Desire for Greener Land

to Russia and China (see Table 1). All located in semi-arid
environments, the sites vary in size from less than 100 km² to
several thousand km² and, most importantly, at the time of
selection, were each affected by one or more desertificationrelated
problems, including erosion (caused by wind and
water), salinisation, vegetation degradation and wild fire.
ii Identify system boundaries and stakeholders’ priorities
When the study sites have been selected, it is time to identify
the key land use systems that are in place within and around
these sites, as well as identifying the key players within those
systems. Many of these key players, or stakeholders, will
have conflicting views about land management solutions. It
is valuable to be aware of any existing or potential conflicts
during the planning phase of a project.
Within DESIRE, an inventory of relevant stakeholders in each
of the study sites was achieved through a stakeholder mapping
exercise. This process involves assessing the “stakes” of
relevant groups and individuals and it led to the identification
of a variety of key stakeholders for the DESIRE project,
including Natural Resource Management (NRM) Institutions,
land users, NGOs and policy makers. The variety of stakeholders
involved with the DESIRE project is discussed further
in the final section of this chapter.
iii Describe socio-cultural, economic, technological,
political and environmental context, including drivers
of change
To ensure a good understanding of the study site context,
drivers and barriers as well as opportunities need to be
assessed for each location. The strength of many applied
land management practices is that they are well established,
traditional systems that have proved to work under the prevailing
conditions. However, in a world where change is the
only constant, all systems and practices are under increasing
pressure from population growth, market pressures, urbanisation,
climate change and agricultural intensification. The
overall relevance of each of these factors, therefore, must
be examined in order to set the desertification context.
This stage also includes the examination of policies, which
can themselves be important drivers but also influence the
impact of other drivers. For example, in the EU context the
Common Agriculture Policy reform, and in particular the
Water Framework Directive and the possibly upcoming Soil
Framework Directive, will have a major influence on the
ways to achieve sustainable agriculture in Europe.
Within DESIRE, the study site teams were asked what they
considered to be the main desertification drivers in their
area and to identify what the impacts of those drivers were.
In most of the sites, it was reported that although local and
national laws exist, implementation was often ineffective.
As a result, it was often the case that conservation laws or
policies were not adequately enforced. A lack of cross-sectoral
planning and collaboration was also identified as a common
problem and although the EU Common Agricultural
Policy has led to some positive impacts in some locations, it
resulted in the cultivation of unsuitable land in other places.
iv Determine current status, using the WOCAT-LADA-
DESIRE mapping questionnaire
The WOCAT-LADA-DESIRE Mapping Questionnaire and online
WOCAT-LADA-DESIRE Mapping Database 4 enable the production
of a series of maps that illustrate what type of land degradation
is taking place, where and why, and what is being done
in terms of sustainable land management. The information
needed for these maps is collected using the WOCAT-LADA-
DESIRE Mapping Questionnaire 5 . Available for anyone to use 6 ,
the questionnaire is completed by a team of local experts
familiar with the area, including, where possible, agronomists,
soil and water specialists and extension officers.
For each distinctive land use type, the WOCAT-LADA-DESIRE
Mapping Questionnaire and Database helps users to evaluate
(i) what type of land degradation is happening, where
and why, and (ii) what forms of land conservation practices
are being used. The steps of this process are as follows:
1. The area to be mapped is divided into distinctive land use
systems (LUS).
2. The team gathers the necessary data on land degradation
and conservation for each LUS.
3. For each LUS, the type, extent, degree, impact on ecosystem
services, direct and indirect causes of degradation, as
well as all land conservation practices, are determined.
4. Once collected, the data can be entered in the on-line
WOCAT-LADA-DESIRE Mapping Database from which the
various maps are generated.
v Determine future risk, using an indicator questionnaire
Desertification and land degradation are complex processes
with causes that range from climate change to changes in
land use or alterations in environmental legislation. The way
in which an area responds to these pressures is determined
by the resilience of the landscape (soil, water, vegetation)
Tunisia, Cyprien Hauser Morocco, Erik van den Elsen
12 DESIRE – WOCAT Desire for Greener Land