Dealing with desertification

 find sustainable ways to get the benefits of various human
activity
 cutting emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases
 reducing deforestation
 rotational grazing - managing the number of grazing animals
in a particular area and amount of time they are allowed to
graze
Overgrazed grassland

3. OTHER TYPES OF LAND DEGRADATION

A. SOIL EROSION
- movement of soil components (especially surface litter and
topsoil) from one place to another
- by wind or water
- occurs naturally but usually, soil in undisturbed ecosystems
is not lost faster than it forms
- if soil is bared, it is washed or blown away faster than its
formation
- forms gullies (caused by severe water flow)

Consequences
 Can limit food production due to loss of soil fertility
 May result to the pollution of surface waters

Dealing with soil erosion

 Soil Conservation – methods of reducing and
restoring: terracing, contour planting, strip cropping
 Wind Breaks
Gullies
 Conservation Tillage
 Crop Rotation
 Retire cropland and allow it to be reclaimed by ecological succession
 Terracing Conservation tillage

B. SOIL SALINIZATION and WATERLOGGING

Soil salinization
- irrigating crops over several seasons causes
the accumulation of salts in its upper layers
- irrigation water contains various dissolved salts
picked up as water flows over or through rock
and soil

Waterlogging
- starts by attempting to wash the salts out of the
topsoil by pumping more water
- accumulation of saline water underground,
gradually saturating the soil
- will result to the damage and killing of plants as
saline water surrounds its deep roots

Consequences
 Damage plant growth and yield
 Plant dehydration due to osmosis
 Reduction in plant reproduction due to
interference of nitrogen uptake and growth

Reducing soil salinization and water logging

 use less water in irrigation: pump water in
unlined ditches or spray it across large areas of
the fields; use of sprinklers; drip irrigation
 control of shallow water table with irrigation
management
 installation of drainage systems

C. MINING
- obtaining products such as metals
- disturbs land, erode topsoil, pollutes air, water
and soil

Surface mining
- land is stripped of its vegetation and soil
- is more destructive
- results to scarring and disruption of land surface
by open-pit mining and area-strip mining
- result to severe soil erosion

Subsurface mining Sprinkler system

- digging shafts and tunnels

Mountaintop removal
- for coal mining
Surface Mining
- huge volumes of waste rock and dirt are
dumped in the valleys below the mountain top
- destroys whole forests and streams
 Consequences
 Loss of biodiversity
 Soil erosion
 Contamination of surface water, groundwater
and soil
 May trigger sinkhole formation

Dealing with mining

 Reduction of input like water and land: diverting
surface water and pumping ground water
 Reduction of output: correct waste disposal, re-
use water in mining sites
 Improve manufacturing process
 Close and reclaim shut-down mines
 Environmental replenishing through native soil
and grass replenishing, cleaning excess waste,
proper waste removal, site inspection, replanting Subsurface Mining
trees and natural forestry

D. URBAN SPRAWL
- Rapid expansion of a city into the country side
around the city
- Growth results in the building of housing or
suburbs and associated commercial buildings on
the boundary of a larger town
- Many of these suburbs are usually built on lands
previously used for food production

Consequences
 Increased energy use
 Pollution
 decline in community cohesiveness and
distinctiveness
 may lead to destruction of wildlife habitat
 fragmentation of remaining natural resources
Urban Sprawl – Metro Manila, Philippines
Dealing with urban sprawl
 smart growth communities or “new urbanism” – management strategy to direct urban growth
 Transit villages – residential and commercial areas built around and served by mass transit networks
 Ecovillages and conservation developments – residents participate in carpool and ride-share programs; with
politically involved residents who cooperate with one another to maintain ecological sustainability

REFERENCES
1. What is a Land? Retrieve from http://www.fao.org/land-water/land/en/
2. Land pollution. Retrieve from https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-effects-solutions-of-land-pollution.php
3. Deforestation and Forest degradation. Retrieve from https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/deforestation-and-forest-degradation
4. Causes of deforestation. Retrieve from http://www.eniscuola.net/en/argomento/rain-forest/deforestation/the-causes-of-deforestation/
5. How to mitigate Deforestation. Retrieve from https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/forests/solutions-to-deforestation/
6. NIPAS LAW. Retrieve from https://www.insidefilipinoeden.com/ra7586
NIPAS LAW. https://www.lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra1992/ra_7586_1992.html
7. Soil erosion. Retrieve from http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/engineer/facts/12-053.htm
8. Soil erosion conservation measures. Env 122-2013, BSB
9. Other form of Land degradation. Env 122-2013, BSB
10. Arms, K. 2008. Environmental Science. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc.