Land degradation is a global issue affecting people and ecosystems; it’s both influenced by and contributes to climate change. The IPCC describes it as a harmful shift in land quality, caused directly or indirectly by human actions, including climate change caused by humans. It’s identified by a long-term decrease in any of these: ability to produce life, ecological health, or usefulness to humans.
Forest degradation refers to the deterioration of forested areas, while deforestation entails the transformation of forest land into non-forest terrain. Both processes can lead to land degradation, compromising the overall health and vitality of the land.
Causes Of Land Degradation
- Loss of the biological or economic productivity of land mainly occurs due to changes in land use and unsustainable land management practices. Agriculture is a key player in this.
- Traditional tilling methods cause soil loss at a rate much higher than soil formation.
Climate Change Worsens Land Degradation
- Climate change worsens land degradation. It intensifies processes such as heavy rainfall and heat stress.
- Coastal areas are experiencing more erosion due to rising sea levels.
- Global warming will lead to more floods, droughts, and cyclones, worsening land degradation.
- New forms of land degradation are appearing due to global warming. For example, permafrost is melting, and coastal erosion is occurring in new areas due to changing storm paths and rising sea levels.
- Rising sea levels cause erosion in coastal areas. This problem worsens in regions prone to cyclones, leading to significant land degradation and affecting people’s lives and means of living.
Land degradation Is Not Only A Consequence But Also A Catalyst Of Climate Change
- Degradation exacerbates climate change by releasing greenhouse gases and impeding carbon absorption, thereby impeding our ability to mitigate its effects.
- Since 1990, we’ve seen a 3% decrease in global forest area, with major losses in the tropics.
- Regrowth forests have less carbon density than before deforestation, resulting in net emissions.
- Management practises that lower forest land’s carbon stocks contribute to emissions.
- Cropland soils have lost between 20% to 60% of their organic carbon due to cultivation, and are still emitting greenhouse gases.
- Deforestation, wildfires, peat soil degradation, and permafrost thawing are the main contributors to climate change due to greenhouse gas release and reduced land carbon sinks.
- The conversion of pristine forests into managed ones, along with illegal logging and unsustainable forest management practices, result in the release of greenhouse gases and can have adverse impacts on regional climate, including changes in albedo.
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Land Degradation Caused By Energy Crops
- The expansion of energy crop areas can indirectly cause land degradation elsewhere.
- A large-scale shift to biomass production for bioenergy could increase competition for land, risking food security and further soil degradation.
- Intensifying biomass production through methods like adding fertilisers, irrigation, or creating monoculture energy plantations can lead to negative trend in land condition.
- Poorly executed intensification of land management can contribute to land degradation and disrupt livelihoods.
- Afforestation and reforestation of degraded lands provide valuable opportunities for land restoration and rehabilitation. Depending on whether the restoration involves natural or plantation forests, these methods can yield substantial co-benefits.
Impact
- The deterioration or loss of the productive capacity of the soils for present and future has far-reaching impacts, affecting human society in various areas such as politics, economics, culture, and social relations.
- It doesn’t just impact the land itself, but it also affects marine and freshwater ecosystems, impacting people and ecosystems far beyond the local degradation sites.
- The implications of soil degradation and climate change are profound, particularly for livelihood systems reliant on natural resources and various societal groups.
- Shifts in vegetation due to climate change can increase land degradation risk in certain areas.
- Climate change can worsen land degradation rates, with harmful effects on livelihoods, habitats, and infrastructure.
- Additionally, it can also lead to new patterns of degradation.
- Globally, around 1.5 billion people rely on degraded lands for their livelihood.
- These individuals, including women and youth, are particularly vulnerable as they heavily depend on natural resources for survival, food supply, and income. Their options for adaptation are often limited.
- Degradation hurts the productivity of the land, increasing the difficulty of land management tasks. This disproportionately affects women in certain regions.
- Both land degradation and climate change amplify existing threats to these already precarious livelihoods.
- As a result, these communities are highly susceptible to extreme weather events, which can lead to poverty and food insecurity.
- In certain cases, this can also lead to migration, conflict, and the loss of cultural heritage.
Also Read | Regenerative Agriculture
Potential Solution
- Traditional biomass such as fuelwood, charcoal, and agricultural residues is used by over a third of the global population for energy. This leads to harmful land degradation and contributes to 2% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
- Ways to address this issue include enhancing forest protection, improving forest and agricultural management, switching to different fuel sources, and using efficient cooking and heating appliances. These methods can promote sustainable biomass use and reduce land degradation.
- Benefits include lower GHG emissions, improved health, and less work, especially for women and young people.
- Land degradation can be prevented, minimised, or reversed by implementing sustainable land management. This also provides many benefits like climate change adaptation and mitigation.
- Sustainable land management uses various technologies and conditions that have been proven to address soil degradation at multiple scales, from individual farms to entire watersheds.
- Sustainable forest management helps prevent deforestation.
- It enhances carbon sinks, aiding in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
- This approach also generates socio-economic benefits, supplying fibre, timber, and biomass for society’s needs.
However, there are concerns:
- Switching from primary forests to sustainably managed ones could lead to carbon emissions during the transition.
- This shift can also result in the loss of biodiversity.
On the other hand:
- It can enhance carbon stocks and biodiversity in areas where forests are degraded.
- Carbon storage in long-lasting wood products and reduced emissions from using wood products instead of materials that intensely emit gases also contribute to mitigation goals.
Read the full report here.