You are on page 1of 2

9.

Could you describe a landscape degradation process with the use of the ecosystem
service framework?

Land degradation is a major threat to ecological functioning, food production and livelihood
development across the world.

It affects the biological and economical productivity of land due to processes such as:

 soil erosion
 salinization
 loss of fertility
 with land degradation the supply of ecosystem services decreases
 approximately 75% of the Earth’s land surface is already degraded
 now it’s evident that land degradation is expensive both to local owners and to society
in general

deforestation  farmland is created  it resulted in 1000 mg/l salinity  the land is not able
to produce high value and quality crops  leads to revenue loss  action is needed 
reforestation is the solution  less land available, but value gets bigger  economic befefit
from land use change

other solution  building a dam and do desalination  cost are too high compared to
productivity  while reforestation has its own added valued, like wood and timber for sale
The ecosystem services (ES) framework reveals ecosystems' benefits to society and presents a
fundamental natural resource management approach. In the last several decades, it has gained
increasing attention from the research community, and it recently reached the political
agenda.
Land degradation is a complex, widespread and global problem with context-specific
solutions. It refers to the many processes that drive the decline or loss in biodiversity,
ecosystem functions or services and includes the degradation of all terrestrial ecosystems.
Addressing it through international collaboration is extremely important because
approximately 75% of the Earth’s land surface is degraded in some manner due to a range of
direct and indirect drivers and processes that interact in complex ways.

It is becoming increasingly evident that land degradation is expensive, both to local owners
and to society in general, over multiple time and space scales.
Land degradation is a consequence of the poor management of natural capital like water.
Ecosystems, including those from agricultural land, contribute to human well-being in a
number of complex ways  Land degradation reduces the productivity of these ecosystems
Ecosystem services, including, but not limited to, agricultural products, clean air, fresh water,
disturbance regulation, climate regulation, recreational opportunities, and fertile soils are
jeopardized by the effects of land degradation, globally

You might also like