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The Future of Drylands pp 719–729Cite as

Participatory Land Degradation Assessment

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Abstract

Land degradation is one of the most pressing environmental issues facing the world's drylands. However, current assessments of its global extent and severity are methodologically flawed and do little to promote sustainable land management. Comparisons between UNEP's (1997) assessment and five alternative methods in Botswana demonstrate that degradation extent and severity are highly dependent on the methods and context of the assessment. A combination of methods, including public participation, are necessary for future global assessments to begin capturing this complexity. We show how the integration of local and scientific knowledge about degradation indicators and remediation options may empower land users, researchers and policy-makers to work hand in hand to assess and respond appropriately to land degradation

Keywords

  • Land degradation
  • Botswana
  • indicators
  • encroachment
  • sustainability goals
  • participation

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sustainability Research Institute, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

    Mark S. Reed & Andrew J. Dougill

Authors
  1. Mark S. Reed
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  2. Andrew J. Dougill
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Ecological and Earth Sciences Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB), UNESCO, 1 rue Miollis, Paris Cedex 15, 75732, France

    Cathy Lee

  2. Division of Ecological and Earth Sciences, UNESCO, 1 rue Miollis, Paris Cedex 15, 75732, France

    Thomas Schaaf

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© 2008 UNESCO

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Reed, M.S., Dougill, A.J. (2008). Participatory Land Degradation Assessment. In: Lee, C., Schaaf, T. (eds) The Future of Drylands. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6970-3_60

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