3.2.2 → Artenvielfalt und Desertifikation – Landverödung in Trockengebieten

(Mariam Akhtar-Schuster & Ute Schmiedel)

3.2.2 → Biodiversity and desertification

(Mariam Akhtar-Schuster, Ute Schmiedel & Norbert Jürgens)

Biodiversity and desertification: 

Recent changes to land tenure rights in drylands have not only provided new opportunities for increasing agricultural production. Changed access to the natural capital is in many cases also seriously affecting the ability of the utilised natural resources to regenerate naturally.

In many drylands, the overexploitation of biodiversity, of soils and the of groundwater resources has led to their deterioration to the extent that these ecological damages will often not be reparable within the time horizon of a human lifespan. Desertification is an alarm signal for socio-ecological dysfunctions.