Desertification Maps of Falcon State, Venezuela

Abstract

Maps are presented of the desertification status and degree of hazard in Falcon State, Venezuela, comprising 24,750 sq. km of land, and the criteria employed for their compilation are described.The information used for the compilation of the maps was obtained from the results of a regional survey recently conducted by the Authors. Degree of slope, landform, and soil texture, were employed to assess the physical fragility of the different landscapes, which were expressed as classes of inherent vulnerability. The classes of desertification hazard were obtained from the combination of degrees of plant cover and of inherent vulnerability.The results show that more than 42% of the area of Falcon State has already undergone deterioration, and that 41% is under severe or very severe desertification hazard. The subhumid climatic zone is more critical than the semiarid, both because of inherent vulnerability and of its human occupation pattern.The aim of the present paper is to get Falcon State incorporated in the world inventory of land under desertification hazard, and to call public and governmental attention to the seriousness and extent of the desertification threat—in Venezuela and also in other countries that face similar problems, whether or not they realize their danger.