Brauch Hans Günter Brauch Patricia Kameri-Mbote

Oswald Spring Úrsula Oswald Spring Béchir Chourou

Mesjasz Czeslaw Mesjasz Pál Dunay
HEXAGON
Arieh Singer SERIES ON HUMAN
Grin John Grin Jörn Birkmann
AND ENVIRONMENTAL
The Soils of Israel SECURIT Y AND PEACE / VOL 5
Kameri-Mbote (Eds.)
Hans Günter Brauch, Úrsula Oswald Spring, Czeslaw Mesjasz, John Grin,  Chourou
Patricia Kameri-Mbote, Béchir Chourou, Pál Dunay, Jörn Birkmann (Eds.) Dunay
Coping with Global Environmental Change, Disasters and Security
Threats, Challenges, Vulnerabilities and Risks Birkmann 
This policy-focused Global Environmental and Human Security Handbook for the Anthropocene
(Eds.)
(GEHSHA) addresses new security threats, challenges, vulnerabilities and risks posed by global environ-
mental change and disasters. In 5 forewords, 5 preface essays and 95 peer reviewed chapters, 164 authors VOL 5 / HEXAGON SERIES ON HUMAN
from 48 countries analyse in 10 parts concepts of military and political hard security and economic,
social, environmental soft security with a regional focus on the Near East, North and Sub-Sahara Africa
AND ENVIRONMENTAL SECURIT Y AND PEACE
and Asia and on hazards in urban centres. The major focus is on coping with global environmental
change: climate change, desertification, water, food and health and with hazards and strategies on social
vulnerability and resilience building and scientific, international, regional and national political strategies,
policies and measures including early warning of conflicts and hazards. The book proposes a political
geo-ecology and discusses a ‘Fourth Green Revolution’ for the Anthropocene era of earth history.

Hans Günter Brauch, Adj. Prof. (PD) at the Free University of Berlin, chairman of AFES-PRESS, senior
fellow at UNU-EHS in Bonn and editor of this series; he publishes on security and environment issues.

Úrsula Oswald Spring, Professor at UNAM-CRIM, Mexico; first UNU-EHS chair on social vulnerability;
she writes on sustainability, development, gender, disaster, poverty and collaborates with peasants.
1
John Grin, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Amsterdam; he publishes on societal

Coping with Global

transformations in water management, agriculture and health care, and advices practitioners.

Disasters and Security

Environmental Change,
Coping with Global
Czeslaw Mesjasz, Assoc. Professor, Management, Cracow University of Economics; he publishes on
systems and game theory, conflict resolution, negotiation, economics, finance and security.

Patricia Kameri-Mbote, Professor, Strathmore University; Programme Director, International Environ-

Environmental Change,
mental Law Research Centre, Nairobi; she writes on law, development, property, environment and gender.

Béchir Chourou, Director, University of Tunis-Carthage, he taught International Relations at Tunis

University; he publishes on Euro-Mediterranean relations, food policy and human security in the Arab
world.

Disasters and Security

Pal Dunay, Faculty Member, Geneva Centre for Security Policy, Director of International Training Course
in Security Policy; he publishes on European security, the post-Soviet space and conventional arms control.

Jörn Birkmann, Adj. Prof. (PD) at Bonn University, Head, Vulnerability Assessment, Risk Management and
Adaptive Planning Section, United Nations University, Institute for Environment and Human Security.

ISSN 1865-5793
Threats, Challenges, Vulnerabilities and Risks
ISBN 978-3-540-xxxxx-x
All chapters were anonymously peer reviewed. This is the third and
final volume of the Global Environmental and Human Security
Handbook for the Anthropocene (GEHSHA).

HESP / VOL 5 13
Contents

Forewords
Achim Steiner,
Executive Director of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) and
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations V
Konrad Osterwalder,
Rector, United Nations University and
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nation VII
Jean-François Bureau,
NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy
Chairman, Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Committee IX
Joy Ogwu,
Permanent Representative of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
to the United Nations in New York XI
HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal,
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan XIII

Dedications XV

Acknowledgements XXVII

Permissions and Credits XXXI

Prefaces 1
The Anthropocene: Geology by Mankind 3
Paul Crutzen, Nobel Laureate for Chemistry
Max Planck Institute for Chemistry
Department Atmospheric Chemistry
Connecting Inconvenient Truths: Urgency of Nuclear Disarmament in a World of
Pressing Problems 5
Amb. Jayantha Dhanapala,
Former UN Under-Secretary General for Disarmament,
President, Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
Living in and Coping with World Risk Society 11
Ulrich Beck
Population Prospects and the Challenges of Sustainability 17
Hania Zlotnik
Towards a Great Land-Use Transformation? 23
Christoph Müller, Hermann Lotze-Campen, Veronika Huber,
Alexander Popp, Anastasia Svirejeva-Hopkins, Michael Krause and
Hans Joachim Schellnhuber
xviii Contents

Part I Introduction: Concepts of Security Threats, Challenges, Vulnerabilities

and Risks 29
1 Introduction: Coping with Global Environmental Change in the
Anthropocene 31
Hans Günter Brauch and Úrsula Oswald Spring
2 Concepts of Security Threats, Challenges, Vulnerabilities and Risks 61
Hans Günter Brauch
3 Disaster Risk and Vulnerability: Concepts and Measurement of Human
and Environmental Insecurity 107
Omar D. Cardona
4 Economic Vulnerability and Economic Security 123
Czeslaw Mesjasz
5 Debt Relief, Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction in
Low-Income Countries 157
Lidia Mesjasz

Part II Securitization of Global Environmental Change 177

6 Security Threats, Challenges, Vulnerabilities and Risks in the Evolution
and Implementation of the European Security Strategy 179
Alyson J.K. Bailes
7 NATO’s Traditional Security Problems 191
Pál Dunay
8 European Responses to Security Threats in the Mediterranean in the
Early 21st Century 199
Eduard Soler i Lecha
9 Inside/Outside: Turkey’s Security Dilemmas and Priorities in the
Early 21st Century 207
Mustafa Aydin and Asli Toksabay Esen
10 Promoting Democracy as a Security Goal. The ‘inward-outward’ Paradox
of the EU’s Foreign Policy 219
Omar Serrano
11 Language Games on Security in Finland: Towards Changing Concepts
of the State and National Survival 235
Vilho Harle and Sami Moisio
12 Security Threats, Challenges, Vulnerabilities and Risks in US National
Security Documents (1990–2010) 249
Hans Günter Brauch
13 Changes in the Perception of Military Threats, Challenges, Vulnerabilities
and Risks in Russia (1991-2009) 275
Alexander Sergunin
14 Russian Security Policy in the 21st Century Based on the Experiences
of Its First Decade 291
Pál Dunay
Contents xix

15 Non-Traditional Security and the New Concept of Security of China 307

Zhongqin Zhao
16 Perceptions of Hard Security Issues in the Arab World 313
Gamal M. Selim
17 Arab Perceptions of Soft Security Issues 327
Mohammad El-Sayed Selim
18 Military Challenges and Threats in West Africa 339
Kwesi Aning and Andrews Atta-Asamoah
19 Weak States and Security Threats in West Africa 353
John Emeka Akude

Part III Economic, Social, Environmental Security and Human Threats,

Challenges, Vulnerabilities and Risks in the Near East, North and
Sub-Sahara Africa and in Asia 369
20 Environmental Challenges and Risks in North Africa 371
Béchir Chourou
21 Water Degradation as a Human Security Challenge in Jordan 395
Bassam Ossama Hayek and Nisreen Daifallah Al Hmoud
22 Water Scarcity and Degradation in Palestine as Challenges,
Vulnerabilities, and Risks for Environmental Security 409
Marwan Haddad
23 Social, Environmental and Security Impacts of Climate Change on the
Eastern Mediterranean 421
Hilmi S. Salem
24 Progressive Development of the Water Resources of Israel and
Palestine to Mitigate the Negative Impact of Global Warming 447
Arie S. Issar
25 Jerusalem: Where To? In Search for Hidden Opportunities 459
Mohammed S. Dajani Daoudi and Ashraf M. Dajani
26 Global Climate Change Impacts for the Mediterranean in the
21st Century: Challenges for Human and Environmental Security 485
Hans Günter Brauch
27 Global Environmental Change and Conflict Potential in
Central Asia 525
Jenniver Sehring and Ernst Giese
28 Impact of Environmental Change on Stability and Conflict Potentials
in China 535
Thomas Heberer and Anja D. Senz
xx Contents

Part IV Threats, Challenges, Vulnerabilities and Risks for Urban Centres in

Hazards and Disasters 547
29 The Vulnerability of Cities to Disasters and Climate Change:
A Conceptual Framework 549
Mark Pelling
30 Vulnerability to Natural Hazards: Case Study on Landslide Risks
in La Paz 559
Fabien Nathan
31 Revealing the Impact of Small Disasters to the Economic and Social
Development 575
Mabel C. Marulanda, Omar D. Cardona and Alex H. Barbat
32 Climate Change, Natural Hazards and Coastal Ecosystems in
Latin-America: A Framework for Analysis 585
Carmen Lacambra and Kaveh Zahedi
33 Flood Loss Redistribution in a Third World Megacity:
The Case of Mumbai 603
Monalisa Chatterjee
34 Coping with Water- and Wastewater-related Risks in Megacity Delhi 613
Reena Singh
35 Politics of Displacement and Vulnerability 625
Nanda Kishor
36 Linking Oriental and Western Thinking to Mitigate Flood Risk 637
Xiaomeng Shen
37 Preparation for an Earthquake in the Megacity Istanbul 647
Sıdıka Tekeli Yeşil
38 Risk Management Strategies for the Predicted Earthquake Hazard
in Istanbul 655
Ebru A. Gencer
39 Urban Vulnerability to Climate Change and Natural Hazards in Nigeria 669
Adeniyi Sulaiman Gbadegesin, Felix Bayode Olorunfemi and
Usman Adebimpe Raheem

Part V Coping with Global Environmental Change: Climate Change, Soil and
Desertification, Water Management, Food and Health 689
40 Quantifying Global Environmental Change Impacts: Methods, Criteria
and Definitions for Compiling Data on Hydro-meteorological Disasters 693
Debarati Guha-Sapir and Femke Vos

Section A: Climate Change

41 Stormy Weather: International Security in the Shadow of
Climate Change 719
Steffen Bauer
Contents xxi

42 Security Risks of Climate Change: Vulnerabilities, Threats, Conflicts

and Strategies 735
Jürgen Scheffran
43 New Threats? Risk and Securitization Theory on Climate Change
and Water 757
Anders Jägerskog
44 Dealing With Uncertainties in Climate Change Impacts Assessments:
A Case Study on the Nile Basin 765
Carlo Buontempo, Jens Kristian Lørup, Michael Sanderson, Michael Butts,
Erika Palin, Rachel McCarthy, Richard Jones, Richard Betts and
Mamdouh Antar
45 Mapping Areas Affected by Sea-Level Rise due to Climate Change
in the Nile Delta Until 2100 773
Mohamed El Raey
46 Vulnerability of Tropical Montane Rain Forest Ecosystems due to
Climate Change 789
Hans Juergen Boehmer

Section B: Soil and Desertification

47 Securitizing Land Degradation and Desertification: A Proactive
Soil Security Concept 803
Hans Günter Brauch and Úrsula Oswald Spring
48 Alternative Livelihoods for Attaining Sustainability and Security
in Drylands 835
Uriel N. Safriel
49 Societal Vulnerability to Desertification and Policy Response Options 853
Zafar Adeel
50 Desertification Process in Egypt 863
Ismail Abd El Galil Hussein
51 Impacts of Drought on Agriculture in Northern Mexico 875
Tulio Arredondo Moreno and Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald
52 Traditional Knowledge in Coping with Desertification 893
Pietro Laureano
53 Prodromes of Desertification in the Oasis of Tafilalet (Morocco) and
Specific Local Solutions 901
Monique Mainguet, Frédéric Dumay, Lahcen Kabiri and Boualem Rémini
54 Agriculture in Drylands: Experience in Almeria 921
Andrés Miguel García Lorca
55 Land-use Changes, Desertification, and Climate Change Impacts in
South-eastern Spain 935
Jorge García Gómez, Francisco López-Bermúdez and
Juan Manuel Quiñonero Rubio
xxii Contents

Section C: Water Management

56 Reconsidering Integrated Water Resources Management: Promoting
Economic Growth and Tackling Environmental Stress 947
Jakob Granit
57 Coping with Population Growth, Climate Change, Water Scarcity and
Growing Food Demand in China in the 21st Century 957
Zhanyi Gao and Yaqiong Hu
58 Ensuring Water Security in Rural Areas of Bangladesh under Climate
Change and Non-climatic Drivers of Change 969
Mohammed Rahman Zillur and Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt
59 Applying Bottom-up Participatory Strategies and Traditional Methods
of Water Harvesting in the Thar Desert, Rajasthan 983
Kanupriya Harish and Mathews Mullackal
60 Coping with Water Scarcity in the Sahel: Assessing Groundwater
Resources in the Western Sahel 997
Abdelkader Dodo, Mohamedou Ould Baba Sy and Jihed Ghannem

Section D: Coping with Food Security Issues

61 Global Threats, Global Changes and Connected Communities in the
Global Agrofood System 1005
John Grin and Esther Marijnen
62 Genetically Modified Organisms: A Threat for Food Security and Risk
for Food Sovereignty and Survival 1019
Úrsula Oswald Spring
63 Natural Disasters and Major Challenges towards Achieving Food
Security in the Sahel: The Experience of CILSS 1043
Issa Martin Bikienga
64 Responding to Climate Variability and Change: Opportunities and
Challenges for Governance 1055
Sreeja Nair
65 Coping with Climate Change Impacts on Coffee and Maize for
Peasants in Mexico 1067
Cecilia Conde

Section E: Coping with Health Security Issues

66 The Impact of AIDS on Women’s Social Life in a Mexican Rural
Community 1081
Fátima Flores and Wolfgang Wagner
67 Integrated Assessment of Vulnerability to Heat Stress in Urban Areas 1091
Tanja Wolf, Glenn McGregor and Anna Paldy
Contents xxiii

Part VI Coping with Hazards and Strategies for Coping with Social
Vulnerability and Resilience Building 1101
68 Regulation and Coupling of Society and Nature in the Context of
Natural Hazards 1103
Jörn Birkmann
69 Differentials in Impacts and Recovery in the Aftermath of the 2004
Indian Ocean Tsunami: Local Examples at Different Scales in Sri Lanka 1129
Katharina Marre and Fabrice Renaud
70 Risks in Central America: Bringing Them Under Control 1147
Juan Carlos Villagrán de León
71 Economics and Social Vulnerability: Dynamics of Entitlement and Access 1159
Koko Warner
72 Social Vulnerability, Discrimination, and Resilience-building in
Disaster Risk Reduction 1169
Úrsula Oswald Spring

Part VII Coping with Global Environmental Change: Scientific, International,

Regional and National Political Strategies, Policies and Measures 1189

Section A: Scientific Research Goals and Strategies for Coping with Global
Environmental Change
73 Coping with Global Environmental Change: Need for an
Interdisciplinary and Integrated Approach 1193
G.A. McBean
74 Research Agenda and Policy Input of the Earth System Science
Partnership for Coping with Global Environmental Change 1205
Rik Leemans, Martin Rice, Ann Henderson-Sellers and Kevin Noone
75 The International Human Dimensions Programme on Global
Environmental Change – Taking Stock and Moving Forward 1221
Louise von Falkenhayn, Andreas Rechkemmer and Oran R. Young
76 DIVERSITAS: Biodiversity Science Integrating Research and Policy
for Human Well-Being 1235
Bruno A. Walther, Anne Larigauderie and Michel Loreau
77 The International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme’s (IGBP) Scientific
Research Agenda for Coping with Global Environmental Change 1249
Kevin J. Noone, Carlos Nobre and Sybil Seitzinger
78 Climate Information for Coping with Environmental Change:
Contributions of the World Climate Research Programme 1257
John A. Church, Ghassem R. Asrar, Antonio J. Busalacchi and
Carolin E. Arndt
xxiv Contents

Section B: Global Strategies, Policies and Measures for Coping with Climate Change
79 Key IPCC Conclusions on Climate Change Impacts and Adaptations 1273
Martin Parry, Osvaldo Canziani, Jean Palutikof and Clair Hanson
80 Options for Mitigating Climate Change Results of Working
Group III of the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC 1283
Peter Bosch and Bert Metz
81 Global Climate Change, Natural Hazards, and the Environment:
an Overview of UNESCO’s Activities 1293
Walter Erdelen and Badaoui Rouhban
82 Climate Change and Development: UNDP’s Approach to Helping
Countries Build a New Paradigm 1303
Veerle Vandeweerd, Yannick Glemarec and Vivienne Caballero

Section C: Regional Strategies, Policies and Measures for Coping with Climate Change
83 EU Strategies for Climate Change Policy Beyond 2012 1319
Christian Egenhofer, Arno Behrens and Anton Georgiev
84 Coping with Climate Change in East Asia: Vulnerabilities and
Responsibilities 1333
Paul G. Harris
85 Strategies for Coping with Climate Change in Latin America: Perspective
beyond 2012 1341
Ricardo Zapata-Martí
86 Politics of Equity and Justice in Climate Change Negotiations in
North-South Relations 1355
Ariel Macaspac Penetrante

Section D: National Strategies, Policies and Measures for Coping with Climate Change
87 Climate Change: Long-Term Security Implications for China and the
International Community 1367
Yu Hongyuan and Paul J. Smith
88 Japanese Climate Change Policy: Moving Beyond the Kyoto Process 1381
Hiroshi Ohta
89 Implications of Equity Considerations and Emission Reduction Targets:
Lessons from the Case of Japan’s Mid-Term Target 1393
Norichika Kanie, Hiromi Nishimoto, Yasuaki Hijioka and
Yasuko Kameyama
Contents xxv

Part VIII A Technical Tool: Remote Sensing, Vulnerability Mapping and

Indicators of Environmental Security Challenges and Risks 1401
90 Land-use and Flood Risk Changes in Coastal Areas of
South-eastern Spain 1403
Juan M. Quiñonero-Rubio, Francisco López-Bermúdez,
Francisco Alonso-Sarría and Francisco J. Gomariz-Castillo
91 Monitoring Conflict Risk: The Contribution of Globally Used Indicator
Systems 1415
Jochen Jesinghaus

Part IX Towards an Improved Early Warning of Conflicts and Hazards 1427

92 Networking Disaster and Conflict Early Warning in Response to
Climate Change 1429
Patrick Meier
93 Vulnerability Assessment in Sri Lanka in the Context of Tsunami
Early Warning 1441
Juan Carlos Villagrán de León

Part X Summary and Conclusions 1451

94 Political Geoecology for the Anthropocene 1453
Hans Günter Brauch, Simon Dalby and Úrsula Oswald Spring
95 Coping with Global Environmental Change – Sustainability Revolution
and Sustainable Peace 1487
Úrsula Oswald Spring and Hans Günter Brauch

Abbreviations 1505

Bibliography 1521

Biographies of Contributors 1711

Index 1765
52 Traditional Knowledge in Coping with Desertification
Pietro Laureano
52.1 Rural, Urban and Cultural
Desertification
The misuse and the overexploitation of resources are
the main causes of desertification which according to
the United Nations Convention is defined as: “deteri-
oration of the lands in the arid, semiarid and semi hu-
mid dry areas due to different factors including cli-
mate changes and human activity” (UNCCD 1994,
article 1a, 1995, 1995a). The definition highlights two
fundamental aspects of desertification: a) desertifica-
tion is not the creation of a desert but of soil degra-
dation; and b) human intervention is a fundamental
factor besides the role of climate conditions.
Therefore desert and desertification are two very
different things. The desert constitutes a precise envi-
ronmental model that occurs in a specific climatic
context with its own laws, biological activities, and an
appropriate human use. Desertification produces an
environment in full decay and totally devoid of eco-
logical balance. The difference lies in a specific varia-
ble: time. The natural establishment of the desert has
followed the very long geologic times enabling the
species to follow the changes with a process of trans-
formation and evolution, and therefore allowing the
creation of environments that in spite of the harsh cli-
mate are rich in adaptation and in the biodiversity of
the species.
On the contrary, the processes of desertification
and the climate changes triggered by human interven-
tion are rapid. The biological and physical structure of
the planet has not had time to adapt to them, result-
ing in desolation and decay. A socio-economic and
cultural degradation corresponds to the physical one.
Poverty, emigration, and the loss of identity cause the
disappearance of the cultural heritage related to the
knowledge and management of places.
In order to understand the desertification phe-
nomena the key factor is the soil (Rubio 2002). In ge-
ology what is commonly defined as soil is the superfi-
cial layer of the earth’s crust where the organic and
inorganic components mix together, swarmed with
bacteria, worms, and other micro-organisms (Bennet
1939). The intense biological activity turns it into hu-
mus, a colloidal compound saturated by organic sub-
stances deriving from the decomposition of animal
and vegetable waste. It is the soil that makes plant life
possible, the presence of which is so common in tem-
perate areas that it is taken for granted. Life is instead
the complex result of the continuous interaction be-
tween chemical, physical, and above all biological fac-
tors and, besides protecting the soil, it ensures its con-
stant regeneration. Vegetation, and in general all
biological activity related to the availability of water
and to climate conditions, determine the soil features
and constitute the prior conditions for the existence
of topsoil. Seeds can put down roots in the soil and
derive sustenance from it. For their part, plants pro-
tect the humus and ensure that it is constantly regen-
erated, thanks to dry cast-off plants. Surfaces which
are bare of vegetation are exposed to the harsh atmos-
pheric agents, to the brutality of erosion which
crushes the rocks and produces sand. All of this in
turn reinforces the erosion factors and worsens the
drought in that hard silicon particles are blown away
by the wind, thereby becoming an abrasive force
which can destroy even the hardest of rocks. Sand
contributes to the disappearance of running surface
water by settling in and filling up river beds, thus forc-
ing the water to change its course and to become stag-
nant over vast surface areas where the water can evap-
orate or seep below ground.
This is how the constantly increasing degradation
circuit of desertification is triggered. Soil, water, and
vegetation are interconnected in such a close way that
the absence of any of these factors can cause the ab-
sence of another factor with a multiplying effect. In-
terfering with each one of these components triggers
the desertification process that may occur under all
climate conditions, but will variously develop depend-
ing on the ecosystems’ degree of vulnerability (Safriel
2007).
894
Thus, it may be asserted that even the desert can
undergo a process of desertification. Precisely in the
environments with a more critical and difficult bal-
ance, characterized by a strong interaction between
the processes, each intervention from the smallest to
the most macroscopic one may produce lasting devas-
tating effects. In the Sahara the traces left by vehicles
during the Second World War are still evident on the
characteristic microvegetation of the soil that sixty
years later has still not recovered. In general the envi-
ronment reacts to the roughness of the seasonal dif-
ferences and to the cyclical climate alterations. Once
the period of crisis has passed, the environment has
the potential to return to its initial situation. Because
of overexploitation due to human action, which inten-
sifies its destructive activity against the species and the
residual varieties just when the resources are becom-
ing rarefied, any capability of recovery disappears
even when the favourable conditions have been re-es-
tablished.
In the agricultural environment the process mani-
fests itself through the following phenomena: water
erosion with the creation of cracks and fractures, loss
of fertility, alkalization and salinization of the soil; de-
struction of the humus; disappearance of the plant
cover; formation of sand, mud and calcareous layers;
exhaustion of the aquifers and drought; decay of the
slopes and landslides. The chemical and physical deg-
radation of the soil, induced by biological and physi-
cal mechanisms, reduce the vegetation and the origi-
nal bio-productivity disenabling any kind of use. In the
Sahel zone in the Sub-Saharan area, these processes
start in a climatic area that receives more than 200
mm of rain per year, and also in a deeper strip in the
south where the rains may reach 800 mm per year, i.e.
areas that cannot be properly defined as desert. It is
estimated that in these countries one million hectares
of tropical forests are destroyed and 100,000 hectares
of soil are irremediably covered every year with the
advance of the sands produced by wind erosion. In
Africa, altogether more than one billion hectares have
been damaged by this phenomenon. Millions of peo-
ple have been forced to emigrate elsewhere (Renaud/
Bogardi 2006: 24). In Mali and Burkina Faso one
sixth of the inhabitants have been forced to abandon
their villages. In Senegal two fifths of the population
of the upper valley of the homonymous river have
been forced to emigrate. Mauritania is invaded by the
sands. Here, the population established in the capital,
Nouakchott, has increased from 9 to 41 per cent in
twenty years, while the nomadic groups have fallen
from 73 to 7 per cent (UNCCD 1995). Therefore, non-
Pietro Laureano
natural factors trigger an environmental mechanism
of degradation which must therefore be ascribed to a
single factor: human intervention. The process affects
subtropical as well as temperate areas (Brandt/
Thornes 1996; Mairota/Thornes/Geeson 1998).
While the traditional landscape with its small plots
of land surrounded by dykes and ditches, tree rows or
stone and mud walls, constitutes the optimal defen-
sive device against weathering, the industrialization of
agriculture based on heavy machinery needs vast ho-
mogeneous surfaces. The transformation into a mo-
noculture also involves the slopes, the marginal and
karstic areas where the natural harshness and vegeta-
tion provided shade, biological richness, and protec-
tion from erosion. Chemical addictives like pesticides
and fertilizers transform the soil which becomes wa-
terproof. Maintaining the aquifers becomes impossi-
ble and agriculture becomes increasingly dependent
on artificial irrigation through the construction of big
hydraulic basins.
The demographic growth, the abandoning of ar-
chaic techniques and social habits even though they
were in harmony with the environmental potentials,
as well as the imposition of new crops according to
the requirements coming from the world market and
the dissemination of the monoculture, are only some
of the causes of degradation. Above all, the settle-
ment of people gathered in small areas, according to
the necessity of the modern economies, causes the in-
crease in energy demand, which is satisfied with a
massive devastation of the arboreal and forest herit-
age. The wounds inflicted on the woods trigger proc-
esses of continual and substantial collapse of the bio-
logical variety, quality, and productivity. Animals and
plants are decreasing and the number of species is fall-
ing so much that they are no more able to provide a
genetic answer to the altered circumstances, and are
therefore destined to disappear.
Also the urban areas are affected by desertifica-
tion. In fact cities contribute both directly and indi-
rectly to the process. Directly, the massive urbaniza-
tion may be considered in itself a form of
desertification due to the spread of concrete over
large natural surfaces; but also indirectly through the
absorption from the soil of the natural resources and
their destruction in the areas with a high demo-
graphic concentration. A close relationship between
urbanization and desertification may be found both in
the non-industrialized countries and in the most de-
veloped ones. In the first case, the process of decay is
triggered and extends starting right from the areas un-
dergoing a modern and accelerated urbanization
Traditional Knowledge in Coping with Desertification 895

Figure 52.1: The traditional oasis ecosystem. Source: Pietro Laureano (2001: 372). The oasis is a self catalytic system in
which the first supply of water condensation and moisture is increased by the installation of palm trees
which produce shade, attract organisms, and form humus. The palm grove determines a humid
microclimate fed by hidden precipitations, water condensation, and underground drainage through the
underground passageways of the foggaras. The adobe habitat does not waste wood for firing bricks, it is
kept cool by the underground water passageway and provides waste to fertilize the fields. The system runs
the water resource in a cycle of use which is not only compatible with the renewable quantities available
but also increases them.

which impoverishes the surrounding territory. In the
advanced economies the spread of the process of de-
sertification is directly linked to the crisis of the his-
toric city centres and the traditional arrangement of
the landscape. The building systems that have a strong
natural component and low consumption of re-
sources have been substituted with a model based on
massive building operations that waste energy and
pollute the environment.
Thus, a process of physical and social desertifica-
tion begins with the exodus of the population from
the ancient centres and the consequent disappearance
of the local systems. The impoverishment of the hu-
man resources corresponds to the architectural decay
and to the erosion of the mountain, hilltop, and slope
systems. Emigration, the loss of identity and values,
are associated with the socio-cultural aspects of deser-
tification.
52.2 The Knowledge of the Desert
The aridity of the desert is interrupted in specific
cases that create niches and microenvironments that
contrast with the general situation. A slight depres-
sion collects dampness, a stone shade and seed flour-
ishes. Thus, favourable dynamics develop: the plant
generates its protection from sunbeams, concentrates
water vapour, attracts insects, produces biological ma-
terial and the soil which nourishes it. A biological sys-
tem used by other organisms bringing their contribu-
tions is created, and a microcosm is generated as the
result of their coexistence. By using these processes
people from the Sahara have developed oases. Origi-
nally, a single palm tree is planted into a hollow in the
ground and surrounded by dry branches, which pro-
tect it from sand. As the time goes by, large tilled
fields develop along terraced canyons or on green ar-
chipelagos among the dunes, thanks to complex and
896 Pietro Laureano

diversified techniques of water production, territory These in fact seek immediate effectiveness
arrangement, and microclimate formation. An oasis through a deep specialization of knowledge managed
can be defined as a “human settlement living in harsh by dominant structures capable of involving resources
geographic conditions and exploiting rare local re- external to the environment. Traditional knowledge
sources, to trigger a growing amplification of positive measures its functionality in the long run using a
interactions and fulfil a fertile and self-sustainable en- shared knowledge that was created and passed on
vironmental niche, contrasting with its hostile sur- from generation to generation through the social
rounding” (Laureano 1995: 24–25). practices, and uses internal renewable inputs. Thanks
Therefore not only the palm groves constitute the to modern technology, for instance, very deep wells
oasis but the entire landscape formed by the habitat have been dug out to pump water up to the surface.
and all the architectural and environmental compo- The results have immediately been visible, but have
nents. The organization of the ecosystem was realized dried up bordering resources, and sometimes by
by the people of the desert through the use of tradi- drawing water from fossil pockets, with time they
tional techniques that consist of: completely exhaust them. On the contrary, traditional
practical (instrumental) and normative knowledge con- knowledge uses systems for harvesting meteoric water
cerning the ecological, socio-economic, and cultural or exploits run-off areas by using the force of gravity
environment. Traditional knowledge originates from or water catchment methods, like the drainage galler-
people and is transmitted to people by recognizable and ies, allowing the replenishment and increasing the du-
experienced actors. It is systemic (inter-sectorial and rability of the resource.
holistic), experimental (empirical and practical), handed Modern technological methods operate by sepa-
down from generation to generation, and culturally
rating and specializing, whereas traditional knowledge
enhanced. Such a kind of knowledge supports diversity
and enhances and reproduces local resources (UNCCD operates by connecting and integrating. According to
2005: 109). the usual meaning of words such as forest, agriculture
and town, they are completely distinct from each
The way they are applied differs totally from modern other and meet similarly different needs: wood, food,
technologies (table 5252.1).) and housing. They correspond to specialized scien-
Table 52.1: Characteristics of modern and traditional tific systems: Silviculture, agriculture, and town plan-
knowledge. Source: The author. ning. Local knowledge does not make an artificial dis-
tinction within the world of plants between the forest
Modern Knowledge Traditional Knowledge supplying commercial wood and tilled land supplying
Specific solution Multifunctional
food (Shiva 1993a: 18). Forests, fields, and dwellings
are unitary ecological systems. Forests and other mar-
Immediate efficacy Functional over a long ginal apparently non-productive areas, such as steppes
period
and marshes, provide large quantities of food and wa-
Specialization Holism ter resources, and fodder and fertilizers for agricul-
Dominant powers Autonomy ture. They are also convenient to live in. The tradi-
Separation Integration tional town, in its turn, integrates with agriculture by
replacing the forest in desert areas, by collecting ferti-
External resources Internal inputs
lizers produced by the inhabitants’ organic waste, and
Confliction Symbiosis through its production of water collected on the
Monoculture Connection and complexity roofs. This principle is so close to the way in which
Uniformity Diversity nature works, where everything that remains of a sys-
tem is reused by other systems and the concept of
Inflexibility Flexibility
waste and the possibility of resorting to external re-
Costly maintenance Self-regulation and intensity sources do not exist. It has allowed human beings to
of work survive throughout history and is today proposed
Internationalization Consideration of the again by the modern theoreticians of sustainability
context (Pauli 1999).
Costliness Saving By this logic, to the strong cohesion among soci-
Attention to mere technical Symbolism and full of signi- ety, culture and the economy, also aesthetic and ethi-
details and rationalism ficance cal values are added. Traditional procedures operate a
Dependence Autopoiesis
harmonious fusion between the landscape and the tra-
Traditional Knowledge in Coping with Desertification
ditional aesthetic canons. A device for collecting or
conveying water is never merely a technical structure
but also has its own beauty. Fields in the oases are sys-
tems of production and relaxing places for contempla-
tion as well. Little agricultural fields in desert areas
are called gardens, just as in Southern Italy, eliminat-
ing the separation between the vegetable garden and
the pleasure garden. Often, the works and procedures
have a deep symbolic meaning and are a continuous
game of suggestions and analogies between tech-
niques, art, and nature. Systems of water distribution
in the Sahara are reproduced in carpet drawings and
in women’s hairstyles. They are part of a complex
symbolism linked to life and fertility. Spiritual princi-
ples make rules sacred and guarantee their perpetua-
tion as in the case of the African sacred woods with
their restricted access and of the whole set of taboo-
objects, practices which guarantee the regeneration of
forests, the saving of environmental resources and the
land as reserves for nature and human communities.
Therefore, traditional techniques are an integral
part of a strongly consolidated network of links and
relations, supported by a global framework of signs
and meanings. They work within a socially shared cul-
tural structure: the historical system of science and lo-
cal knowledge. It is therefore wrong to isolate each
single technology, which is always highly contextual-
ized, not only linked to an environmental situation,
but to a precise historical moment and a complex so-
cial construction. The totality of traditional practices
for managing resources constitutes the mediation
through which a certain social form interacts with na-
ture in realizing its technological dimension, an inte-
gral part of its cultural complexity, and view of the
world. Thanks to this knowledge populations are able
to gain greater resources from the environment com-
pared to the ones naturally offered. Both factors, the
cultural dimension and the environmental conditions,
change continually in time and from place to place,
thus creating and amplifying the cultural diversity.
52.3 Validity, Innovative Use, and
Integration with Advanced
Technology
The validity of traditional knowledge and the use of
practices derived from it, variously named as endog-
enous knowledge, appropriate technologies, local
knowledge, indigenous techniques, nature-based
knowledge, sustainable knowledge, folk knowledge,
and cultural knowledge (Gupta 1989; Warren/Rajas-
897
ekaran 1993; Tahoun 2003), have been asserted for
many years at various levels. In the scientific field, re-
search on traditional knowledge has been imple-
mented for more than twenty years with the specific
aim of overcoming the top-down approach to the
transfer of technologies as well as the problem of
achieving a participatory relationship able to foster sus-
tainability (Brokensha/Warren/Werner 1980). Many in-
ternational bodies such as the International Labour
Organization (ILO) (Bhalla 1977; ILO 1985), the Or-
ganisation for Economic Co-operation and Develop-
ment (OECD) (Jequier/Blanc 1983), the Food and Ag-
riculture Organization (FAO) (Saouma 1993), the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO 1994, 1994a, 1994b), the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
(Dowdeswell 1993) and the World Bank (Vernon
1989; Davis 1995) have declared its validity in research
and documents. The interest of the United Nations’
conventions is clearly highlighted in the report enti-
tled Building Linkage between Environmental Con-
ventions and Initiatives (UNCCD 1999).
Despite this full commitment and interest, the
fields of application and the innovative dissemination
of traditional knowledge are still below their real
potential, the reasons may be summarized as follows:
• The lack of awareness that environmental damage,
soil degradation, and desertification mostly result
from the loss of traditional knowledge;
• The lack of information as to the validity and ben-
efits of traditional knowledge from the experts
responsible for national planning;
• The limited understanding of the role to be
assigned to traditional techniques and their way of
operating;
• The lack of communication and exchange of suc-
cessful experiences;
• The unawareness of the innovative use of tradi-
tional knowledge.
It is necessary to clarify the modalities of use, the va-
lidity, effectiveness, the innovative force, and the pos-
sibility for integration of the traditional technologies
with the modern ones.
52.3.1 Multifunctional Use and Cultural
Integration
Traditional knowledge as an integrated learning or-
ganization constitutes a complex system with multi-
functional characteristics and an integral part of the
construction process of the collective identity as well
898
as of social cohesion. The rice cultivations in the Phil-
ippines and Indonesia which cover the mountain sides
with an extensive system of terraces constitute a won-
derful landscape created by the people. The beauty of
these terraces does not result from aesthetic choices
but depends on the harmonious application of the
traditional engineering techniques in order to organ-
ize catchment areas, gather flowing waters and rain-
falls, create terraces on which flows are channelled,
and preserve the ground from washing away or erod-
ing.
Traditional techniques relating to water manage-
ment in the Ladakh region in India are another exam-
ple. These enable fertile mountain oases to be created
in otherwise arid lands. The techniques for using the
water resources provided by seasonal snow melting
are based on a system of rights and rules closely
linked to the social structure, to the norms regulating
the traditional division of work between sex and age
groups, as well as to the ecological situation of each
oasis village. The great social cohesion and spiritual
motivation has enabled these people to apply modern
techniques such as methods for using solar energy, in
harmony with their ideals, and to reject others such as
chemical fertilizers regarded as harmful for the soils
(Wacker 1997).
52.3.2 Technological Effectiveness and
Productiveness
Traditional technologies are not less competitive than
modern ones. They achieve results differently and
consider a series of contextual factors omitted by
modern techniques. The procedure is sometimes less
immediate and needs more work. However, this is
not a negative feature in many countries that face the
problem of unemployment. Indeed, the application of
a technique determines effects both before and after
the use of the necessary resources and has more gen-
eral consequences on the entire economic, social, and
environmental model. These interactions are not
taken into account in the application of a modern
technique based on specific and immediate yield crite-
ria. On the contrary, traditional techniques are se-
lected and accepted through a process of environmen-
tal, historical and social considerations, appraised
according to their validity in the long term, their con-
textual benefits, and their overall sustainability.
Failure to evaluate these aspects has led to unsuc-
cessful projects for development cooperation which
have not taken into account the necessity of propos-
ing technologies that could be managed through the
Pietro Laureano
local knowledge system and the social categories,
mainly women. Within this framework, the case of
the irrigated perimeter of Ras Djebel in the north-
eastern part of Tunisia, 30 km from Biserta, is a signif-
icant example. Here a traditional kind of cultivation is
applied, following the oasis model and the Maghre-
bian and Andalusian models of arboriculture and veg-
etable gardens. Fields are divided into small plots ac-
cording to complicated procedures of inheritance and
marriages that continuously divide and re-compose
the properties. In this way, 2,000 hectares of land can
be divided into 4,500 plots. Traditional irrigation is
carried out through harvesting subterranean waters by
means of family-managed wells or irrigation, thanks
to superficial channels running all over the agricul-
tural area. A project aiming at modernizing the system
created a 15,000-m3 tank, fed by a lake located on a
hill. The agricultural perimeter was then subdivided
into larger parts, each supplied by a modern water
drawing system that irrigates large areas by sprinkling.
Such a perimeter involved the removal of small prop-
erty boundaries. The peasants distinctly rejected the
new division of the plots and the new methods of ir-
rigation on the basis of social, productive, and sym-
bolical reasons which can be summarized as follows:
• The use of family wells enables each owner to
manage his own water independently. Such water
was previously free whereas there is a charge for
the water provided by the project.
• The division of small land plots responds to ances-
tral structures which extend the domestic space
into the agricultural one. In this way, women can
work in the fields and at the same time feel at
home.
• Irrigation through sprinkling is considered nega-
tive since it ‘favours the burning of the leaves and
the appearance of new diseases’.
• Groundwater is commonly considered as ‘alive
since it originates from the earth and feeds the
plants’, in opposition to the water of the project
which is held as ‘a dead water coming from a stag-
nant basin and thus harmful to agriculture’.
Despite these oppositions, the project was carried out
with disastrous consequences. Indeed, after the
project was implemented, a 20-meter lowering of the
water table as well as a 3 g/1 increase of salinity were
verified (Bouayard-Agha 1997: 22–23).
Traditional Knowledge in Coping with Desertification
52.3.3 Validity and Application
Traditional techniques are generally considered valid
only for the less developed economies. This stance is
contradicted by the fact that situations in which tradi-
tional technologies persist, and their role in the econ-
omy and society is consolidated and stabilized, can be
proved specifically in the more advanced countries.
The values of tradition, manufacturing practices, and
the craftsmen’s skills are the basis on which the great
added value of economically important productions
for many advanced countries is founded. In particular
the typical food production (oil, cheese, wine, etc.)
safeguards both the aesthetic and environmental qual-
ity of the landscape, since the old production systems
are available thanks to the maintenance of traditional
soil management techniques, as for instance is the
case of the regions of Valais in Switzerland, the Loire
Valley in France, and Tuscany in Italy. Thus, it is
wrong to consider traditional knowledge as marginal
compared to the great economic and technological
processes under way. Even from a quantitative point
of view, their use still supports most of humankind
which is distributed throughout the less industrialized
countries. Paradoxically, in these places where tradi-
tional techniques are still used in a massive way, these
are considered by the modernist thought as a phe-
nomenon of backwardness, whereas, in advanced
countries, they create an image and provide added
value. Tradition is then a fundamental component of
successful modernity and creative industry. Tradi-
tional knowledge constitutes a dynamic system capa-
ble of incorporating innovation valued through local
wisdom: today’s appropriate innovation is tomorrow’s
tradition.
52.3.4 Paleo-technology and High Technology
Traditional technologies do not have less technologi-
cal consistency than the modern ones. Sometimes
they are the most refined technologies, other times
they are very simple but still more appropriate, that is
ecologically compatible and locally manageable. Fur-
thermore, traditional knowledge is re-proposed
through every possible innovative use that is in con-
junction with modern technologies, which can oper-
ate within the same logic. In the moist areas to the
west of Calcutta, the traditional fishing and agricul-
tural practices cover approx. 10,000 ha of territory.
Here the world’s largest network of urban sewage wa-
ter re-use is in use. Thousands of peasants convey mil-
lions of litres of sewage water from Calcutta towards
899
their land. They consider these waters as an advanta-
geous nutrient supply and not as something harmful
they should get rid of. At the same time, they provide
an extraordinary contribution to the waste water
drainage system of Calcutta completely free of charge.
In Liguria where in the Cinque Terre region there
is one of the largest systems of terraced slopes in the
Mediterranean, this traditional practice that protects
the soils, and catches and channels the waters, has
been perpetuated through innovative agricultural
mechanization. Agricultural work on terraces is hard
due to tiring transport systems which are operational
only on foot. Traditionally there were techniques of
transport by means of sledges drawn up the hill by
ropes. Already at the beginning of the century these
were substituted with mechanical funicular systems on
rails. The same technique is re-proposed today with
appropriate monorail systems that enable the ascent
of the slope without disturbing the landscape or the
ecosystem.
In Burkina Faso zai is a particular traditional tech-
nique able to regenerate highly degraded soils. The
soil is dug with holes that fill up with water in the hu-
mid season and are used as dump sites for rubbish
and manure in the dry season. This practice attracts
termites that digest rubbish, thus its absorption by the
plants’ roots. Furthermore, the tunnels dug by the ter-
mites increase the soil’s porosity. Seeds are then sown
in the holes, giving very high crop yields. Innovative
practices which promote original forms of symbiosis
between humankind and animals or micro-organisms
are today re-proposed to rehabilitate degraded soils or
soils made suitable for human living in extreme areas.
52.4 Knowledge from the Past for a
Sustainable Future
The enormous hydraulic resources deriving from the
river basins of the Nile, Mesopotamia, the Indus, and
river systems of China, determined the formation of
the great empires that have been defined by Karl Au-
gust Wittfogel (1957) as hydraulic societies. The socio-
economic model is the one of an increasingly expand-
ing empire supported by a massive population growth
triggered by the agricultural potential and maintained
by an imperial conquest, the income coming from the
exploitation of a vast quantity of workers and by
spending resources on monuments or wars. The long
term results of this are the hypertrophy of the popula-
tion and of the territory, authoritarianism, state cen-
900 Pietro Laureano

tralization, and the increasing destruction of the envi- new models of sustainability have to be based. The
ronment leading to an ecological catastrophe. historical settlements, the traditional landscapes, and
Within the great empires, in marginal areas with the local knowledge provide solutions to be safe-
scarce resources, or in the fringes of the empires in guarded and which can be re-proposed, adapted, and
protected areas, oases and cities were created in inac- renewed by means of the modern technology. It is not
cessible places and transformed into self-supporting a question of reapplying or transforming the single
centres. These autopoietic societies use the gathered procedures but rather of understanding the logic of
experience of traditional knowledge and become cen- those models which have allowed societies to posi-
tres of innovation for the amplification and proper tively advance their status and to make technical, artis-
use of local resources. This is the way the desert com- tic, and architectural implementations, fundamental
munities were organized and in general those socie- in the history of the civilizations. Knowledge about
ties often based on hydraulic systems, those which de- the most distant past can lead to the founding of new
veloped in harsh natural conditions (Laureano 2001). technological paradigms: the capability of enhancing
The geographical continuity of the desert areas, the inside resources and managing them at a local
extending from China to the Mediterranean and Af- level; the versatility and the interpenetration of techni-
rica through the three most ancient continents, fa- cal, ethical, and aesthetic values; the production not
vours the elaboration of appropriate solutions per se but for the good of the community and based
through the exchange and increase of knowledge. on the principle according to which each activity has
Complex ecosystems are created based on the use to start up another one without waste; and energy use
of the local resources, but which assume a larger di- based on cycles in constant renewal.
mensional scale by exploiting their position to control
the trade routes and convey huge economic incomes.
This is how the fantastic hydraulic and soil manage-
ment systems were realized in Petra (Jordan), and in
Marib (Yemen), ancient capitals of the Arabic desert
now only archaeological remains, and in the Saharan
oasis-towns such as Ghardaia that are still intact and
vital. The ever increasing effort to organize space de-
pended on the economic benefits ensured by the role
undertaken within an international exchange econ-
omy: the caravan gold routes in the Sahara, the in-
cense route in Arabia, the silk route in Palestine and
in the East.
The community’s acceptance of the necessary
tasks for preserving the geographic positions depends
on delicate environmental, economic, and cultural
equilibria. When even only one of the aspects of the
holistic conception of the world or a ring in the chain
of the resource management is missing, the entire sys-
tem is destined to collapse. This is the cause for the
collapse of various ancient civilizations, a current issue
today because of the menace represented for contem-
porary society by climate change (Mays 2007; Dia-
mond 2007a)
However, the knowledge is not completely lost. It
survives among the populations living in the appar-
ently undeveloped areas or the interstices of the ad-
vanced society and the places protected for their cul-
tural value. Knowledge is a great potential because the
local know-how, which improves under the harshest
environmental conditions, and the existence of intact
ancient structures are a valuable heritage on which
 Hexagon Series on
Human and Environmental Security and Peace (HESP)
Edited by
Hans Günter Brauch,
Free University of Berlin, UNU-EHS and AFES-PRESS

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Hans Günter Brauch, Free University of Berlin, Germany; Úrsula Oswald Spring,
National University of Mexico, Cuernavaca, Mor. Mexico; Czeslaw Mesjasz,
Cracow University of Economics, Poland; John Grin, University of Amsterdam,
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Centre for Security Policy; Jörn Birkmann, UNU-EHS, Bonn (Eds.)
Coping with Global Environmental Change,
Disasters and Security
Threats, Challenges, Vulnerabilities and Risks
This policy-focused Global Environmental and Human Security Handbook for the
Anthropocene (GEHSHA) addresses new security threats, challenges, vulnerabilities and
risks posed by global environmental change and disasters. In 5 forewords, 5 preface essays
95 peer reviewed chapters, 164 authors from 48 countries analyse in 10 parts concepts of
military and political hard security and economic, social, environmental soft security with a
regional focus on the Near East, North and Sub-Sahara Africa and Asia and on hazards in
urban centres. The major focus is on coping with global environmental change: climate
change, desertification, water, food and health and with hazards and strategies on social
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Nigeria; His Royal Highness, Prince Hassan Bin Talal of Jordan
Part I Introduction.- Part II Securitization of Global Environmental Change.- Part III Economic, So-
cial, Environmental and Human Security Dangers in the Near East, Africa and Asia.- Part IV Threats,
Challenges, Vulnerabilities and Risks for Urban Centres in Hazards and Disasters.- Part V Coping
with Climate Change, Soil and Desertification, Water Management, Food and Health.- Part VI Coping
with Hazards, Social Vulnerability and Resilience Building.- Part VII Coping with Global Env.
Change: Scientific, International and National Political Strategies, Policies and Measures.- Part VIII
Remote Sensing, Vulnerability Mapping and Indicators of Env. Security Challenges.- Part IX
Towards an Improved Early Warning of Conflicts and Hazards.- Part X Summary and Conclusions.
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All errors and omissions excepted. 02