Review of the 1977?87 decade of action to combat desertification

Abstract

Desertification has been a concern of the Committee on Arid Lands (COAL) as a subset of its wide ranging interest in problems of arid and semi-arid lands, resources, management, and human occupation. Deserti fication problems are basic in arid lands and their control can lead to ef fective land management. Actions to combat the effects of desertification have been included in the agenda of the Committee on Arid Lands since its inception in 1974. COAL has published many symposia not only at American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meetings, but also at regional meetings convened for the purpose of examining arid land problems. Three years ago the Committee on Arid Lands sponsored a symposium, entitled "Whatever Happened to Desertification?" The re sponse at that time by the selected speakers was that processes of desertifi cation were often activated by unwise management processes. However, concurrent research and improved land management practices are actively at work to control desertification and mitigate adverse land use. The key note speaker was the president of New Mexico State University, Dr. Gerald Thomas who at one time was President of the Society for Range Management. The sense of his presentation was that things are improving in the arid and semi-arid lands of the United States.