Therefore, land degradation in morocco is commonly referred to as desertification. Morocco spans an area of 710,850 km 2 274,460 sq mi and has a population of over 36 million. About 93 per cent of the land was found arid and 7 per cent subhumid and humid. Land degradation as the land use section earlier in this chapter shows, demands on the land for economic development and pressures from a burgeoning population are leading to unprecedented land use change. In the rif chain northern morocco, several local studies have been applied to evaluate and quantify the erosion risk, especially in the western and central rif 14. In this report, land degradation is defined as a negative trend 4 in land condition, caused by direct or indirect humaninduced processes including anthropogenic. The total annual soil loss is evaluated to 100 millions tons. Causes and impacts of land degradation and desertification. Estimating the cost of land degradation in morocco fao conducted a case study in morocco based on data from 2006 to estimate the cost of land degradation. Resource recovery from wastewater facilities in the form of energy, reusable water, biosolids, and other resources, such as nutrients, represents an economic and financial benefit that contributes to the sustainability of water supply and sanitation systems and the water utilities operating them.
In morocco, soil erosion is a result of several factors. History, nature, causes, consequences, and solutions conacher, arthur encyclopedia of life support systems eolss the early initiation and growth of urban civilizations in mesopotamia in the later part of. Morocco nationally determined contribution to the unfccc 3 development process in developing its ndc, morocco undertook a broad, twoyear stakeholder consultation process. Supporting the implementation of the unccd 2018ff2030 strategic framewor3 recent research and debates on land degradation. Deforestation is the conversion of forest to nonforest land and can result in land degradation. Regional assessment of soil changes in the near east and north. The following is a list of the most cited articles based on citations published in the last three years, according to crossref. Oct 07, 2012 desertification is defined as land degradation in arid, semiarid, and subhumid areas due to human activities. Global trends and effects of land degradation and improvement. Characterization of land degradation in relationship to agriculture. Different processes of land degradation also confound the available statistics on soil andor land degradation. Land degradation is a process in which the value of the physical environment is affected by a. For the assessment of land degradation, a number of projects were initiated in the last century e. The scientific conceptual framework for land degradation neutrality ldn, developed by the unccd, provides a scientific foundation for understanding, implementing and monitoring ldn.
Land degradation, low yield, rain scarcity and low grasses cover were among the impacts of desertification. Environmental constraints water stress, land degradation, overly strong energy dependence, vulnerability to climate change, various types of pollution and the limitation of economic growth and social development policies to create jobs and. Manual for local level assessment of land degradation and sustainable. Total costs for land degradation in morocco swimh2020. The result is a loss of land productivity with impacts on livelihoods and the. The soil integrates a variety of important processes involving vegetation growth, overland flow of water, infiltration, land use and land management. This is a major constraint limiting the agricultural arable land in morocco. Apr 30, 2020 the following is a list of the most cited articles based on citations published in the last three years, according to crossref. These countries already have some elements in place on how to respond to drought. Economics of land degradation in subsaharan africa. We use a case study of degradation in the argania woodlands in semiarid to arid southwest morocco to test these two claims. Soil degradation is, in itself, an indicator of land degradation. In turn, unsustainable land use is driving land degradation.
Estimation of soil erosion risk using the universal soil loss. In morocco, 93 percent of the land is arid, and 7 percent is sub humid and humid fao 2004. Combating rangeland degradation and desertification requires an accurate assessment of the current status of land. Estimating the cost of land degradation in morocco a case study was undertaken to estimate the cost of land degradation in morocco, based on 2006 data.
Request pdf land degradation and desertification in semiarid rangelands in the middle atlas, morocco semiarid mediterranean regions are highly susceptible to desertification. Land degradation is often linked to sustainability in terms of keeping its productivity. Another common definition of land degradation is loss of quality of the land. Subsaharan africa ssa has experienced the most severe land degradation in the world. Land degradation is a humaninduced or natural process which negatively affects the land to function effectively within an ecosystem. Soil erosion is the most important soil degradation process in morocco. Socioeconomic transformations and oasis agriculture in. In addition to climate change, land degradation threatens the recharge of. The soils of the maghreb region morocco, tunisia, libya and algeria fall into three. This paper provides a methodology to estimate the coed and the results of its application in morocco. Secondly, we argue that the analysis of degradation processes in these multifunctional land scapes should integrate both local and remote, and both social and biophysical factors. Lelia croitoru, maria sarraf, fadhel ghariani, mohamed salah matoussi, and hamed dalyhassen. Aware of these problems, the government of morocco requested the world bank to conduct a comprehensive study that estimates in monetary terms the coed at the national level.
A survey performed in different regions of the country showed that about 2 millions ha. The framework can help countries achieve land degradation neutrality. The approach to considering soil or land degradation has recently incorporated land function as opposed to earlier approaches that considered primarily soil properties such as soil organic matter or carbon content, structural condition, degree of salinization, compaction or bulk density, or degree of erosion. It is intended as a reflection on the baseline causes for land degradation, so. Impact of land use and vegetation cover on risks of erosion.
Desertification assessment using medalus model in watershed. Land degradation and desertification ldd is the term commonly used in official e. Waterrelated problems and air pollution are the most pressing challenges, followed by agricultural land degradation. Given that livelihoods of the majority of the rural poor heavily depend on natural resources, countries in the region have designed a number of policies and strategies to address land degradation and to enhance productivity. In 2010, food production had increased by 27 percent over the average in 20042006, but morocco is a hard country to farm, and in 2009 arable land land under temporary crops, and land under market or kitchen gardens made up only 18 percent of the total land area, and only 4. According to figures released on the occasion of the celebration, on june 17, of the world day to combat desertification, the total cost of land degradation in morocco amounts to around usd 1bn, that is 1. Effectiveness of soil conservation strategies on erosion in morocco. The condition of the soil is one of the best indicators of land degradation. Directions for geographical research in land management and sustainable development in rural and. Land, degradation, morocco, intervention, erosion rate, agricultural policies.
A barrier to sustainable development hectares of land are lost each year to degradation processes 12 million hectares per minute. In morocco, reducing soil erosion and land degradation is a national priority for improving soil quality and protecting. Based on these findings, a new action framework for scaling is presented that analyses the contexts where specific slm interventions can be scaled, so that slm options can be screened and adapted to these contexts, piloted and disseminated. The specific objectives of the study were to examine farmers perceptions, particularly their understanding and interpretation of factors and indicators which they link to soil erosion and fertility decline, the level of degradation of crop and pastureland, and the institutional capacity to implement soil conservation and fertility measures. A framework for scaling sustainable land management options. Land degradation is a large issue for morocco, and many other countries located within the sahara, as overgrazing of livestock and destruction of vegetation has eroded the soil. The capital is rabat and the largest city is casablanca. Significant sources of water of morocco include the moulouya river, whose source is located in the atlas mountains, and flows into the mediterranean sea.
The high atlas is the highest mountain range in morocco. It is manifested by the partial or total loss of agricultural and grazing land. Figure 7 relation between land degradation and poverty national and local land degradation studies. The cost of environmental degradation in the middle east and north africa4 notes8 references9. Desertification is defined as land degradation in arid, semiarid, and subhumid areas due to human activities. As sustainability and productivity are not easy to define, degradation of land can better be described in terms of non. In view of the current transformation of collective grazing fields into cultivated land, problems with loss of rainfall in surface runoff and soil erosion. Water erosion affects soil quality by facilitating land degradation by loss organic matterrich top soil, leading to the loss of soil productivity and land degradation. Monitoring degradation in arid and semiarid forests and. Based on the reports, regional training programs were conducted in egypt december 2002, lebanon august 2003 and morocco january 2004 with participants from the ministries of environment, sector ministries, research. Desertification has been defined as land degradation in arid, semiarid, and dry subhumid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities11. The green economy in morocco united nations economic. Groundwater resources in morocco are expected to shrink in the next decades due to an increasing.
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