An overview of global desertification control efforts: Key challenges and overarching solutions

作者：Zeeshan Ahmed, Dongwei GUI, Sameh Kotb Abd‐Elmabod, Ghulam Murtaza, Sikandar Ali · 发表于：Soil Use and Management · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1111/sum.13154 · 被引用次数：29 · 研究领域：Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management、Soil erosion and sediment transport、Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology

Abstract Desertification threatens land integrity, social stability, and sustainable global economic development. Between 1982 and 2015, 6% of the world's drylands experienced desertification because of unsustainable land use practices exacerbated by anthropogenic climate change. Despite initiating several global and regional projects to control desertification actively, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) failed to achieve its land restoration goals. Therefore, this paper thoroughly examines the primary factors contributing to desertification, identifies the obstacles impeding control efforts, and presents effective solutions to combat this pressing issue. Poor policy and awareness about desertification, institutional gaps, social and cultural barriers, limited access to credit and modern technologies, lack of standardization, and inconsistent estimates of desertification extent were the main constraints hindering the desertification control efforts. However, implementing several crucial approaches could effectively address the challenge of global desertification. The capacity building, education, and training should be more comprehensive for local communities, but land managers, government officials, and development planners should be part of this. Local and indigenous knowledge should be integrated with scientific knowledge to get a better harvest against desertification. Sustainable land management practices could enhance soil productivity and adva...