Land Degradation in LAC

ABRAHAM E.

Bonn

Workshop; BMBF-Workshop Land Degradation; 2017

Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología y el VDI Technologiezentrum

The presentation of Prof. Abraham tried to answer the guiding questions (see page 3). As drivers she saw two different layers. She identified the following global drivers: The concentration of processes by globalization. In the case of the Latin American countries & Caribbean (LAC) the high demand of resources as energy (esp. coal), protein (esp. soy-bean, meat) & timber with short-term interests on the side of the distributers. As local drivers she named: Deforestation, overgrazing and false irrigation methods, leading to salinization or alcalinization of the soils, are drivers of the degradation or even soil destruction. The consequences of degradation of rural areas are migration, rural exodus and an enormous urbanization. The urban population in the past 50 years has quadrupled. The growth of Mexico-City e.g. led to the total dehydration of the ground water resources. The Migration often leads to a domino effect in the regions, taking up those migrants. Often the rain-fed agriculture on marginal areas leads to an aggravation of degradation. Missing income alternatives is another local/regional driver of degradation. The extremely uneven land tenure is also a local/regional driver of degradation. Traders, who do not manage their land sustainably, are often interlinked with political power. Corruption comes in here, but also the weak implementation of environmental policy in local/regional administrations. Additionally the environment as a topic has a low priority in politics.