Desire for Greener Land

Land recommendation
Land conservation – total area extent
Extent of the area under SLM measures in % of the area of each map
unit.
Effectiveness of conservation measures (weighted by area)
Effectiveness of SLM measures in reducing the degree of degradation
or preventing degradation, weighted against the extent for each map
unit: Effectiveness * Extent (%)/100.
Effectiveness trend of conservation measures (weighted
by area)
Historical trends in the effectiveness of conservation measures.
The increase or decrease in effectiveness was assessed over the past
10 years, weighted against the extent for each map unit: Effectiveness
trend * Extent (%)/100.
Expert recommendation
Expert recommendation concerning interventions on how to address
degradation:
A: Adaptation to the problem: the degradation is either too serious to
deal with and is accepted as a fact of life, or it is not worthwhile the
effort to invest in.
P: Prevention implies the use of conservation measures that maintain
natural resources and their environmental and productive function
on land that may be prone to further degradation, where some has
already occurred. The implication is that good land management
practice is already in place: it is effectively the antithesis of humaninduced
land degradation.
M: Mitigation: is intervention intended to reduce on-going degradation.
This comes in at a stage when degradation has already begun. The
main aim here is to halt further degradation and to start improving
resources and their functions. Mitigation impacts tend to be noticeable
in the short to medium term: this then provides a strong incentive
for further efforts. The word ‘mitigation’ is also sometimes used
to describe reducing the impacts of degradation.
R: Rehabilitation: is intervention when the land is already degraded
to such an extent that the original use is only possible with extreme
efforts as land has become practically unproductive. Here longerterm
and more costly investments are needed to show any impact.
References:
n WOCAT/LADA/DESIRE 2008. A Questionnaire for Mapping Land Degradation and Sustainable Land Management. Liniger H.P., van Lynden G.,
Nachtergaele F., Schwilch G. (eds), Centre for Development and Environment, Institute of Geography, University of Berne, Berne.
234 DESIRE – WOCAT Desire for Greener Land