Approbation of various approaches to environmental and economic assessment of soil and land degradation

Abstract

The paper reveals three different approaches to measuring the depth of soil degradation and possible efficiency of its improvement on agricultural lands of two Russian regions. The methods include the evaluation of land productivity and land degradation, then the assessment of the amount of damage to the soil caused by current agricultural practices, and finally the assessment of the cost of inaction compared to the cost of action towards degraded soils using the economics of land degradation framework (ELD). Finding the connection among these methods for establishing an integrative approach is a key goal of this research. First, the main land productivity changes during 2001–2015 period was analyzed and the land degradation neutrality (LDN) indicator was estimated. Secondly, the physical soil degradation was measured, particularly soil erosion, soil nutrients balance, and changes in acidity and salinity of the soils. Finally, the ratio of the cost of inaction compared to the cost of action against land degradation was evaluated. The paper reveals all three methods on the examples of Volgograd oblast’ and Belgorod oblast’. These estimates using the economics of land degradation framework showed that only in the Belgorod region the cost of action against land degradation is economically efficient on a 20-year horizon.