Problem Of Desertification Research Articles

Contribution of the Women’s Forestry Project to Rural Development in Shendi Area (Sudan)

The northern parts of Sudan experienced the desertification problem since the 1980s. The SOS Sahel initiated a women’s forestry programme (WFP) to support integrated rural development endeavors. The main objective of the study was to scrutinize the experience of the WFP through answering the following question: to what extent the project enhanced rural development endeavor in the area? The study was carried out in Shendi area in the River Nile state (Sudan). In addition to reviewing relevant secondary data, primary data was collected from village women using structured interviewing technique. As well, semi-structured interviews were carried out with village extension agents (VEAs), village leaders, and school teachers. Furthermore, focus group discussions were conducted with women in every village, with men in 4 villages, with WFP and FNC staff in Shendi and Elmatamma offices. The study demonstrated that women in rural areas have the potential to work in forestry and other rural development activities since their traditions were respected. The project opted for the Training of Trainers approach (TOT) as a mean to effective women participation. The character of the change brought about was mainly of psychological nature. However, social and to a lesser extent economic impacts were accredited.

Anti-desertification Legislation and Ecological Problems in Xinjiang China

Desertification (transformation of arable or habitable land to desert) is one of the serious environmental problems and has attracted worldwide attenntion. Apart from its threat on the living environment, desertification has also been an obstacle to social stability and global economy. China the oldest continuous major world civilization, a population of more than 1.3 billion and a territory of 9·6 million km 2 , is one of the most severely desertified countries in the world. Desertification is especially severe in Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region of China. However, the legislation,enforcement and jurisdiction of law in terms of anti-desertification in Xinjiang is seriously flawed, as a result of planned economy and are not consistent with the market economy. Aim of this study is to evaluate the desetification problem in Xinjiang, and analyze the problem of desertification from the perspective of law. This research starts with the investigation of desertification in Xinjiang with reference to legislation and enforcement of law in terms of desertification in other countries. Legislation analysis with regard to the anti-desertification legislation of Xinjiang are discussed. There is no clear delineation of responsibility between administrative and other departments in the current anti-desertification reginal law system in Xinjinag. Reginal legislation lacks systematic protection. The main body of resource management is not clearly defined and regulations concerning financal support are not reasonable. The anti-desertification in Xinjiang lack of support in terms of ecological protection.

The influence of soil, hydrology, vegetation and climate on desertification in El-Bayadh region (Algeria)

There has always been a link between water and desertification. Water, whether from rain or other sources, provides the ground moisture needed for the growth of vegetation cover. The availability of water resources directly affects the distribution of vegetation cover. Any damage to the vegetation cover is almost always accompanied by silting, which accelerates the desertification process. The phenomenon of desertification affects the arid and semi-arid areas of all continents. Its expansion is one of the major environmental problems of our times. According to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the term desertification signifies ‘‘land degradation resulting from various factors including climatic variations and human activities”. The problem of desertification, which is known as being the process of land degradation resulting principally from anthropogenic factors (plowing of steppe, overgrazing, land clearing, fires, deforestation (illegal logging), etc.) and leading to often irreversible repercussions, is a particular and urgent problem in the arid and semi-arid bioclimatic zones of the Tell Atlas. This work is part of the monitoring of desertification and of the impact of natural factors (soils, hydrology, vegetation and climate) in an area in the heart of south Oran’s high steppe plains, in the El Bayadh region of Algeria.

Preliminary study of GNSS meteorology techniques in Algeria

Northern Algeria has a Mediterranean type of climate with cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers, like several other countries in the world, and it is exposed to the problems of desertification. Along its coast, mean annual precipitation is 384 mm, so more than 75% of its territory has an annual precipitation below 384 mm. This is an issue of global scale affecting vast numbers of people and land area, and is now one of the most significant environmental problems in Algeria. Algeria is still not covered by the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) permanent stations network, despite its advantages as a novel technology for environmental development and strategy. The work presented here aims to show a preliminary study of GNSS meteorology techniques in Algeria. We propose a method to develop the available Algerian weighted mean temperature equation (AWMTE) for application in the region, by using the Algerian radiosonde network in the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The relationship between AWMTE and surface temperature was obtained using radiosonde observations for a period of 3 years (2005–2007). The weighted mean temperature estimated from the regressed formula is higher than that from the formula of Bevis, Businger, and Chiswell [1994. “GPS Meteorology: Mapping Zenith Wet Delays Onto Precipitable Water.” Journal of Applied Meteorology 33: 379–386]. The GNSS approach requires prior knowledge of the relationship between the weighted mean temperature of the atmosphere and surface temperature, where the regression relationship is derived based on the same period of climatological data observed by radiosonde and surface meteorological instruments. Similarly, the water vapour radio sound (WVR) scheme needs prior information on the relationship between sky brightness temperature and precipitable water (PW), whose regression relationship is characterized based on the same data set. It suggests that the regressed formula for estimation of the weighted mean temperature equation will be beneficial for the estimation of the GNSS precipitable water vapour (PWV). The water vapour content of the atmosphere plays an essential role in the water budget of the Earth. This study in Algeria was carried out in order to better understand climate variability by using radio sounding and space technology (GNSS) to enhance society's skills to plan and respond, to serve society's needs for weather, and to provide information on water and environment, taking into account the socio-economic hazards and the study of the hydrologic and socio-economic processes.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi native from a Mediterranean saline area enhance maize tolerance to salinity through improved ion homeostasis

Soil salinity restricts plant growth and productivity. Na(+) represents the major ion causing toxicity because it competes with K(+) for binding sites at the plasma membrane. Inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can alleviate salt stress in the host plant through several mechanisms. These may include ion selection during the fungal uptake of nutrients from the soil or during transfer to the host plant. AM benefits could be enhanced when native AMF isolates are used. Thus, we investigated whether native AMF isolated from an area with problems of salinity and desertification can help maize plants to overcome the negative effects of salinity stress better than non-AM plants or plants inoculated with non-native AMF. Results showed that plants inoculated with two out the three native AMF had the highest shoot dry biomass at all salinity levels. Plants inoculated with the three native AMF showed significant increase of K(+) and reduced Na(+) accumulation as compared to non-mycorrhizal plants, concomitantly with higher K(+) /Na(+) ratios in their tissues. For the first time, these effects have been correlated with regulation of ZmAKT2, ZmSOS1 and ZmSKOR genes expression in the roots of maize, contributing to K(+) and Na(+) homeostasis in plants colonized by native AMF.

鉄鋼スラグリサイクリングの技術発展と課題

Metallurgical slags are inevitably produced during the present smelting and refining processes as by-products. A lot of ironmaking and steelmaking slags are produced as a by-product of steel production because of the huge amount of its production, and thus the development of effective utilization methods has been the crucial issue in steelmaking industry. Ironmaking and steelmaking slags have been mainly used as a resource for various civil engineering works as a substitute material of natural stone or sand due to its physical and chemical properties so far. However, the growth of the potential demand of ironmaking and steelmaking slags cannot be expected in the future because of the maturation of domestic economic activities and the competition with by-products from various other industries. Therefore, further technical advancement must be conducted from the viewpoints of the decrease of slag generation by improving smelting and refining processes and utilizing the refining ability of slags more efficiently, and the development of new utilization methods. In the present paper, the current situation of ironmaking and steelmaking slags is reviewed and the recent progress of the researches related to slag is described, namely the improvement of the processes by utilizing heterogeneous slag such as solid-liquid or two liquid phases, so called “multi phase flux” as a refining agent, and the development of the utilization of steelmaking slag at coastal area as a rehabilitation material of sea desertification problem. Furthermore, effective methods of slag utilization are summarized and discussed.

Problems of desertification in the Tuva republic

In the history of the agricultural development of the territory of Tuva, a traditional 1000-year period of distant-pasture cattle breeding, the Soviet period, and modern periods can be distinguished. The main impact of the agrarian development of the territory of Tuva was the plowing of virgin lands in the 1960s–1970s. The second impact came more gradually, but with no less consequence for the nature of the steppes in connection with the development of animal husbandry. As a result, the landscapes of the steppes have suffered heavy environmental damage. Areas of steppes occupied by arable land were subject to the degradation of soil and wind erosion. Currently, against a background of the decline in agricultural production and the reduction of the total area of farmland (due to conservation of land), a reduction in the rate of land degradation has been observed in the Republic of Tuva.

Manufacturing Process Design of Multi-Scale Synthetic Leaves Based on Microcapillary Plastic Film

In order to develop the new environment-friendly synthetic leaves, the concept of synthetic leaves based on microcapillary plastic film (MCF) is proposed according to the existing MCF process. The manufacturing scheme of multi-scale synthetic leaves based on MCF is designed below: (1) development of new dynamic MCF extrusion technology, (2) manufacturing of synthetic leaves with controlled dynamic microcapillary and multi-scale microstructure using the supercritical fluid foaming and the excimer laser drilling technology, (3) functional bionic of the leaf transpiration. The feasibility of the above-mentioned scheme is proved with the carried-out experiments. The successful development of the MCF synthetic leaves will not only provide a new way to solve the desertification problem, but also to promote advancement of many fields such as micro-structure plastic processing, plant physiology ecology, bionics and micro fluidic system.

Solar Home System: A Feasible Solution to the Energy Crisis in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is on the verge of facing energy crisis. According to the article 16.1 of Bangladesh Constitution fifty five percent of Bangladesh's inhabitants live without electricity, and the grid expansion rate to connect rural areas is threatened by the looming capacity shortage. It has very limited nonrenewable energy resources of its own. It is facing energy crisisand serious desertification problem in rural areas. These issues could be removed if renewable energy is used as aprimary source of energy in rural areas. Bangladeshisendowedwithplentifulsupply ofrenewablesourcesofenergy. Renewable energy like solar, wind, hydro can help to make electricity accessible to the isolated rural people as well as for low power demand. Outofthevarious renewable sources,solar is the most suitable form for Bangladesh.The solar home systems are now profitably and increasingly used for meeting the needs of electricity in remote and difficult areas in developed countries as well as in many developing countries. Potentiality of SHSs to reduce the present energy crisis in Bangladesh has been discussed in this paper

The Value of the Miao People's Traditional Ecological Knowledge for a Solution to Rocky Desertification in Mashan

There are many branches of the Miao people in China, one of which is the Mashan Miao, who have been living in karst mountainous areas in southwest Guizhou Province. The Mashan Miao have adopted various measures for the conservation and effective utilization of the local ecological system and have made great achievements in this area. From the 1950s, their social environment has changed a lot due to political and economic movements. The rocky desertification in the Mashan area has gradually expanded. After the 1990s, relief work was carried out to address the desertification problem, but it was not very effective. We have been doing fieldwork in this area for more than 20 years and from our fieldwork records, we have found that the local Miao people have traditional ecological knowledge and skills that are of irreplaceable valuable for finding a solution for rocky desertification. Using the Miao knowledge we think a feasible way to control this disaster can be found.

Geoelectrical Surveys for Characterization of the Coastal Saltwater Intrusion in Metapontum Forest Reserve (Southern Italy)

A geoelectrical survey was carried out in the Metapontum Forest Reserve located along the Ionian coast of the Basilicata region (Southern Italy). In this work we used the method of two-dimensional electrical resistivity tomography for obtaining high-resolution electrical images in the investigated site. In particular, three electrical resistivity tomography, all orthogonal to the coastline, in the investigated area were carried out. To complete and integrate the geophysical data, soil and groundwater samplings, seventeen and five, respectively, were analyzed using chemical physical techniques. Geoelectrical survey, supported by laboratory analysis of soil and water samples have revealed the presence of a process of saltwater in coastal Forest Reserve of Metapontum, which have caused the decline of the existing pine forest with the consequent erosion and desertification problems. The results have disclosed the way to identify and discriminate large areas affected by intensive soil salinization and high resolution electrical images of the subsurface electrical resistivity plays a key role in delineating the saltwater intrusion front in coastal areas. Furthermore, our integrated study represents a contribution to the future programs for the protection, planning, and management of the terrestrial and marine resources in this coastal area.

Development of Nutritious Ice Creams from Soy Milk and Pumpkin Seeds Milk and Evaluation of their Acceptability and Nourishing Potential

Today humanity is facing a daunting challenge. The natural resources, both on land and water, are increasingly in demand to cater to the human needs and expectations. In order to feed the burgeoning population of India and to attain food security, the mission oriented efforts for increasing food productivity and its sustainability through advanced agro and biotechnological means are to be ventured. However, problems of climate change, biodiversity, desertification, water depletion, pollutants and toxicants, etc are being manifested, which in turn are becoming unfriendly to plant, animal and human health. There is an urgent need for developing methods to alleviate the environmental disorders in order to boost crop productivity. Soil health is defined as the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living system, by recognising that it contains biological elements that are key to the ecosystem function within land use boundaries. Food security is defined as the state when people have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Future global environment change such as increased climate variability, land degradation and loss of biodiversity, in the context of social, political and economic changes, may bring unprecedented stress on the food production system and food security. Soil health management, however, can play a significant role in climate change mitigation and adaptation to reduce the vulnerability of Indian agriculture. Although worldwide there are clearly enormous number of people to feed, the high yields associated with mono cropping are not worth the long-term environmental and health costs of using fossil fuels and degradation of soil with chemical inputs. Integrated nutrient management, organic farming, biofertilisers, bioremediation, biocontrol and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria are important means for optimising crop production on both short term and long term basis to achieve sustainable production without deterioration of the environment and at the same time maintain the soil fertility.

Shadows of Development In the New Poetry of the Niger Delta

Sprawling southern extremity of Nigeria in west coast of Africa is a mass of wetlands lacerated by tortuous rivers and creeks. It is Delta. With an area of about 70,000 square kilometres, it boasts the 3rd largest contiguous mangrove forest in world (http://mangroveactionproject.org/). As far back as in 2003, Development Commission (NDDC) had estimated that region was home to about 20 million people representing 40 different ethnic groups speaking about 250 languages and dialects covering more than 5,000 communities (The Journey so Far 18).Until 2000, when Nigeria's President at time, Olusegun Obasanjo, created Development Commission as a development intervention instrument for impoverished region, Niger Delta was essentially a geographical label for delta of River with its other major and minor tributaries that empty into Atlantic Ocean. With creation of that Commission, term began to designate not merely cartographical delta communities of Rivers, Bayelsa, and States but also became a regional nomenclature for all coastal and southern Nigeria states where crude was being produced. The six others were: three coastal states of Edo, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River, and other three in family of nine oil producing states: Abia, Imo, and Ondo States.This nomenclatorial intervention of economic politics into geography has lately beckoned a critical distinction between cartographical that is naturally defined by River and its tributaries, and politicoeconomic that is contiguous with nine oil producing states, as defined by government of Nigeria.The delta is an endowed region, accounting for over 90% of Nigeria's foreign earnings from and gas, and about 60% of federally distributed revenue. It is also credited by NDDC with reserves of about 30 million barrels, and gas reserves of about 160 trillion cubit feet (The Journey so Far 18). The Commission, however, laments that despite its rich resources, [the Delta] has one of most crushing poverty levels in world (18). In fact, in his Foreword to same publication while he was Chairman of Commission, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu remarks:Since 1950's, petroleum operations have caused great devastations to Delta. These have impacted negatively on fishing and farming which are no longer productive enough to feed area. In Ogoni land for instance, food is now imported in an area once known as food basket of Delta.Although all major explorations and production companies are located in region, it is still least developed area of Nigeria (11).The Chairman goes on to list some of government intervention programmes since colonial times, which have little impact in development landscape of region: Henry Williams Commission (1958), Development Board (1960), River Basin Development Board Authority, Presidential Task Force, Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Authority (OMPADEC) (11), all of which became institutional carcasses that littered path to regional development. Encarta adds that even Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) set up to address problems of desertification, pollution, and land degradation had had only a minor impact. Dorina Bekoe blames this partly on topography of region that made it relatively inaccessible, and on long period of military rule in Nigeria. Prof. G.G. Darah also cites palliative efforts of Henry Willink's Development Board (NDDB) (1960), which blamed its failures on difficult and hazardous terrain, for which has suffered neglect for centuries (http://www.nigerianbestforum.com/ generaltopics/?p=9594).To differing degrees of creative competence, this denial of development to a region whose resources have been used to develop other parts of nation, has constituted enticing and compelling theme. …

Assessing Desertification with Soil Indicators in Agro-Pastoral Transition Zone of Northern Shaanxi

Desertification assessment is an instrumental component in developing global regional actions plans which aim at preventing and remedying desertification, a global and regional environmental problem. This research integrated selected soil parameters (physical properties, chemical properties) with plant canopy and used principal components analysis (PCA) and regression analysis to assess the severity of desertification risk. The northern part of Shaanxi province in China was taken as a case study and soils carrying different plant canopy were sampled in the 0-20 cm layer. Two soil indicators were selected from 17 basic soil physicochemical indexes. They were 0.25-0.05 mm soil sand content and soil organic matter content. An evaluation system was established by using these indicators, to assess the desertification extent by the content of 0.25-0.05 mm sand and soil organic matter at the 0-20 cm layer. The system developed may be used to assess the desertification process and distinguish the areas sensitive to desertification in the study region and in regions with similar characteristics.

Drought and desertification management in arid and semi-arid zones of Northern Nigeria

Purpose – This paper seeks to review the state of desertification in Nigeria, historical trends and past national efforts as well as ongoing programs for combating the fast-spreading desert conditions in the arid zones of the country. Design/methodology/approach – The approach has been carried out through a comprehensive review analysis and detailed assessment on several methods of approach which includes archival materials as well as published government documents, field observation and learned background information of the working and funding dynamics of the program to combat desertification. Findings – The findings of this paper reveal that the failure of the past government effort in combating desertification in Nigeria is a result of the policies and the programs not having been designed to adequately tackle the problem of drought and desertification and of the phenomena being treated as sectoral issues rather than an integrated whole. Practical implications – This paper has practical implication for anyone interested in sustainable management of drought and desertification in the arid and semi arid zones of the world. Originality/value – The paper has articulated success and failure of the government programs in combating the twin environmental problems of drought and desertification in Nigeria and also shows that government could significantly combat desertification through sustainable management of its projects/programs if adequate resources are employed.

Famine: A Short History

Famine: A Short History

Scientific concepts for an integrated analysis of desertification

AbstractThe Global Drylands Observing System proposed in this issue should reduce the huge uncertainty about the extent of desertification and the rate at which it is changing, and provide valuable information to scientists, planners and policy‐makers. However, it needs careful design if information outputs are to be scientifically credible and salient to the needs of people living in dry areas. Its design would benefit from a robust, integrated scientific framework like the Dryland Development Paradigm to guide/inform the development of an integrated global monitoring and assessment programme (both directly and indirectly via the use of modelling). Various types of dryland system models (e.g. environmental, socioeconomic, land‐use cover change, and agent‐based) could provide insights into how to combine the plethora of monitoring information gathered on key socioeconomic and biophysical indicators to develop integrated assessment models. This paper shows how insights from models can help in selecting and integrating indicators, interpreting synthetic trends, incorporating cross‐scalar processes, representing spatio‐temporal variation, and evaluating uncertainty. Planners could use this integrated global monitoring and assessment programme to help implement effective policies to address the global problem of desertification. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Evaluation of Changes in SO2 Emissions and Economic Indicators Following the Reclamation of Alkali Soil in China Using By-Products of Flue Gas Desulfurization

With the aim of alleviating the problems of air pollution, soil desertification, and food shortages in China, we have studied the impact of reclamation of alkali soil using the by-products of flue gas desulfurization (FGD). We have developed an evaluation model for assessing the complete economic and environmental impact of the introduction of environmental improvement technologies. The model consists of an economic model based on an input–output table for China and a soil reclamation model. In the context of the introduction of FGD equipment, we are able to calculate the associated changes in economic variables such as real GDP, average wage, labor supply, domestic electricity price, real investment other than for desulfurization equipment, investment in construction, SO2 emissions in provinces and cities, area of reclaimed alkali soil, and corn and rice production. We simulated the introduction of the wet limestone–gypsum process and/or the integrated desulfurization and water-film dust collection process. The results confirm a reduction in SO2 emissions and increases in GDP, domestic electricity price, and agricultural production following soil reclamation via the application of desulfurization by-products. In summary, our results confirm the effectiveness of these desulfurization technologies in terms of improving the economy and environment in China.

Dynamics and Numerical Modeling of Sandy Desert Morphology Caused by Aeolian Transport of Sand Particles

Wind caused the much sediment fluxes leading to both erosion and deposits in the sandy desertification area, and the much kind of beautiful sandy desert morphologies are formed. This is really crucial to the development of the dynamic behaviour of aeolian transport of sand particles. The sand desert morphologies are representing significant information archives for understanding the desertification problem. Dynamics and numerical modeling provides an essential tool for studying the aeolian transport of sand particle and morphology of sand desert such as ripple and dune. In this study, the mathematical models based on the dynamics are analyzed by considering the several keys as saltation, creep, suspension, avalanche and its threshold condition etc. for sand morphology forming processes. Then due to sand flow field real characteristics, the establishing process of stream flow field are analyzed, and the implication relationships as well as the coupling process between uniform stream flow field and the sand flow field are analyzed. Finally, the sand flow field models is discretized, and different kinds of sandy desert morphology are simulated by considering the sand particle size and mass in fixed, semi-fixed and free sand flow field area.

Strategies for the control of desertification in northern Nigeria

The Northern part of Nigeria especially the frontline states comprising of Bauchi/ Gombe, Borno, Yobe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto/Zamfara and Kebbi which lie roughly North of latitude 120N face serious threats of desertification occasioned by over exposure of the fragile environment mostly through improper farming techniques, overgrazing by livestock and occurrence of frequent fires and drought. This ugly trend is further exacerbated by increase in the rate of fuel wood extraction especially by communities near to forest reserves due to high costs of alternative sources of domestic energy such as kerosene, gas and electricity. The need to maintain soils with stable structural aggregates which could contain more organic matter is crucial in combating desertification; hence choice of tree species to be used for shelter belt establishment is very important. Litters that drop from most leguminous trees decay and add more organic matter to the soil. Poor extension approaches and lack of adequate community participation in and adoption of tree planting technology and government’s role in formulating and executing forest policies are some of the reasons why it has been difficult to control desertification in Northern Nigeria. Different extension approaches such as Training and Visit (T&V), Training and Demonstration (T&D), mass mobilization of people, use of electronic and print media can be incorporated into various agroforestry practices such as the scattered farm trees, silvi-pastoral and agro-silvi-pastoral systems, and shelterbelt establishment in order to help alleviate the problems of desertification in Northern Nigeria. Post planting maintenance of trees should be taught and encouraged among communities where trees have been planted. Government and some non-governmental agencies have proffered various suggestions aimed at stemming the menace of desertification but these are yet to yield results.